Issue 10 - Sarah Thawer - October 2019

has to rely on anyone to get work— that
one was a big one for me. I played this
gig in Amsterdam back in 2015 and we
(the musicians) were walking with the
artist back to the hotel, and it started
to rain. The organisers rushed to cover
the artist with umbrellas and the musicians
and I were soaked and walking
in the rain. That made me frustrated
and there have been so many situations
where I have seen this difference in
treatment between the musicians and
the artist since I was a kid. So growing
up I developed that mindset of being a
drummer/musician but an artist at the
same time. I love social media because
it gives us such a platform to create our
own fan base and our own brand, and
not having to rely on anyone to get any
publicity or work.
Style & Genre Fluidity
So between all the Drumeo
Drum-offs, Bollywood
Monster Mashups,
Drum Fests and all the
other gigs thrown in,
Sarah is as comfortable
playing Indian Rhythms
in a Saree as she is when
playing a full on rock show
in a jumpsuit.
ada to India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
You can download Remitbee’s
Money Transfer app on Google Play or
Apple App stores. :-). I am extremely
grateful to be with all of these amazing
companies.
What Yamaha kits do you own? And what
do you use most often?
I own the Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple,
22”, 20”, 16”, 14”, 12”, 10” 8”, 14” Snare
and Yamaha Stage Custom 20” 14” 12”
10 and 14” Snare. As well as 13” Steve
Jordan Snare, Recording Custom 14” x
6.5” and Yamaha 10” Birch snare drum.
I use the Absolute Hybrid Maple most
often and I played the new Live Custom
Hybrid Oak at NAMM in January and
fell in love instantly. Hoping to get my
hands on one soon!
Can you run us through your most used
or preferred cymbal set up?
I play an array of Zildjian cymbals, and
pick the ones to use based on the musical
setting. I find myself most often
using the 13” K Custom Hybrid hi-hats,
and the 10” splash, 21” ride, 16”, 18” and
20” crash from the K Custom Special
Dry line. I also love to use the K Custom
Hybrid crashes as well as the K Cluster
crashes. I am a big fan of short and quick
response sounds, so I have tons of fun
with splashes and stacks. I love to stack
the 10” and 8” Trashformer with the 10”
A Custom EFX, as well as the K EFX 18”
with the 18” FX Oriental China Trash.
‘How to build a brand for yourself’ is a really
difficult concept to explain to young
drummers, or musicians for that matter.
How did you develop that mindset of creating
your own product and selling yourself
as an artist not only as a drummer?
My dad is a band leader and seeing him
hire artists versus musicians was very
different. The artist/singer always gets
the best treatment, increased pay, has
to do the least amount of labour, always
at the front of the stage and never
How do you stay authentic to your own
identity instead of chasing trends on social
media.
To me, social media is a vessel in which
we can express ourselves, it’s an outlet.
I use social media to showcase my
playing, my ideas and who I am— I
try to be as transparent and honest as
I can be. I use social media as a tool to
get gigs/work and I use it to get inspiration
by watching videos of incredible
drummers and musicians. For me, social
media is not a destination; it’s not
about how many likes I get and having
that as an achievement—no. For me,
it’s not about trying to copy the latest
trends and trying to be someone I’m not
to get likes and followers. Social media
for me is to share my drumming, my
love for drumming and music, sharing
my thoughts and having the intention
to share my growth and journey, and
hoping to inspire and put a smile on at
least one person’s face.
Social media is an illusion. On social
media we are all happy, we all wear
the nicest clothes all the time, and have
the nicest “stuff”, and are always at the
coolest places and living such incredible
lives. That’s not reality. What about
the days when we can’t get out of bed in
the morning, or when we’re sad, or anx-
PHOTOGRAPHY CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: PEPE HERRERA; BRENDAN MARIANI, 2 September 2019 | SA DRUMMER | 33