NEIL PEART: FROM CHOPSTICKS TO RUSH
snakes-and-arrows-28-s.jpg picture by dtxtremeiiispecial - Photobucket
Young Neil Peart was living in St. Catherines, Canada, in the early ‘60’s, taking piano lessons, when he watched a movie that changed his life.
“. . . before I ever touched a pair of drumsticks or knew what a snare drum was, I saw
The Gene Krupa Story on late-night TV. To the boy I was then, the notion of being a drummer seemed exciting, glamorous, elegant, and dangerous, and my eyes must have been shining with inspiration and desire. I remember thinking, “I wanna do that!”
He developed the habit of drumming on various objects around the house with a pair of chopsticks, so for his 13th birthday, his parents bought him a pair of drum sticks, a practice pad and some lessons, with the promise that if he stuck with it for a year, they would buy him a kit.
Good to their word, his parents bought him a drum kit for his 14th birthday, and he began taking lessons at a music conservatory.
By his late teens, Peart had played in local bands such as Mumblin’ Sumpthin’, the Majority, and JR Flood. These bands practiced in basement recreation rooms and garages and played church halls, high schools and roller rinks in towns across Southern Ontario.
"When I was starting out", Peart later said, "if I broke the tips off my sticks, I couldn't afford to buy new ones, so I would just turn them around and use the other end. I got used to it, and I continue to use the heavy end of lighter sticks -- it gives me a solid impact, but with less 'dead weight' to sling around.” So Peart became known for playing "butt-end out", reversing stick orientation for greater impact and rimshot force.
neil_peart-001.jpg picture by dtxtremeiiispecial - Photobucket
At eighteen, after struggling as a drummer in Canada, Peart dropped out of high school and traveled to London hoping to find greater success. But he was forced to support himself by selling trinkets to tourists in a souvenir shop called The Great Frog. After a year and a half of dead-end musical gigs, disillusioned by his lack of progress in the music business, Peart returned to Canada, leaving his hopes of British musical success behind. Upon returning to St. Catharines, he worked for his father selling tractor parts at Dalziel Equipment.
Soon Peart was recruited to play drums for the St. Catharines bar band Hush, who played the South Ontario bar circuit. Then, an acquaintance of a different band convinced Peart to audition for the Toronto-based Rush, which was replacing its original drummer.
His future bandmates describe his arrival on audition day as somewhat humorous. He arrived in shorts, driving a battered old car with his drums stored in trashcans.
Peart felt the entire audition was a complete disaster, but after some discussion, Geddy Lee convinced Alex Lifeson that Peart's maniacal Keith Moon-style of drumming was what the band needed.
Peart officially joined the band in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first U.S. tour. He got a silver Slingerland kit which he played at his first gig with the band, opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann in front of over 11,000 people at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
snakes-and-arrows-94-s.jpg picture by dtxtremeiiispecial - Photobucket
Sources: Wikipedia, Modern Drummer, etc.