My Story

Darren T. Elliott: My Story

1974. Hippie Drummer, Gold Sparkle Kit. I was 7, I was hooked!!

My first drum set were my mom’s pots and pans!

Okay, let’s see where was I?……Oh yes, Darren T. Elliott: My Story. Well, it begins the Summer of ’74. I was 6 years old, attending my brothers Bar-Mitzvah at the Sportsman Lodge in Studio City, Ca.

I don’t remember too much from the event because I was sitting at a table the entire time completely mesmerized by this Hippie drummer who was playing this gold-sparkle drum set.  Oh-My-God, I was hooked right then. Eventually, I worked up the nerve to ask the drummer the big question: “Hey mister, how do I become a drummer?” Looking back on it now, I am not sure he was serious, but I took what he said next to heart. He told me to “start on pots and pans.”   No sooner then that evening, did I begin building the only Teflon drum set of its kind, that included most of my mom’s pots and pans.  It soon became a real drag every night around dinner time, when the Roadie (my mom) came knockin’  to take back “my drum set” to the kitchen…FML!

Darren T. Elliott: My Story

The Trip to Toys R Us that Changed My Life!

With in a few months, my mom was pretty tired of competing for her pots and pans on a daily basis. So, my dad was nominated (who I don’t think was too thrilled about it), drove me to Toys R Us to get me the closest thing to a drum set….”The Basin Beat” (enter angelic music).   Rickety as all get out, but it was MY DRUM SET!

My brother is six years older than me. So, while my friends were listing to what seven year-olds listen to, my brother was turning me on to The Kinks, Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band, The Beatles, The Who, Cream, and Dire Straits!  Unlike my friends, whose parents paid for drum lessons, I wound up teaching myself, Ringo Starr’s steady back-beat style.  For hours on end,  I played The Beatles Second Album  to the point where I wore that album and my brother’s turntable needle down to nothing!

Darren T. Elliott: My Story

The Drums Became More Than an Instrument, While Growing Up

Growing up a “Latch-key” Kid, gave me 3-4 hours a day to practice

I come from a a very “left-brain” family.  Looking back, they were good sports, and because my brothers and I were “Latch-Key Kids” growing up, I had time everyday to practice for at least 2-3 hours at a time.  By age 9, for whatever reason, my dad decided to take me to Betnen’s Music Store in West LA,  where he bought me my first real set – an American Custom blue sparkle Junior Pro Drum Set.  From there, I just kept putting in my 10,000 hours to learn more.  Eventually, I went on from Ringo’s steady beats, to playing The Who and more harder edge stuff, by the time I was 11.

My oldest brother wasn’t the only one responsible for my broadening my musical horizons.  My dad was very much into Swing, Jazz and Big Band.  So, if I wasn’t being sat down in front of a turn-table listening to my brother’s music, I was listening to the radio with my father, getting a musical education from Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, and so much more!  Eventually, my father and brother’s influence would be the perfect recipe to developing the unique style that still serves me well today!

My love affair with the drums continued well into my teens. Like most teens however,, it’s a time of self-discovery and growth.  I was the youngest of three boys, so while my parents were consumed with work and supporting a family of five, I was dealing with my middle brother giving me daily beat-downs, and not having much in the way of parental guidance then.  That is when the drums started to become my retreat to deal with my feelings of loneliness, depression and physical and mental abuse.  It seemed, the more I would hurt, the more I wanted play.   I didn’t know it then, but all that time spent playing would be directly responsible for…..well, not making me a f’d up individual, later in life.