The Chinese New Year may have to change from “Year of the Tiger” to “Year of the Drummer” as my world record attempt at marathon drumming has ignited what perhaps may result in one of the greatest years ever for the “sport.” Strength training coaches Rob Wolf began one of the post-even interviews with “I don’t know who will ever want to take on this record again!” We now know the answer. Drummers are made to drum, and they love a challenge. Drums are back in the spotlight, and the players are anxious to shine.

Kunto Hartono of Indonesia, the 2004 Guinness record holder, watched my 108.5 hour show via live stream, and contacted me shortly thereafter to announce and ask for my support for his March 2010 attempt. I responded with a positive, “Yes.” Kunto’s goal is to play for 135 hours.

American Russ Prager, the current record holder at 120 hours, has also been in communication with me and stated “I’m keeping an eye on Kunto, if he breaks the record there just might be one more attempt in me!”

Allister Brown, the 2008 record holder from the United Kingdom, also participated in the event, watching it in its entirety, and stated on his Facebook page “I feel the GBW bug growing in me again.” Steven Gaul, a marathon runner (and drummer) from Canada, also contacted me asking for tips as how he could beat the record.

What does this all mean? It means that the greatest marathon drummers of all time could be potentially playing with or against each other, all in the same year! And, that my dear drum fans results in “The Year of the Drummer.” Put on your seat belt, this ride is far from over!

Coming soon the Lou Mars marathon-drumming documentary…

As Long as the Music is Playing, Everything is OK.

Washed up Pro Drummer Lou Mars finds himself with no-where to go, when a series of events rekindles his appreciation for what is truly important in life. For 4 and 1/2 days Lou Mars not only pounds out an unending beat though pain and sleep deprivation, but is pushed into overdrive by his peppered past. We’ll reveal what drove Lou to take on this challenge, the obstacles he had to beat back, and why more than 47-thousand hearts were beating to the beat of one drum. This is an intimate portrait of a man on an unforgettable journey that pushes him beyond the edge of reality and back. A journey about music, hope and friendship that powerfully redefines what it means to succeed for all of us.

In conjunction with Lou Mars’s amazing attempt to break the World’s Record for Marathon Drumming was a fund raising effort for Little Kids Rock. Dixon Drums donated a Demon Series Kit with their new 2010 Urban Camo finish as a prize. The winner of the Dixon Demon Drum Set Give-away is Chrissy Gower of Chico CA. She has given the kit to her son Kayden who watched much of the coverage of Lou’s attempt to beat the record. Obviously Lou has inspired the soon to be drummer. When they met after the event, Kayden started waving his hands in the air frantically as if he were playing the drums. Chrissy was kind enough to send us these photos showing her son’s response to the prize. 

Here is is doing a Tommy lee pose.

The event will be streamed live world-wide from the Lakeside Pavilion and include a sneak preview of Lou Mars upcoming documentary. The drawing for the Dixon Demon drum set that Lou played on during the event will also take place.  Lou will perform four songs along with a slide show and special guests. Friday, January 29th, 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM Pacific Time. Watch it on Lou’s Ustream channel.

Lou Mars Facts:

• Hours played: 108.5 (4.5 days)
• Place in the records for longest marathon drumming: 2nd
• Broken drumsticks given away by Lou to children: 36
• Volunteers: 120
• UStream.tv views: 47,872
• Number of positive comments and e-mails received: +1,000
• Amount of money made for Little Kids Rock: $700.00
• Impact made on everyone involved: Unmeasurable

From January 14th to January 18th, 2010, Lou Mars attempted to break the Guinness Book of Word Records for Marathon Drumming in Chico, California. The event has changed the lives of many of the participants, volunteers and spectators alike. Lou’s endurance has become and inspiration to people all over the world. Both the visitors to NorCal Strength and Conditioning and viewers on the Ustream channel could not help but be compelled to support Lou. Workplace computer monitors all over the Chico as well as the Seattle Police Department where tuned into Lou during the event. The Mark & Brain syndicated radio show streamed the audio from the event live for two days.

Some terms from Guinness on Marathon Drumming Record:

• Lou could not be touched while drumming
• He could accumulate 5 min breaks every hour

Lou’s attempt to break the World Record for Marathon Drumming was a catalyst for change in Lou’s life, as he realized he would like to bring awareness to cancer and it’s connection to diet and exercise. Lou was inspired by his late friend Richard McKinley who recently passed away from cancer. Lou’s uncle is also currently suffering from cancer. He would also like kids to step up from Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games to real instruments.

Lou played on both his Dixon Outlaw drum set he won in our “Drum Your Way to Hollywood” contest as well as an Urban Camo Demon drum kit which was given away to a lucky donor with the proceeds went to help Little Kids Rock. It was reported that Lou’s drum equipment failed. This was untrue. The Dixon drum sets held strong, however, Lou’s hard hitting did vibrate three lug nuts from the bottom of one snare, and one bass drum nut completely unscrewed itself over the 4.5 day duration. The snares on the back-up snare drum were also vibrated loose. Over-all the gear held through a ferocious beating. With that said 30 sticks were cracked or broken and one pair of aluminum sticks bent during the process.

Brian Peterson and Lou Mars will be making of a mini documentary regarding the event. The documentary will explore the story in depth and the secondary stories that occurred during the process. The team will have a party on Friday the 29th which will also be livestreamed.

