We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Gould. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.
Emily, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
As a full-time musician, there are times when the creativity and drive just aren’t there, but something that helps me immensely is teaching drums and interacting with my students. Regardless of where they are in their musical journey, many students think differently than I do, they create things (accidentally or intentionally) that I would never think of. This kind of musical freedom from my own style and methods draws more ideas forth, and my students and I often end up collaborating on new patterns together. Another way I fuel my creativity is by playing a drum beat that I’m already comfortable with, then finding the gaps where one limb isn’t doing anything, I then add that limb/part of the drum set into my beat, and continue adding until I’ve got something that stretches my abilities. While that sort of busy drumming isn’t always applicable, it does spark my creativity and pushes me to continue working at my craft.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a drummer located in Colorado Springs with a focus on live performance, recording, and private drum instruction. I was lucky enough to discover my passion for drumming at the age of 9 while listening to Blink 182 and have been pursuing it as my full-time career since 2017. Drumming in and of itself is ridiculously fun, but getting to teach others how to play is extremely rewarding and exciting. My teaching is facilitated through my own brand, Emily Gould Drumming, as well as through Rupp’s UpBeat Drum School as a remote faculty member. Beyond getting to teach drums, I also play live with several projects, tour whenever possible, and record drum tracks from my home studio for folks all around the world.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three most important things that have impacted my drumming career are: listening, patience, and perseverance. I mean listening as not only hearing what other people say and teach, but listening to music and really hearing nuances and patterns. Being able to accentuate parts of the music, dynamically hear and match the rest of the band, and intuiting changes has been instrumental (ha!) to my career. Patience – This one is not my forte but something that comes with being an artist. It takes a lot of time to hone a craft and create something you feel worthy of putting out there, so while I dreamt of instant success, I had to be patient and build my knowledge and confidence along the way. (One must also be patient when working with musicians because much practice time is spent waiting quietly for the other instruments to sort their parts.) Lastly, perseverance. This comes from the perspective of being a woman in a male-dominated field. I have been marginalized and stereotyped more times than I can possibly count, and it took a lot of perseverance to push those instances aside, quell my imposter syndrome, and continue working in this industry. For other folks in the creative arts who are seeking to develop or improve these qualities, I encourage knowledge and education. Understanding your craft and becoming an expert will provide so much more deserved confidence to keep working at it depsite setbacks and the challenges of being an artist in today’s world.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
As the owner of my own business and a person with ADHD, I become overwhelmed fairly easily. When these moments strike, I begin by taking slow deep breaths which center and calm me. Next, I attempt to sort what is on my mind and what takes precedence, this can take the form of written lists or physically putting things within my eyesight so I don’t forget them. Then I tackle what I can bit by bit while telling myself, “The world won’t end if this one thing doesn’t get accomplished.” Unfortunately, due to ADHD, the above tactics are rife with getting sidetracked, so the most helpful thing I bear in mind is practicing grace for myself and remembering my value does not come from my productivity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.EmilyGouldDrumming.com
- Instagram: @EmilyGouldDrumming
- Facebook: @EmilyGouldDrumming
- Yelp: Emily Gould Drumming
