Players > Alex McWalters
Alex McWalters |
River Whyless |
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NATIONALITY: USA
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My favorite thing about TreeHouse drums is the symbol/logo. That might sound strange, but let me explain. The symbol is a T stacked upon an H and then laid horizontally so as to appear (to my eye at least) vaguely Asian. This immediately appealed to me. For one, the symbol expressed a certain worldliness; it seemed a statement made by the maker of these drums regarding not only their versatility, but also the care and respect that ought to go into manufacturing an instrument so ancient and sacred. I felt this symbol captured a drum's natural mystique, confirming the instrument's capacity for unlocking secret meaning, reminding me that drumming is foremost a spiritual experience. What I'm trying to say is that on good days, playing drums becomes a means by which I can attain a state of absolute clarity and fluidity wherein I'm able to forget myself and enter into a state of mental levitation. And though I am no monk or scholar, this is a sensation I have always associated with the spiritual teachings of the Far East. Drumming is a point of access, a way for a layman like me to perceive, if only briefly, the connectedness that lies beyond my otherwise persistent sense of separation. And when I saw the TreeHouse symbol I felt I'd found a company that understood this. I don't mean to imply that the folks at TreeHouse are all Buddhists, only that building drums seems an act as holy to them as playing drums is to me.
BIOGRAPHY: I obtained my first drum set as a freshman in high school. I’m self-taught, for better or worse. Every now and then there are times when behind the drums things don’t go my way and I find myself wishing I’d stayed out of it—because like a magician, we musicians learn our trade at the expense of some of the magic. But more and more I’ve come to realize that I never really had a choice in the matter. Besides, music is not an illusion, and I only believe that stuff about sacrificing magic on the bad days, because, in truth, for every secret exposed by my craft there is revealed in its place a slew of new appreciations.
Drums
Mahogany Tubes
- 8x12 vintage tom
- 15x15 vintage floor tom
- 15x18 vintage floor tom
- 14x20 vintage bass
- 5½ x 14 vintage snare