08.16.2004
Mike Huestis Interview. Dynasty Interview with Mike Heustis, American Fork High School, Utah Dynasty: Tell a little bit about yourself... MH: I was born and raised in Bakersfield, CA. My mother and father were both very influential on my musical and educational development. My father was a "working" drummer for years. He played with various groups throughout the Western United States and performed as an opening act for the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Ike & Tina Turner, The Moody Blues, etc.... He was my first inspiration and has always been a source for positive thinking. My mother was a school teacher and encouraged my "studies". She taught me how to learn, and essentially, how to teach. She was consistent and always seemed to find the fun inside of the work to be done. Together they formed a foundation for a love of music and teaching. Dynasty: How did drumming become a part of your life? MH: My father was a working drummer and it seemed inevitable that I would do the same. My mother tried to guide me towards the piano at an early age. I played piano for a few years, but I never really took to the "classics" per say. I was spending my practice time trying to figure out Billy Joel tunes instead of playing the Etudes that my teachers would assign for me. I finally convinced my mother to let me join the Bakersfield High School Driller Band when I reached high school. This was a big deal for me because my dad had been section leader of that drumline in the late 60's and it seemed to have some kind of significance beyond just hitting a drum. I immediately made friends with the guys in the line and I played cymbals in 9th grade. I still talk with those friends to this very day.... as a matter of fact I performed at a Festival this past weekend with one of my high school friends. So, we've been playing drums together for over 17 years. Dynasty: Where have you played? MH: I played in high school of course and then I was introduced to the world of drum corps by the Wolfersberger family. I was best friends with the youngest son, Mark, and his mom and dad had met in the 50's when they both marched with the Sky Ryders from Hutchinson, KS. Mark's dad, Robert was involved with the National Association for Rudimental Drumming along with such legends as Mitch Markovitch, etc. Robert was N.A.R.D. Champion in 1959 and 1960. So, they invited me to their house one weekend and we watched the PBS broadcast of the 1987 Drum Corps International Championships. I watched three groups on that video, the Cadets, the Blue Devils and the Santa Clara Vanguard. I got hooked and dreamed of a place with the Concord Blue Devils. I was able to get a break from a man to whom I owe a great debt. Matt Savage let me "tag along" with the 1989 Velvet Knights. I was only 15 years old and I didn't do much except watch these amazing players being taught by even more amazing teachers. Without realizing it, I was getting an education in arranging and teaching. Because I was such a terrible drummer at that age, I was relegated to sitting and listening. I was able to "take in" the entire ensemble without having to worry about my part. I learned a great deal from Matt and David Di'lullo. The following years I had the opportunity to actually participate with the Sacramento Freelancers. I was in the pit under the instruction of Tad Carpenter and I was able to learn a great deal about how a front ensemble works, rehearsal techniques, and basic timing issues. In the next two years I became a student of the two men most responsible for the Freelancers in the 90's, Norm Bartlett and Don Silva. They essentially taught me everything I know about rudimental drumming. Norman is the greatest teacher of young rudimental drummer that I've ever met. He was able to take largely inexperienced drummers and turn them into top 12 lines almost every year. Finally in 1993 I was able to secure a spot in the 1993 Blue Devils tenor line. The experience was everything that I thought it would be and more. The quality of each individual player was incredible, and the horn line seemed to be from another planet. I had the privilege of spending as many as 18 hours a day with David Glyde, Shawn Glyde, Glen Bucker, and Jeff Lee. It was a great way to end my drum corps experience. Dynasty: Where did you go to school? MH: After I marched and attended Bakersfield College I was able to get a scholarship to attend the University of North Texas. At the time I was a rudimental drummer with some fleeting attempts to play keyboards and jazz drumset. Otherwise, I had no real percussive experiences beyond drum corps. At UNT in the first term I was able to see Leigh Howard Stevens perform a marimba clinic, the UNT Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Indian, and African Ensembles, the UNT Steel Band, the One-O'clock lab band and perform at PASIC with the UNT Drumline. It was an experience that simply cannot be described. The UNT Drumline was like being a part of a "Dream Team". I was able to stand in a line with Jeff Queen, Bill Bachman, Jim Yakas, Anooj Thacker, She-e-wu just to name a few. There were more great drummers there on every instrument you could imagine. I f you had a question about playing tabla, you only needed to walk down the hall of your dormitory and you could find someone to answer your questions. I was able to meet some of the greatest college aged drummers in the country. And our faculty was simply the most diverse in the country. The faculty included Dr. Robert Scietroma, Ron Fink, Ed Soph, Paul Rennick, Shrinivasan, Gideon Alorwoyie, Jose Aponte, Jon Kellis, Ed Smith, and Henry Okstell. I graduated in 1998 with a degree in Music Education. I then attended Graduate School in Utah and began teaching and arranging for local high schools and some of the surrounding universities. I finished my Masters Degree in 2000. Dynasty: