Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Arrington.
Hi Joseph, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was 11 going on 12 it was projected to me that I had to choose either an instrument or take a choir class in 7th grade. None of it really appealed to me, even though I had been taking a few years of piano lessons. My mother was a professional musician and music teacher and my father was a professional actor and playwriter. There is definitely the DNA of a creative dreamer in my blood. I chose drums because it was the only thing that appealed to me and by the age of 14, I had my first beginner’s Mapex drum set. I grew up in a small town in Utah, proceeded to play in a jazz band through high school, march on the drumline, and played in a symphonic orchestra. I also had a pop-punk band that played a lot of local shows from 1998-to 2001. I didn’t realize how much I was truly drinking up being a musician until I got an offer to be a hired gun drumming for a band on Warped Tour in 2005. They were a small band, but being on that tour at 21 years old was the first moment it dawned on me that a career in music as possible. I studied with an incredible drum mentor named Jay Lawrence for years and by the time I was 25, it became very clear to me that I needed to move out of state. The Utah music circuit was mostly confined to the University jazz scene and smaller shows. I got an opportunity to move to Sacramento, CA, and play for a band called Mozart Season. They meant well, but it became clear very quickly that they were more of a gateway to other opportunities in that city. I recorded an EP for them and moved on to join an extremely eccentric group of dudes called A Lot Like Birds. I began cutting albums and touring with them in 2011 and once we gained traction, we began playing bigger and more prominent tours. I was also studying and practicing hard in between tours, gigging with jazz fusion bands around the city, and continued to take lessons with as many teachers as I could. Between the ages of 25 and 30, I probably practiced an average of 5-8 hours a day. I filled in for a lot of wedding bands and public gigs as well. From there I began a side project called “Sianvar” with Will Swan from Dance Gavin Dance, Donovan Malero from Hail the Sun, and Sergio Medina from Stolas and Nova Charisma. This little supergroup would go on to do some amazing tours and festivals and ended in 2018. A Lot Like Birds also met an unfortunate end in 2017, but I carried on to play with as many unique and talented individuals as I could. I currently play for Royal Coda, Gold Necklace, Kurt Travis, the progressive genius Skylar Capporicci, and Secret Gardens, and I do the remote and local recording for many other artists. I have also become “the dude that can learn any setlist in a short amount of time.” That got me tours as a fill-in drummer for bands such as Chiodo’s, The Amity Affliction, We Came as Romans, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and others of that ilk. I moved to Nashville (Franklin proper) at the beginning of 2019 with my wife and two children. I love the energy in Nashville and it has been an amazing culmination of a ridiculous musical journey and I’m not slowing down anytime soon.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road is never smooth. So, we adapt and adjust. The path is also unique to each of us. The means to get there don’t matter as much as the discipline to make it happen. I even dropped out of college in my early 20s because all I wanted to do was focus on music (which felt like a terrible choice at the time). But I also know cats that went to Berklee and graduated with flying colors and still didn’t end up with a solid band or gig. It takes a ton of blood and sweat, endless practice, and insane patience to become a professional musician in today’s oversaturated climate. Early touring was maddening. Slept on lots of couches and basement floors, dealt with a lot of brutal drives and conditions, lots of free gigs and work put in for “intangible” dividends. Certainly, many moments when I wasn’t sure if it was going to be worth it in the long run. Artists tend to wallow in self-doubt and existential concerns, but that’s part of what makes us passionate about what we do. Every time I finished an album I would think “man I could have done that so much better.” But I use that to fuel my next project as much as I can. Also, the drum set is a pretty ruthless rig to travel with, set up, tear down, etc. In the early touring days, I couldn’t afford a drum tech so I would be lugging my drums and gear through rain and snow to get into dimly lit venues that smelled like urinal cakes and beer. It’s hard to capture it all in one anecdotal entry, but I claim that most musicians have to go through that touring “Bootcamp” at some point or another.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a drummer that craves to work with as many talented and unique musicians as I can. This has led me to a set of skills that are hard to define. I’d like to think I specialize in song-crafting and groove construction. I have deeply studied Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, jazz, funk, progressive fusion, and metal among many other genres and styles. I’ve developed a reputation for being able to play just about any style in my own way. From the mouths of other musicians: People can always tell it’s me on a track regardless of the band or genre. My individual creative playing style seems to set me apart from other drummers (although it’s hard to pinpoint what that means in detail). I am known for making even the simplest grooves or drum parts stand out with my own flavor. I do not consider myself to be one of the fastest or most complex drummers, not part of that elite group of musicians that plays stadiums or shocks the world with a YouTube drum solo and no video of mine has ever gotten millions of views. I’m a little bit of a behind-the-scenes player and I don’t mind that at all. The more I work with artists, the more work I get, and the albums and tours stack pretty high. I’ve done 27 full US tours, and toured Europe, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Costa Rica, and Australia twice. I’m also a proud educator. I teach hundreds of drum students on the road, over Skype, and locally in Nashville. I’ve also been working on a drum education series that will eventually be released in physical and digital form. I can memorize songs quickly, I make things “feel” right to the best of my ability, and I’m willing to record with and take on monstrously challenging songs.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Defining success isn’t easy. If you can find purpose in life and your “purpose” works in tandem with the right dichotomy of all the cliche stuff to support yourself (financial stability, health, recreational time, rest) then I’d say you can lay your head on the pillow at night and feel like you’re doing SOMETHING right. Success is about the most relative and subjective concept I can think of, but objectively that’s what it means to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @josephwesleyarrington
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JosephArrington
- Other: www.patreon.com/josephwesleyarrington
Image Credits
XpeesX Brownmetal
Cameron Flaisch
