Backstage Pass with... Brian Factor
Words of Drum Wisdom from Brian Factor:
“More Cowbell” and Chiropractors
By: Nicole Roberge
Brian Factor has graced stages throughout the country as drummer for Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (Factor, Kellogg, Keith Karlson), and anyone who has seen his performance can tell that he’s come a long way from his days performing drum solos on pots and pans. Except now during his drum solos, he gets the occasional kazoo thrown at him. A native of New York, getting most of his musical experience in Massachusetts, Factor has been playing in bands since his high school days, and has come to play with the likes of Heath Brandon and Keith Zarriello, eventually finding his niche as a Sixer.
Here, Factor fills us in on performing in a clown suit, the Sixer’s Ten Commandments, and the triumphs and tribulations of drumming:
Tuned In Music: How old were you when you first got started in music, and did you always want to play drums in a band?
Brian Factor: I was about 11 or 12 years old when I first got interested in the drums. I had decided that I wanted a drum set after drooling on so many of them at the local music store, so I set up a makeshift drum kit consisting of boxes, pots, pans – whatever I could find in my parent’s basement. I think my parents took this as a sign of like “Oh, Brian must mean business…” So eventually, a few years later, they got me my first set of drums. I’ll never forget the day coming home from school and seeing my dad trying to put the drums together for me. He had no idea what he was doing, he was like Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson with the computer in Zoolander, and so I just said “Move it on over dad, I’ll take it from here…”
I knew that I wanted to play drums in a band when just playing to albums kind of got old. As a kid I didn’t have much of a social life and the little I did have was spent in the basement playing with friends. There’s such a major difference playing with other human beings than just playing your instrument of choice by yourself. If you can do that you’re lucky, but if you can play with friends, it’s MasterCard Priceless…
TI: Was there ever a time when you thought playing with a band wasn’t a realistic goal?
BF: Oh you mean besides all the questioning I get from friends and family about when I’m going to get a real job? Oh yeah of course…
There was a brief period after graduating college when I decided I wanted out of my parent’s house and into a place in Massachusetts with some friends of mine from school. I’m originally from New York so it was kind of a major decision. I thought I’d just hook up with some musician friends that I still kept in touch with from college and hopefully I could start playing more often.
So cut to me temping at a trucking supply warehouse. My job consisted of checking in these cracked out truck drivers who had come to pick up their load or whatever it was that was stored at this warehouse (look for my new column in Trucker’s Digest). I got a lot of attitude from these truck drivers because they would just get off these cross-country drives and if their load wasn’t ready they would get pissy with me.
So I guess you can say I was feeling a little down in the dumps about exactly where my hopes of playing music were going. Luckily I was able to start playing with Kellogg and Kit more often that I was able to escape the doldrums of the warehousing industry. At least for the time being…
TI:
Do you remember the first time you ever performed in front of an audience?
BF: Yes, yes I do. I was about 5 or 6 years old in kindergarten and it was for a school play. I don’t remember the premise of the play exactly, but it involved me singing alone and in a clown suit in front of everyone’s parents. Now, I’m not exactly the most outgoing Sixer, so I was definitely shy/scared shitless about the whole thing. I think there is a picture of me singing with this shear look of terror on my face as I’m grabbing onto the curtains behind me for dear life. Thinking about that clown suit though, it doesn’t seem so bad now, right?
TI:What bands have had the most influence on your music, or your outlook on performing?
BF: This answer is constantly changing as I’m always getting into new bands and different artists. If you were to ask me this question in high school or college I probably would have said John Bonham from Led Zeppelin and/or one of the five million drummers Pearl Jam had and those guys still hold true for me today, but my influences are always changing. I’m more into avant-garde spoken word gypsy music right now. Who knows, tomorrow it could be Israeli folk dance music with a tinge of new wave. More on that later…
Since being in The Sixers I definitely contribute a lot vocally so for the past couple of years I’ve really come to admire drummers who can sing and play at the same time. It’s a lot harder than it looks (at least for me anyway) and half the time I feel like a total spaz. Levon Helm from the group The Band is one fine drummer and an amazing vocalist. On my best night I think maybe I could be a one-armed/poor man’s Levon Helm on his worst night. Another drummer who can sing his ass off is Darren Jesse from the now defunct Ben Folds Five. Maybe on my best night I could be a one legged/incapacitated Darren Jesse on his most miserable night…
TI: What different bands have you played in?
BF: Growing up I was in a few bands that had no success at all, quite possibly negative success, which you know, is really bad. My first “serious” band I was in was in high school and we were called The Anti-Social Butterflies. If the name of the band didn’t give away how shitty we were than maybe the music will. Kluberlang was another high school endeavor. I could hunt down some of our demo tapes by following the scent of dog poo emanating from my parent’s basement.
In college, I feel I learned a lot while I was in this band called Tuscan Groove. We were your typical run of the mill college band, but going to school in Western Massachusetts where you have artistically nurturing towns like Amherst and Northampton, I was able to experience an actual “music scene”. Kellogg, Kit and I have that in common. We all went to school there and were all in bands in that same music scene. I feel like all three of us experienced a lot of the same situations, like “Oh yeah, we played that frat house too, except I didn’t have a girl cut her head open while trying to do a keg stand…” – You know, those kind of anecdotes. And that’s how we all met each other, we all kind of crossed paths through friends and playing the same gigs. I remember meeting Kit during my senior year of college. My band was playing with his old band Traveling Matt. I remember Kit had a ponytail and wore clogs. You couldn’t have told me then that I’d be best friends with that German weirdo… It’s definitely funny thinking about all that stuff.
