Meet David Levine | Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hit Like A Girl, Inc.

We had the good fortune of connecting with David Levine, Executive Director of Hit Like A Girl, Inc. and drum industry veteran, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi David, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
One day, back in 2011, I took a phone call from a young woman named Mindy Abovitz. She explained that she was a drummer and the publisher of a new magazine by, for and about female drummers called “Tom Tom”. She asked if any of my marketing clients might be interested in placing an ad in the publication.

Since the conventional thinking at the time was that less than 5% of the world’s drummers were girls, I candidly replied that I wasn’t sure enough female drummers existed to justify the expense. I suggested that, maybe, we should try to come up with a way to invest in growing the market before we invested in growing our share of it. I also suggested that we consult with Phil Hood who, at the time, was the publisher of DRUM! magazine.

After further conversation, Phil, Mindy and I agreed to produce a drum contest for girls, women, female-identifying and non-binary people. This way, we reasoned, we could get a better sense of the size and scope of the community. Besides, drum sales were trending down and, if we could bring the industry together to encourage more girls and women to play, we might be able to slow the decline.

We further decided to call the contest “Hit Like A Girl”— intentionally drawing attention to a term with a negative connotation and redefining it as a positive one.

So, with a mission to “celebrate, elevate and cultivate” female drummers, the first Hit Like A Girl contest took place in 2012. Over the past decade, thousands of drummers of every age and from every corner of the world participated in it and, in the process, created nothing less than a revolution in drumming.

Giulliana Merello (Karol G.)

Hayley Brownell (Olivia Rodrigo)

Kii Kimura (age 9 – Japan)

Krystel Brenes (age 11 – Costa Rica)

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a passion for the drums and drumming. I eventually got two college degrees in percussion but, when I began struggling as a professional musician, I was able to channel my passion into being a marketing consultant in the drum industry. During my career I was fortunate to work with some of the biggest companies in the business, including Simmons, Remo, Ludwig, LP, Drum Workshop (DW Drums) and others.

I’ve also been involved with several music education and market development projects such as the Percussion Marketing Council (PMC), the Electronic Percussion Industry Council (EPIC) and the Percussive Arts Society (PAS).

Since starting Hit Like A Girl in 2012, I’ve also developed Drum Summit (an organization that promotes female percussionists) and Drumming Connects Us (a program that encourages boys and girls to play drums).

Looking back, I feel that I was lucky to have seen and been involved in so many of the developments that have had a profound impact on the past and future of drumming— the synthetic drumhead, the double-bass drum pedal and world and recreational percussion. At DW, we completely flipped the drum business by focusing on custom-made, artist-quality instruments and accessories. Then there’s the recent explosion of female drummers, which has forever changed drumming, again.

Lola Teague (age 13 – England)

Sarah Jones (Harry Styles)

Brittany Bowman (Demi Lovato)

DeArcus Curry (Janelle Monae)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many who share the credit for supporting the growth of the female drumming community; drummers, manufacturers, media, etc. But I’d like to give a shoutout to the people who really did the heavy-lifting, the women who overcame all the obstacles to become amazing drummers, and who inspire the next generation of girl drummers to follow in their footsteps.

Website: www.hitlikeagirlcontest.com

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