Meet Louie Palmer: Drummer & educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Louie Palmer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Louie, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks is an essential part of success, in my opinion. People often associate taking risks with being reckless and that is a common mistake. Making calculated and informed decisions is how I look at it; they may well come with risk (sometimes a lot) but if you are sensible, thorough and make bold decisions you will do well. High risk, high reward; you have to be bold if you want to be successful.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Well, I’m a professional drummer, originally from the UK but now living in Los Angeles. I started when I was 5 years old and am now 35. I moved to the US in 2013; it was a high risk decision but for me it was the only option. All my musical heroes growing up were American and a lot of them live here in LA.

It’s not been an easy road, especially with starting over in a new country and new city after having so much work in London, but it’s worked out well so far; I absolutely love Los Angeles and apart from missing family in the UK, I have never looked back.

Absolute love for what you do is the key to everything – that’s what will help you through the challenges and sacrifices. Being a pretty sensible and rational person myself, I still question things sometimes and I think it’s ok to do that. I don’t think you have to make stupid decisions and take silly risks just because you ‘love what you do’. I still question if it’s it worth it sometimes, especially with the music business going through such radical changes and being so hard to survive in. It’s often presented to creatives that if you question things you must not love it enough and I think that’s not true and is unfair. But of course you have to have a very deep connection with what you do and feel like you can’t see your life NOT doing it. One of my old teachers said you have to me like a mule in a snowstorm – head down and press on.

These days I’m working at my own studio in North Hollywood recording drums for clients around the world and running my online drum school – playbetterdrums.com – which has grown into a really great resource for drummers of all levels. When the world gets back to normal I’ll be resuming gigs/touring and playing live. You have to be diverse as a musician these days so I try to keep a mix of playing, recording, teaching, running my social media accounts – trying to build my own brand rather than just rely on being a ‘hired gun’.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve travelled a lot through being a touring musician and I lived in London for years, which is an incredible city, but there is no city like quite like LA. The combination of city life with the incredible weather and outdoor spaces makes it so unique. I always take visitors to the beaches in Malibu and do some of the great hikes around LA. So many great places to eat – Little Dom’s in Los Feliz; Delancy in Hollywood for great pizza; The Oaks Gourmet is a favourite neighbourhood spot and breakfast at The Waffle on Sunset is a must. Check out the Roger Room on La Cienega or Laurel Hardware in WeHo for late night drinks. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I wouldn’t be doing any of the things I’m able to do now without the unbelievable support of my parents. It sounds cliché but in my case there is a whole other layer to it being that my father is also a drummer and introduced me to music when I was 5 years old. We have shared everything throughout the years – the highs and the lows. He taught me how to play; he supported my enthusiasm when I was a teenager; he paid for equipment and lessons. My mother drove me here, there and everywhere to countless rehearsals and sat through countless concerts; she was always supportive of my childhood dream of becoming a professional drummer.

The music business is such a strange universe, unlike other jobs or industries, that I don’t know how anyone who doesn’t have at least one parent who plays an instrument and understands the sacrifices & effort, manages to stay with it through their entire childhood. You cannot just go to college and learn to play. You can’t graduate and then immediately find a job like you would in the corporate world. It’s all about recommendation, word of mouth, being in the right place; ultimately just being around forever and gradually working your way up with absolutely no guarantees. The thing is that, being ‘around forever’, is incredibly difficult, financially, emotionally – it’s hard to stick with things through the lows over a 15/20 years before you even start getting high profile work as an adult. Ask creatives how many times they’ve heard, ‘when are you going to get a real job?’, from their friends and family. Add to that the invaluable information I received from a musician-parent right at the start of my life about how to play, what to play, what music to listen to, what orchestras to join when I was in school, etc – and even the support to move to another country to pursue my dream. There have been other people that have helped me a great deal along the way but I only had to read halfway into the question before knowing what to write.

Website: http://louiepalmer.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/louiepalmerdrums

Facebook: http://facebook.com/louiepalmerdrums

Youtube: http://youtube.com/louiepalmerdrums

Other: Online drum school – http://playbetterdrums.com

Image Credits
Marcus Wolf