“So then Charlie” said my mum as we left the cinema, “which
of those instruments did you want to play?” The year was 2003, the leading
actor was Jack Black and, of course, the film we had been to see was the
still-brilliant School of Rock. With barely a second’s thought, I blurted “the
drums!” – influenced so I was at the tender age of 9 by the cool kid with the
gelled blonde hair and sunglasses who sat at the back with the sticks. Her
reply of “how about the guitar?” set me on the musical road I have followed for
12 years, but ever since then I have had a burning passion to be a drummer.
(Image Credit: School of Rock/geekynews.com)
I often find myself tapping out rhythm on tables, chair legs
or even my own body parts. I have used an assortment of items as a substitute
for drumsticks – everything ranging from pens to plastic bottles via knitting
needles. Yet, I have never owned a single cymbal, let alone a full kit, and
wouldn’t even dream of describing myself as ‘competent’.
So imagine my anticipation when I sat down to watch Whiplash
– an Oscar nominated film (one of my favourite things) about being an
incredible drummer (my dream hobby). And boy did it not disappoint.
The acting in this film is nothing short of astonishing. JK
Simmons – whose previous most well-known role was J. Jonah Jameson in Sam
Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy – is fully deserving of his academy award for his
portrayal of Terrence Fletcher, a perfectionist music mentor that makes Simon
Cowell look like a Care Bear. Miles Teller – also known as the party-guy from
the Hangover/Superbad wannabe 21 And Over – plays Andrew Neiman, the young
drumming prodigy who joins Fletcher’s jazz band and is fixated solely on his
pursuit of success. At a base level, Fletcher is a bully. He’s abusive, he’s
cruel and he will seemingly stop at nothing to get his own way. While he
legitimises this approach to teaching music towards the end of the film (“There
are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’”), the
viewers are challenged to ask themselves: at what point does Andrew’s pursuit
of greatness go too far? When should he give up? Is it when Fletcher throws a
chair at his head for not quite matching the tempo? When he turns up late for a
competition after being involved in a car crash? When he practices so hard and
so fast that sweat pours from every orifice and his hands bleed from the sheer
force with which he is beating the drum? At the end of the film [SPOILER ALERT],
he gets up on stage and pulls off the greatest drum solo of his life, proving
he is a drumming great and finally earning Fletcher’s begrudging approval, but
at what cost?
(Image Credit: Whiplash/Variety)
Somehow, despite the subject matter of the film not being of
particular importance in the grand scheme of things, the tension ramps up
to levels that I last felt (in a cinematic context) during the raid at the end
of Zero Dark Thirty. A comparison of the two scenarios seems silly – a life or
death military operation to potentially eliminate one of the biggest threats to
global security the world has ever faced vs. can some kid hit something well
enough to please some guy – and yet Whiplash is an edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. I think a big
part of that is the relatable nature of both the characters and the story; everyone at some point has had that one big dream,
and everyone at some point has had a Fletcher-like figure. Of course, Whiplash
takes both these elements to the extreme, but regular people like you and me
probably see a bit of that harsh secondary school teacher or that
over-demanding boss in him, and I think it’s this that makes you really want
Andrew to come good.
In other drumming news, I found out recently that Matt Tong
has left Bloc Party. Whilst, apparently, he hasn’t been in the band since
Summer 2013, as a band they’re notoriously private and when I finally discovered he had quit, it kind of knocked me for six.
Bloc Party are without doubt one of my favourite bands; their second album was one of the first CDs I ever bought for myself and I have
seen them live no less than 5 (!) times. I’m a big fan of their angular guitar
riffs and biting lyrics and would thoroughly recommend their first LP - Silent
Alarm - to anyone who wants to spend 50 minutes and 35 seconds of their day in
complete audio bliss. A personal favourite of mine is Helicopter, a
double-pronged assault on the eardrums, launched from the guitars of Kele
Okereke and Russell Lissack behind a vocal line that seemingly takes several
swipes at then-president George W. Bush (“Just like his dad… the same
mistakes”).
Matt Tong was, to my mind, Bloc Party’s secret weapon.
Whilst the talents of Lissack and Okereke are well recorded (Lissack in
particular as an exceptionally talented guitarist), Tong’s drum patterns and
fills provided a driving force to their songs that it seems hard for another
drummer to replicate. The last time I saw them was (unbeknownst to me) after he
had quit, and they played the show with a backup drummer who, whilst clearly
perfectly competent, could not match the tempo with which Tong could beat out
the more complicated rhythms and thus those songs felt a little lacking. It’s
hard to understand just how important the drums are in Bloc Party’s songs, but
to get an idea, try and imagine this song without the percussion:
(Bloc Party: Skeleton)
Hard, ain't it? Whilst there are rumours floating around the Internet of a fifth album, I have some serious trepidation about the prospect of Bloc Party post-Tong.
First and foremost, surely the sound will be drastically different without the
complex and aggressive drumbeat? Secondly, Matt is a very charismatic drummer,
and is absolutely a fan favourite. He regularly performed onstage in nothing
but his pants having either stripped off as the show went on, or simply come on
already in just boxers. He has suffered a collapsed lung on two separate
occasions whilst touring, and yet still kept coming back for more carnage. And,
well, he just seems like an all-round nice guy.
So yeah, come back Matt! Then again, maybe if one of my favourite bands are hiring,
perhaps now is the time to pick up some sticks…
(Image Credit: School of Rock/Showbiz Geek)
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