Drummer Kit Searle is well-known in the Sheffield grassroots music scene, and his skill with the sticks has led to him being a member of not one, not two, but four different bands in the city: Jazz-funk group Paul Party, punk outfit Polat, bluey jam band Juggl_r, and jack-of-all-trades IBS (Iâm Being Serious).Â
Part of the reason for this is Kitâs love of music, but he also attributes it to a shortage of drummers in the wider music scene.
He said: âFirstly I love playing the drums, but often my mates are looking to start bands and need someone to fill in – a lot of drummers are versatile and in multiple bands because there seems to be a shortage of good ones.
âThis is probably my hottest take, but I think a lot of great amateur bands are held back by not as good a drummer as they deserve.
âEspecially when starting out, youâre probably playing with your mates, and itâs really hard to turn around and tell them that they arenât good enough.â
Itâs precisely this versatility that Kit thinks is highly valuable, and also enjoyable, for drummers. Take Paul Party song Brain Waterfall, where Kitâs skills are on full display: âThe regular beat is very danceable and groovy, but itâs a really long and meandering song so I get to play a lot of different styles of drumming.Â
âMost of the song Iâm working with Loz (bassist), his bass lines are so creative, in the chorus he does a rundown and I can match him on that and shift into a slower beat thatâs very jazzy and calm; then thereâs a hyperactive middle eight, a proper funk beat with very ethereal backing.â
He continued: âThe key lesson for any drummer is that you can play whatever you want as long as it fits the song, as complex or as simple as you like – nobodyâs really going to be listening to you.
âAs long as youâre not overwhelming everyone with cymbals I think youâre fine, just pay attention to what the focus of the song is supposed to be. Higher pitched frequencies like the flute are often soft, but they cut through the mix so in that way they have a big voice.
âYou have to be quite meticulous as a drummer and have that awareness of where your layering of vocals and instruments fits in, and how you hold it together. Sometimes you might have to restrain yourself to let other people shine.
âAs a drummer in bands people look to you to find their place in a song, itâs like a psychic connection and itâs something really special. If youâre playing a white knuckle gig without much practice, being the backbone in a live music environment is something really incredible.â
Particularly with drumming, the financial aspect of playing in multiple bands can be a lot to manage. Disregarding the monetary and time cost of booking practice rooms, recording sessions, and transport to gigs for multiple bands, being a drummer itself can be more demanding than other instruments. Most of the time house kits at venues donât include breakables – snares and cymbals – and drummers can wear through items like this and sticks quickly, with replacements being costly.
Kit said: âI break drumsticks all the time. I buy Vic Firth sticks in bulk and when I get down to three Iâll order a new batch.
âIâve probably broken around eight cymbals in my life – if you get a crack in a cymbal, get an angle grinder and cut it out to stop it spreading as soon as you can. Entry level cymbals arenât great, theyâre cheap but they sound horrible and theyâre made of copper so they dent and break really easily.
âAs drummingâs become a bigger part of my life Iâve been happier to invest in good quality kit and itâs definitely worth it – it sounds better and your breakables lasts a lot longer.
âThere was a point where I was playing a lot of gigs, and gigs with drummers who didnât have their own snare, so they borrowed mine. The head got absolutely annihilated in about six months but I did get to use that as an excuse to upgrade to some nicer heads, so you win some, you lose some.â
Particularly when starting out, Kit thinks that finances can be a daunting prospect: âItâs about what background youâre from. If you grew up in a detached house with lots of space itâs easy, relatively speaking, to pick up the drums.
âIf you didnât, itâs a lot harder, and even an entry level kit is three or four hundred pounds where a guitar is about 90, so I think thereâs an accessibility issue.
âMusic is expensive and you wonât make much money unless youâre famous or a cover band playing at weddings, giving up your creative liberties.
âPlaying the local circuit the most Iâve ever âmadeâ is like ÂŁ700, which is pretty good, but thatâs then split amongst people, minus the cost of transport, drinks, etc. and then re-invested into things like your rehearsal sessions and recording time, so in the end youâre really lucky youâll still only be making ÂŁ30-50 a person.
âMost venues though, especially at the moment, are so tight on profit margins that they canât really afford to pay you at all, so you have to go through umbrella organisations to get promoted and theyâre usually pretty horrible to deal with.â
There are some highs to splitting your time between multiple bands though, such as having enough acts at hand to fill an entire lineup for a gig by yourself. When supporting acts were hard to find for a gig at Sheffield venue The Washington, Kit pulled in two of his other bands to replace them, and embarked on the ambitious mission of a one-drummer event.
âI said âitâll be good funâand they [bandmates] said âare you fucking mad?â
âWe booked the bands and didnât tell the venue it was all me, just turned up and the sound guy asked where the drummers were – I said âitâs just meâ and he was actually happy with it because drummers are a pain to sound check.â
Whilst the possibility of failure in front of a gathering of fans from across his bands was daunting, and changing between differently themed costumes for all three acts was close to too much, things went smoothly in the end.
Kit recalled: âIt was a crazy night because it was IBSâ debut, Loz from Paul Party had broken his nose the week before and was a bit dazed still so we hadnât rehearsed properly.
âBut in the end it was like putting on an old pair of shoes, like riding a bike, and it was amazing playing with all my friends to chill me out and give me that baseline.â
On the 15th June Kit is running a gig to celebrate his birthday at local Sheffield grassroots venue Make Noise Studios, aiming to replicate his iconic Washington set, this time playing alongside Juggl_r, IBS, and headliners Paul Party.
He said: âIf youâre in multiple bands with your mates, play with them all in one gig. Do it once – Iâm doing it twice because itâs a special occasion – but do it once, and itâll be an unforgettable experience.â