An Interview with Blaize Collard: BDL Instructor Profile
Blaize Collard is our resident heavy metal aficionado and could probably wreck you in Super Smash Bros. An instructor with Boston Drum Lessons since 2015, he plays with numerous local groups of various styles and has unique performance experience, including performances on the other side of the world. He took some time to answer a few of our questions and share some of his background.
BDL: How long have you been playing the drums?
I got my first kit when I was 8 years old, and I’m 32 years old as of this interview!
BDL: What made you want to take up drumming?
I have a foggy memory of watching a performance on TV and being enamored with the look and sound of the drum set. It might have been a VHS of one of my Dad’s bands at the time, but I don't completely remember.
BDL: Who are a few of your musical influences and why?
As a young child two of my favorite bands were Oingo Boingo and Presidents of the United States of America. Into my teenage years I got more into heavier rock music like Linkin Park, System of a Down, Nirvana, Green Day, Yellowcard, etc. Then into high school is when I started listening to metal and progressive rock. Bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Opeth, Dream Theater, Between the Buried and Me, Rush, Iron Maiden, Katatonia, I could go on and on. I love most kinds of rock and metal because I can find bands that strike certain specific ‘emotional chords’ depending on the mood I’m in. Sometimes I want slow and sad and sometimes I want fast, loud, and angry.
BDL: You've been a part of some major productions with the Video Game Orchestra (VGO). What's it like working within such a large project?
Just the ‘rock band’ members of VGO alone were 10 people in total. This included me on drums, two guitars, two keyboardists, bass, electric violin, two vocalists (one male and one female), and a percussionist. Then on top of that there would be variations on the number of string players we'd have. We've done shows with a string quartet all the way up to a full orchestra with choir. It is a pretty exhilarating experience with that many bodies on stage at once!
BDL: You've done quite a bit of traveling for performances. What other countries have you played in? What are some particularly interesting experiences you've had performing in different countries?
I've performed in The States, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Japan. My second or third show with VGO was in Taipei, Taiwan with a full orchestra in front of over 3000 people. It was my first time playing a show that big and playing a show with a full orchestra. It was incredible. I learned then that the more people in the crowd the more comfortable I feel on stage. I could also go on and on about all the great food around the world or the plethora of anime/video game conventions I've played at. It helps being a big anime and video game fan myself!
BDL: What are your favorite kinds of music to play?
Here’s where I insert the cliché “I love playing all styles” which is true, but of course my preferred styles are Rock and Metal.
BDL: What do you most enjoy about teaching people to play the drums?
This is a two part answer because I love helping people overcome challenges and problems, and I love talking about and promoting the things in life that I’m really stoked about. Drums are my favorite thing in the world, so being able to help people get better at drums specifically is fulfilling from both angles.
BDL: In your opinion, what's the most challenging part about learning the drums?
Accepting that you're not as good as you think you are and understanding you don't nearly count out loud enough when practicing. Also learning the importance of time managing practice sessions by writing out detailed practice plans the day before the practice session and never the day-of. My efficiency, productivity, and positive mentality skyrocketed in the practice room once I accepted these truths.
BDL: What's the coolest gig you ever played?
One of coolest gigs, other than the Taiwan VGO show I mentioned, would be the time VGO played at Anime Boston and Yoko Shimomura, the composer for the Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy XV, and Xenoblade Chronicles video games, played a song with us to promote Final Fantasy XV. There were two real pianos facing each other on either side of me, like, literally directly on either side of me, with one of our keyboard players playing across from Yoko Shimomura.
BDL: Has anything ever gone horribly wrong during a performance? How did you overcome it?
Oh dear, yes. Kumamoto, Japan with VGO. We often used an electronic drum set live to help our mixing engineer with controlling all of the sounds happening on stage with so many players performing at the same time. So, the show starts, and I don't hear any drums in my in-ear monitors, as in, it sounded like the electronic kit wasn’t even turned on. The electronic kit was indeed on, but I couldn’t hear it at all in my in-ears. All I could hear were guitars, the backing track, and the click track. Thank GOODNESS the click track was there. I quickly realized that all the other band members were experiencing the same monitor issues, so we looked at each other and did the professional thing; “Just keep playing, and put on a show for the audience”.
Our show was two sets with a short intermission in the middle, and luckily we found out during the intermission that the audio was all live in the house speakers for the audience. Meaning, everything was normal from the audience perspective. This was extremely relieving, but, man, playing the first set of the show not knowing if anyone could hear the first song was difficult. It was especially challenging to let go of the thoughts in the back of my head during the first set. But it didn't matter. The professional thing is "never stop playing, and put on a good show for the audience”.
BDL: You recently started teaching at Berklee College of Music! What's it like teaching students of such a caliber? How is it similar or different from teaching beginners?
I was surprised at how similar it was teaching Berklee level students compared to beginners. The process for progress doesn’t change that much as you get better. The material changes over time, and you as the musician change over time, but the process for developing a practice plan is all the same. I admit that before starting the job I had some imposter syndrome kick in, wondering if I was actually good enough and qualified for the job, but immediately on that first day I realized I knew exactly what I was doing because I’ve been doing it for years.
I also learned that there are going to be Berklee students that are simply better at certain things than me. And that’s totally cool! Everyone has their preferred style as well as their unique strengths and weaknesses. If a student wants to get better at something I can’t physically do proficiently, I become a coach. I have lots of experience building practice routines, so I know that most of the time I can still help the student achieve their goals without me needing to be absolutely incredible at all areas of drumming. No professor at Berklee is that infallible. And the worst case scenario is you encourage students to take lessons with professors in future semesters that are experts in the areas of drumming that those students might want to learn. Some professors have already encouraged rock and metal drummers to come take lessons with me, so it works both ways!
BDL: Any advice you'd like to offer up to beginners or anyone looking to get started?
COUNT OUT LOUD. Verbally! As soon as you start playing drums. Don’t believe that counting in your head is good enough because it’s not. I promise you! Almost all beginners’ problems stem from simply not understanding the count of what they’re trying to do.
I also encourage all beginners to realize that building any skill takes time. So please have patience with yourself and your instructors in the beginning. Oftentimes it can take us instructors a couple of weeks to really figure out the best and most effective practice routine for you because all students are unique individuals. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Embrace your weaknesses and turn them into strengths!
BDL: What's your dream gig?
Anything that involves an audience that knows my band’s original songs well enough to sing along to. When I think of this question it’s not a particular place on the planet or playing with any particular band as long as I contributed to the writing process of the songs. It’s simply wanting that feeling of, “Wow. People connect with this art that I’ve created, and that’s very special”.
BDL: What are some other hobbies / interests of yours outside of drumming?
Most of my peers know this about me, but my biggest hobby is playing video games. Everybody in VGO knew that I was the biggest actual fan of video games out of everyone in the group. I particularly enjoy long games that tell great stories like JRPGs, but I also enjoy lots of fighting games too. I am a very competitive person when it comes to those kinds of games. To quickly name a few other hobbies and interests there’s craft beer (including brewing!), traveling, camping, and playing other types of games like board games, pool, poker, etc.
BDL: Where can people find your music / performances?
My band is called Chuggernaut. To get an idea of the kind of drumming I love doing the most, I recommend listening to our EP from 2018 called ‘Kodiak’. You can find me in a bunch of (but not all) VGO - Video Game Orchestra videos on YouTube, and you can hear me on albums by Replacire (progressive death metal), Paco Higdon Band (rock), White Flash (indie rock), and Taylor Gilbertie (indie rock) to name a few!