What are you doing now? MH: I am currently the Director of Percussion at American Fork High School and the Percussion Department Chair for the Crescent School of Music in Utah. I am also the President of the Utah Chapter of PAS and actively promoting my classroom percussion method book, Developing the Percussionist-Musician. At American Fork High School we offer an extremely diverse percussion education. The American Fork drumline is undefeated in our state over the past two years and our percussion ensemble has performed at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival and Percussion Festival. We also offer our percussionists an opportunity to perform in a steel drum band, Brazilian ensemble, afro-cuban ensemble, and salsa band in addition to our bands and orchestras. I believe that our percussionists have more fun and a wider percussive experience than most programs in the country. We're very proud of the fact that American Fork is not simply a drumline, or just a classical percussion ensemble. The majority of our percussion students at American Fork take private lessons at our local after school music academy, The Crescent School of Music. At Crescent we have ten private teachers providing lessons to approximately 200+ students. Crescent also hosts a Jazz Festival and DrumFest each year with some great guest artists and clinicians. We had Jesus Diaz, Jose Aponte, Mike Spiro, and most recently Steve Smith. It's fun teaching in this area. There are tons of things happening, and it seems to be getting better and better each year. Dynasty: Other than Dynasty USA, what other instruments and accessories do you use? MH: American Fork uses Innovate Percussion keyboard mallets for all of our outdoor drumline and percussion ensembles. We use LP congas, bata drums, cajons, timbales, bongos, surdos, pandieros, tambourims and assorted bells in the areas of Brazilian and Afro-Cuban performance. Coyle Drums supplies all of our steel band needs. We have been very fortunate to find such a qualified pan builder and tuner. The quality of a pan varies from builder to builder, and Alan Coyle makes one of the best sounding pans available. Our jazz groups use DW drumsets and Zildjian cymbals. Dynasty: What are your interests outside of drumming? MH: I really enjoy sports and anything relating to them. I am a religious Sports Center fan and I follow most major sports pretty closely. I also became a pool player when I attended UNT only because we had one old table in our dormitory that was free. Other than sports I am particularly interested in history. I try and read a book of historical significance at least once or twice a year. Dynasty: Do you have a family? MH: Yes. I married my wife Pattie in 1998 after graduating from UNT and we have a 16 month old daughter named Ella Grace. They are the two greatest things that have happened to me. My wife works for our county, coordinating volunteers who work with abused children. She has been recognized by the State as one of the hardest working advocates for child abuse prevention. I am very proud of the work that she does for these kids and our community. Dynasty: Finish the statement, "If I could change anything in the world today, I would..." MH: I would change our definition of a "hero". America has a fascination with celebrity and all of the rights and privileges that go along with being a celebrity. We make heroes out of people who largely don't work very hard and really don't contribute to making our lives better or safer. There are far greater heroes in our home towns that are cleaning the streets, taking away our trash, teaching, protecting, volunteering and leading. There are also those obvious heroes who are in far off places doing things that none of us would like to be a part of. I guess I'd like to change the way we value the people in our country. Dynasty: What advice would you give for young people who want to become drummers? MH: My advice would be to get involved with a group or organization and dive in. Whether you want to play in band, orchestra, a drumline, or in a punk band, you need to get out there and play, play, play. Find a teacher, a musical role model and put your time into getting good at what you have fun doing. The more you put into it, the more fun you'll have and the group you are with will value your participation more and more. You'll have more fun than you could imagine and your teachers and peers will love you for your musical contribution. Dynasty: Favorite Color? MH: Blue (Devils) Dynasty: Favorite Drink? MH: Pepsi (Super Big Gulp, official drink of the '93 BD Drumline) Dynasty: Favorite Movie? MH: Man, that is a hard question! Can I break it into categories? Epic- The Godfather Sci-Fi- Star Wars Trilogy (the first one) Comedy- Harlem Nights War Movie- Saving Private Ryan Horror- The Exorcist Western- Any Clint Eastwood flick Honorable mention- Fight Club, Highlander, The Usual Suspects, Seven Dynasty: What is your favorite country? MH: Do you mean besides our country? I guess any of the Caribbean countries. They're all sunny, warm, have great food, great music, and people who love Americans (or at least American tourists' money) Dynasty: What is your favorite drumline? MH: My favorite drumline is 1990 Blue Devils. They where the line that really turned up the heat for most of us who marched Blue Devils in the early to mid 1990's. 1990 was a great year for the West Coast. Take a look at who marched at Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard and then look at the DCI activity today. You'll see lots of the same faces. Dynasty: What is your favorite way to travel? MH: Personally I like to travel by air whenever possible. I also like to travel alone when I am not required to be anywhere at a specific time. It's nice to take a road trip without an agenda sometimes. |
News: Mike Heustis from American Fork High School