Photo Credit: Mcikey.

Joe Mazza, Dixon rockstar, has 25 years of drum and percussion experience under his belt. Joe is passionate and dedicated to his music. His successful music career was built from talent, genuine relationships and professionalism. Here are some of Joe’s tips for aspiring drummers and musicians:

1. Be professional:

Being a professional doesn’t start and stop with each gig. Being a pro means handling yourself in situations on and off stage. Keep a good schedule. Don’t double book yourself. Keep up a good appearance. Keep good lines of communication open with club owners, promoters, band members and other musicians in your area. You can be the greatest player in the area but if people don’t like you or you have a bad reputation, you won’t get the job.

2. Bring pro gear:

You’ve already got enough going on before your gig.

There’s nothing worse than your gear breaking before or even during your gig. When this happens, it makes your whole band look bad. If your gear is built well and in tip-top shape, it’s one less thing for you to worry about. Try Dixon Drums and Gibraltar Hardware.

3. Be on-time to your gig:

If the drummer is late, the band is late. Which means sound check is late or could be missed all together. If that happens, NOBODY is happy. Other band members can’t hear themselves in the monitors and any issues with sound reinforcement can’t be worked out. Nothing worse then howling feedback when a band starts (which scares people off). A personal note: I prefer to be early to the gig so I have SPACE to set-up. There is nothing worse than having to step over guitars and amps to get your drums set-up. They never leave you enough room either. So get there early, claim your space and get a good sound check. It may leave you time to actually RELAX before the gig starts.

4. Be courteous to everyone:

The last thing you want to do is aggravate, annoy or offend a staff member of a club or restaurant. They are there to work as well. I can guarantee you’ll need something from one these folks at some point throughout the gig: a glass of water, something to eat, directions, help from an irate patron, you name it. They may be reluctant to help you if you came in the door with a bad attitude barking orders at them. Don’t forget about the sound guy. Cross the sound guy and he will make your gig miserable! Remember, all of these people have an effect on you getting another gig.

All of these little things really add up and help you build your reputation as a musician and/or band. Whenever your name is mentioned, you want people to say, ”Yeah I worked him/her, they were easy to work with.” Remember that building a good reputation takes time but ruining your reputation takes less than seconds and takes much longer to build again.

Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica wrote a great piece on rhythm games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero driving interest in real instruments. This is great news! Games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are not only fun but expose people to classic rock songs, give people a chance to test out the waters and find their musical passions.

We’re all for it! Rock on!

Joe Mazza not only sells drums, he lives and plays them. In fact, he’s been drumming for 25 years. He currently plays drums in The Kenny Mehler Band, an acoustic driven rock band with a lot of funk, jam-band and reggae influences. Joe and Kenny also play duo gigs together. The full band (6 players) comes together once or twice a month to play the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, tenor/soprano sax and a percussionist/scratch DJ. He also plays drums in The Psychedlic 60’s- a power trio playing ALL the great Rock-n-Roll from the 60’s: Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Doors, The Stones, Jimi Hendrix etc. Mazza does all of this while juggling his wife, child and Dixon Drums.

Joe’s inspiration comes from many artists including John Bonham, Keith Moon, Stewart Copeland, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Vinnie Paul, Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and John Coltrane and even hip-hop music. But Joe’s core inspiration comes from his family. He says they have a huge impact in what he’s doing.

Joe first played the Dixon Outlaw at On the Rocks in Hartford, Ct. It was their house kit and he was blown away; since at the time, he was rockin’ on a set of 61 Ludwig’s. He said the sound was exactly what he had been looking for. As the gig went on, he said “I could tell the other guys in the band we’re picking up on it too. My playing sounded more musical and the drums were very agile.” At the end of the gig, he says he got a ton of compliments and owed it all to the Dixon kit.

If you’re in the area and want to check out Joe’s band, he’ll be playing at The Ivy Lounge and Quassy Amusement Park in Connecticut. Check out Joes Mazza’s Myspace, Joe’s Twitter and the Kenny Mehler band website for more show dates.