Key players:

• Husband and Wife team Robb Wolf and Nikki Violetti, strength & conditioning coaches, owners of NorCal Strength and Conditioning (Facebook) They kept Lou eating, hydrating, monitored Lou’s electrolyte levels.
• Tory Zellick with In Touch Body Works (Facebook), training up to the day of the event as well as physical therapist during the event.

Secondary Players:

• Atty. David Howard, Legal sponsor, DM Howard Law
• Karen Maraschiello, Lou’s wife
• Brian Logue, Lou’s friend, fellow drummer, spiritual guide
• Brian Peterson, Photographer, sponsor, Peterson Pro Video
• Andy Deas, cheerleader for Lou near the last sets
• Dr. John Fargoso, Fargos Chiropractic, assisting with breaks, dropped what he was doing for next four days after becoming attached to the project after day one.
• Aunt Pam, provided backup speaker system

Some quotes from the post-event video interview with Lou and his team

Nikki on the event:

“It was one of the most amazing weeks of my life. All of us can attest to that. We all had a singular goal. I have never been more present or more in the now in any other given period of time ever before in my entire life, because there was never a monument to think about yesterday or tomorrow, it was always right now.”

Lou regarding ear fatigue and/or deliriousness after several days of drumming:

“When the music started distorting, at points, I started hearing second levels to the songs at different levels and different tempos and speeds…I’ve got to tell you, as a profession drummer, having to let yourself go, to have someone else get you on the beat…was bizarre to to have to let that go.”

Tory Zellick on Brian Logue:

“It went from a state of chaos to controlled chaos. When you are in the stage of chaos and you get that little bit of control it makes all the difference in the world. We were so sleep deprived and everything was changing every minute that we were in a constant state of reaction, that to have someone to bring it all back to center, it was almost like a baby sitter. It was perfect. He took control of the situation and he and Lou become one. And it was so healthy for everyone.”

Karen regarding her husband Lou:

“It was very stressful. Watching him hurt himself took on a whole new meaning for me. I would see him hitting with his wrists that hard and I felt like I could feel his pain. Robb had to settle me down a couple times, where I said I think you need to get him off the kit. It is too much, I can’t take it. And Robb finally said around day 3 he said ‘this is the way Lou wants to do it, you either support him and smile when you see him or don’t be around.’ So at that time I made the decision, Ok, I am on board, and I’ll see it through. But it was hard. There were times when I didn’t want to be here, but I didn’t want to leave. And when I left all I could [think about] was to get back here as quickly as possible.”

Lou on getting in shape for the event:

“When I first started this project, at the end of September I could not run to the mailbox enough. I was so out of shape. I drank heavily, I ate poorly, I was 217 lbs. My waist was pushing a [size] 38, and just didn’t feel good about myself or much of about anything around at that time. When this came up, I knew this would force me to change.”

Sponsors:

• NorCal Strength and Conditioning
• Candace McDonald Kremer, Preference Chiropractor
• Dixon Drums (Facebook)
• Peterson Pro Video
• DM Howard Law
• In Touch Body Works
• Paleo Brands (Facebook)
• Logo Merchant

Robb Wolf’s account of the event

Brian Peterson account of the event

KNVN News

Nikki Violetti with NorCal Strength and Conditioning

Robb Wolf, Nikki Violetti with NorCal Strength and Conditioning

Crowd at NorCal Strength and Conditioning watches and cheers Lou

Tory Zellick with In Touch Body Works cheers for Lou

Lou puts his head on ice

Andy Deas cheers for Lou

Robb Wolf sharing words of encouragement with Lou

Brian Peterson recording the moment

Photos by Dain Sandoval.

Lou Mars is already building and training with a support team starting with Nationally renowned nutritionist author and trainer Robb Wolf, plus NorCal Strength & Conditioning professional athlete personal trainer Nicki Violetti.

The event is scheduled for January 14, 2010 and will be Internet streamed live in-addition to Skype access worldwide 24/7 for the duration of the event location in Chico California’s NorCal Strength & Conditioning training warehouse.

Dixon Drums will be providing a new Dixon Demon Urban Camo drum set and hardware (SEE BELOW) valued at $2,300.00 for Lou Mars to play on during the event that will be raffled off afterwards! “All proceeds” obtained will go to the Fender supported “Little Kids Rock“. Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has been dedicated to putting music back in schools by providing free musical instruments and instruction that focuses on their favorite popular music styles, including rock, blues, rap and hip-hop. So far, over 1,200 schools in 21 cities nationwide have benefited from a Little Kids Rock program, and the response from kids, parents and teachers has been phenomenal.

Make a donation ticket to win Lou’s Dixon Demon kit

For every dollar you donate to Little Kids Rock, you’ll be entered into our give-away of the Dixon Demon Drum Set.

$1.00 Donation per entry

(plus a single .44 total mailing fee)

Drum Set & Hardware

Shipping ‘not’ included.v

Drawing will be streamed LIVE on January 20th, 2010

*READ BEFORE PURCHASING Raffle Tickets Contest Rules & Regulations*

From his MySpace blog:

July 16, 2009 Lou Mars at the Whiskey A-Go-Go with ‘One High Five,’ Los Angeles, California

Lou Mars to perform with “One High Five” at the famous Whiskey A Go-Go located on the Sunset Strip. Doors open at 7:30 PM, however the act is slated for the 11:00 PM performance on Thursday, July 16th. The Whiskey is the premiere rock club to play in Los Angeles, therefore this will be a show you will not want to miss!

LouMarsDrums.com