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.