TI:
What has it been like for you to be part of “Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers?”
BF: It’s been a great time that I don’t think is close to being over. Being in The Sixers is definitely a position I don’t take for granted. When I first started playing with Kellogg and Kit, it wasn’t on a regular basis. Kellogg wasn’t getting band gigs so you know I’d be hanging out at the trucking warehouse or whatever…
Around the fall of 2003 Kellogg had called me up and asked me if I wanted to come out on tour full time under a couple of conditions…1. It wouldn’t be for a lot of money and 2. Most of these dates, which were mostly colleges wouldn’t know that the band was bringing a drummer. I was like fine – I’ll do it. I just wanted to play. So on most of these gigs we’d arrive and I would never know what I’d be playing on that night. If it would be on a drum kit, a snare drum or anything at all. On most of these shows I kind of felt like I was sneaking my way on stage. There were some rough shows, but we all got through them with a strong sense of humor. That is so important for this job or any job for that matter.
These days I’ll arrive at a show that we’re headlining at like The Paradise in Boston and wonder if they’ll have enough mics for the drums or maybe look around for some NACA guy giving me evil eyes… But really, it’s settling and nice to see that I don’t have to worry about that stuff, it’s totally grounded me and I feel grateful for where I am right now.
TI: So you’re a Sixer—what do Sixer responsibilities include?
BF: Well, when this past fall tour got started Stephen handed out these laminated cards to everyone in the band and to the people we work closely with. The card has like The Sixer’s Ten Commandments and they really have become our mantras. Rules like remembering everyone’s name and forgiving people for their faults. Leaving your balls on the stage, which is probably the most important… Just ideals that seem to make sense. I know I have to work on remembering people’s names because I’m a space cadet, but by following these guidelines, it’ll probably make you a better person. So, I guess being a Sixer is like being in a 12-step program without a drug or alcohol problem – oh, and minus two steps.
TI: “Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers” have a new CD coming out February 15. It is your first on a major label—are you excited about that?
BF: I am very much excited. I’m psyched to see what it’s like to have a major label behind us, or any kind of label for that matter. We like to think of ourselves as a grass roots organization, but when you can get good people with a little money behind something like “Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers” then you can only help bolster what we already have been doing for a number of years.
I’m really looking forward to walking into Best Buy, going to the rock or pop section, picking up our album and buying it. It will be a surreal experience. I’ll smell the sweet fumes of cellophane and celebrate in ecstasy. Then the Best Buy employees will have to call security. It’s going to be glorious!
TI: You’ve been touring a lot with this band—what has been your most memorable experience?
BF: We get asked this question a lot and I feel like every time we answer it’s like trying to explain a funny scene from a movie to a person who’s never seen it. I guess for these experiences you kind of just have to be there… Running out of gas in Bumfuck, Utah was certainly memorable, but I guess you just had to be there. The first time Kit did his “Like A Maniac” dance move was a total riot. He started pouring water all over his head and body while jogging in place. He came very close to electrocuting himself, the band and the audience (all 5 of them). But maybe you just had to be at the show?
TI: Drummers seemed to get picked on the most—and you
have been known to get things thrown at you. Why is that?
BF: I always think of that joke – “What do you call the guy who hangs out with the band? The drummer”! HA. Yeah, that’s really funny, why don’t you take this drumstick and… No, I mean I’m not getting defensive about this, am I? I don’t know why drummers get picked on the most, but I think we drummers have to unite and form an organization where drummers across the globe can come together and change things. Like maybe put the drum riser out front and the guitar player in the back because who needs to see the guitar player anyway? Maybe we just need more Tommy Lees in the world.
The throwing things at me “shtick” got started while I would do my drum solo during one of our songs “Uninspired Gambling”. It started off with Kellogg just throwing this deck of cards he happened to have on stage with him (I have no idea why…) and then it progressed to stuffed animals that we have on stage as you know – stage props… Then kazoos got thrown into the mix and I never authorized that. Despite what most people think, kazoos do hurt you when they’re thrown at your head. I’m not going to say who’s thrown a kazoo at my head, but he does play an awful lot of kazoo at Sixer shows…echem… Recently we played a show where we told everyone to bring a stuffed animal because it was around Christmas time and we wanted to donate all the animals to Toys for Tots. So during my drum solo SK announced that it was time to hit Boots. I wore a batting helmet from my little league days just in case, you know, anything hard got thrown at me.
TI: What part of a drum kit are you most like, and why?
BF: I’d have to say the cowbell because alone it’s such an awkward and clunky instrument, but when you put it in the right context it can be a really cool addition. Kind of like that Saturday Night Live skit with Will Ferrell playing cowbell on “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. I think that skit is HILARIOUS. Oh man, so yeah – a cowbell.
TI: What advice would you give to drummers who are interested in touring with a band?
BF: Well I kind of feel like I’m still learning the ropes myself, but I guess the most important thing I’ve learned thus far about touring is to not run yourself into the ground. You can easily do that by partying a lot or not getting enough sleep. Sleep is so important. Sleep people, sleep! You can get away with partying if you have a tour bus or at least someone to drive you around, but we don’t and if I were to get a hangover some where in the middle of Nebraska, they’d literally stop the car, drag me onto the side of the road and beat me senseless.
As for drummers I would just say that umm – drum cases are very important? And get to know your chiropractor really well… Yeah, those sound like words of wisdom.
For more information on Brian Factor, visit, www.brian-factor.com and for Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, www.stephenkellogg.com
