A TVD Special Event | Story/Stereo

TVD's special Story/Stereo event in advance of Friday night's convergence of music and the written word at the Writer's Center in Bethesda continues with Roofwalker's drummer, Elmer Sharp with a flashback or three:

"As a kid in the 70s and early 80s, my dad played bass in a band nearly every weekend. The band was always in the garage practicing for shows and my sisters and I would go out and dance to songs from Booker T. & The MG's and Sly & The Family Stone. 
 
I’m the one screaming on the left. 
 


In high school I listened mostly to hip hop like Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Digable Planets. My dad got me a Pearl electronic drum kit. It was just like the one that the Rick Allen used to play in Def Leppard. I got my acoustic kit some time latter and started taking drum lessons. I pretty much horrified my instructor when I would bring RUN DMC tapes in say I want to learn to play this song. He would cringe and say "well… back to Welcome to the Jungle.” 
 
I think because I was forced into playing songs I didn't appreciate at the time, I didn't really get into rock music until later when I started listening to bands like My Bloody Valentine, The Stone Roses, Slowdive and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Most of this music was a consequence of my friend Sean buying Going Blank Again by Ride for me from the local Sam Goody. What a great record. I got Nowhere following that and became totally hooked. Nowhere is still one of my favorite albums, and I have been a huge fan of shoegaze and experimental rock ever since.


Not too long following, I became a little distant from music, not really exploring new bands or even playing my own instrument. I went on a road trip to NY for New Years Eve in 2001 and was sitting around in a friend’s apartment. He put on Sigur Ros and it completely blew my mind. I remember very clearly listening to "Svefn-g-englar". The gentle drumming and soaring guitars fit my personality perfectly and brought everything back which I love about music. It’s something that's not forced upon you but very easily grabs you. It made me wonder what this was and what was being said. I ended up eventually finding English translations for the lyrics and found beautiful poetry in every word."

Ride - Kaleidoscope (Mp3)
Sigur Ros - Svefn-g-englar (Mp3)