For almost 20 years, Brandon Essig has been perfecting his craft as a drummer. The Northern New Jersey artist got started when he expressed an interest in playing the saxophone at the age of eight, but his parents felt drums would be a better introduction. Essig’s father has worked in the music industry for over 40 years as an audio engineer, and his mother always sang show tunes around the home. As an elementary school student, he played in the school’s band, and around age 10, his parents gifted him a drum set to practice at home.
“I was always around music as a kid,” he said. “I remember music was always playing in our house.”
However, he didn’t take drumming seriously until he got an iPod and started listening to music independently at 13. “I started to listen to a lot more technical and difficult music,” said Essig, “a lot more metal music. I started to up my performance around that time.”
Metallica, In Flames, and Killswitch Engage were some of his biggest influences, as well as Dave Lombardo from Slayer being his biggest inspiration.
In 2017, Essig joined The Permanent Revolution, an old-school punk rock band. Essig was open to learning the new music, even though it was different from what he was used to playing since he usually lets loose when playing the drums. “I wanted to discipline myself,” he said. “I could just go crazy the entire song, but I would rather know what it is like to serve the song other than serving myself.”
He played his first gig with the band not long after he joined at New York City’s Pine Box Rock Shop. “I remember thinking to myself, I’m going to put everything I got into performing these songs, But I had no idea how they’re going to play out live.”
There were some setbacks during the performance, such as Essig experiencing the difference between playing drums on stage versus at home for the first time and using a different setup, but the experience stuck with him.
“It’s a mix of excitement and nervousness when you play something for the first time,” said Essig. “I definitely remember that feeling of like I’m rushing everything right now, but once you start, it’s like a freight train where you’re like, alright, let’s just go with it.”
Almost a year later, he joined Eels of Love, an instrumental progressive prog rock and metal band, which soon became the band he plays with consistently. In the absence of a vocalist, the melodies are now the main focus, which he enjoys since it allows him to go crazy on the drum kit.
“The instrumentals need to be memorable; it needs to stick in people’s minds after the song is over,” he said. “Not just in one ear and out the other.”
Essig and his bandmates have been working on new music for the past few months. They are continuously brainstorming and coming up with new beats, whether they are in a Discord chat or in person. “The most artistically feeling moments have been the ones when we’re all in the room working together on sections, and you can see and hear the magic happening.”
Regardless of his music genre or performance style, Essig is a drummer who loves to drum. His genuine passion for the instrument is evident in his desire to make music.
“Playing drums generally is such a good feeling. You are physically engaged; you are working out all the limbs of your body while working things out in your head of the counting,” said Essig. “ It’s an intellectually stimulating experience for me.”
Stay tuned for more New Jersey Music artists featured here at Respect My Region.
