It's an honour and pleasure to meet Mike Klemetson from Hillsong, on 9th June 2007 @ KL Baptist Church, Kuala Lumpur.
DFC : Hi Mike. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Mike : My name is Mike Klemetson. I originally grew up in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA. I got saved on August 23rd, 1998 while attending a small Evangelical church in Superior, Wisconsin. That day radically changed my life and I'm so glad to know Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. I have been married for 5 years to an Australian (Nicole) and we have 2 boys (Christopher - 19 months, and David - 4 months). I oversee the Kids Worship at Hillsong Church at our Hills Campus as a volunteer. I am employed to run several companies for my day job.
DFC : How long have you bee playing drums?
Mike :I started playing drums 20 years ago. I had to take 2 years of piano before I could move onto learning rudiments on a practice pad for 2 years. 17 years ago I got my first drumset from my cousin. Besides touring and recording in secular bands the only other ministry I've played drums in is with my home church of Lake Community Church back in Alexandria. It was only a dream when my wife and I got married and began attending Hillsong Church that I would get an opportunity here to play. Dreams do come true!
DFC : What do you practice in drums?
Mike : Ever since moving to Sydney I've found practicing to be very hard. Housing is very expensive so to get a place that can even house a drumset is hard. My drums couldn't be brought to Australia from America but God blessed me with a kit to practice on several years ago, and a house with a garage and nice neighbours. Mainly I simply practice whatever is on my iPOD, but I love playing Punk and Ska music. For this tour I first learned the 30 odd songs given to me by playing along on the set, and then running them over by myself from memory with a click track.
DFC : How do you improve yourself beside practising?
Mike : Listening to music is what I do the most. I find that nothing will improve your playing more than playing with others who challenge you and make you listen and think more than doing anything by yourself. So I make sure that I'm always playing somewhere with someone a little bit all the time.
DFC : How do you keep yourself spiritually fit?
Mike : PODCASTS! I'm a diehard iPod fanatic. I had no idea what the big deal was until my wife gave me one for Christmas. Now I listen to sermons daily on my commute to and from work. Great preachers like Chuck Swindoll and John Maxwell. Of course just getting into God's word should be our primary workout, but just like practicing, 2 kids has really thrown routine out the window, and now its whenever I get a chance.
DFC : Is there any particular drum and cymbal brand you play with?
Mike : I've always played Pearl drums. Their hardware has never failed me and its easy to configure to what I like. The drums all sound good from beginner Export sets up to their Reference kits. I use a Pearl Virgil Donati signature snare. But since I tried a DW pedal I've never been able to use anything else. In my early days of playing I used Zildjian cymbals but kept breaking them. That of course got too expensive and a friend of mine suggested Sabian. I have now had AAX crashes, splashes, and chinas which sound awesome and never break. Hats are Zildjian K and I prefer Zildjian rides as well. My favourite stick is the Vic Firth Buddy Rich signature. They are a bigger stick so I can't really use them in our Kids Worship setting. I tend to use Pro Mark 7A sticks for those lighter situations.
DFC : Please explain a little about your drum kit and cymbals (if any)
Mike : I think I kind of did that. Here in Sydney I just practice on a Pearl Export but all the hardware and cymbals are what I just described. Nothing flash, but gets the job done :-) Church has great gear for us to play and record on so I don't have to invest much as a drummer.
DFC : What advice would you give to young drummers who is serving or intended to serve in the worship department?
Mike : Relationships are KEY. If you have trouble maintaining relationships with your leaders (I don't care who's fault it is) then you are going to struggle. Church is all about team, and if you can't be a team player, you won't cut it. When you are playing for a team you also have to submit to your leaders when it comes to tempo and dynamics. Drummers are very prideful people and we love the fact that we can keep time like nobody's business. But when a worship leader or music director tells us to speed up or slow down in the middle of a song we think that we're failures. That's not true!!! I know you've played that song at 73 bpm for 4 years but if the Holy Spirit is prompting your leaders to change something, you HAVE to submit. They'll appreciate you more and it will show them what a team player you can be.
DFC : Lastly, in your own words, how would you encourage more drummers to this website?
I love anything that unites the body of believes in Jesus to unite, especially something that I'm interested in. Us drummers have a way of sticking together so it makes sense to have these websites bringing Christian drummers together. There's not many forums where Christian Drummers can get answers and read articles about their specific situations. That's awesome!
|
