By: Jamil Crews
If you were to ask anyone over the age of 30 today, they would tell you that R&B music doesn’t have meaning to it like it used to and has lost its soul. Let’s face it, those of us who had the privilege to grow up in the 80’s (not talking about you late bloomers) saw that soulful R&B music lose its cool. It seems nowadays that the R&B songster’s would prefer to be an R&B thug. Enter Lance Drummonds…
The 20 + year old Wesleyan College graduate is making it cool again to be an R&B songster. Even though he is relatively new to the world of R&B, he is making a name for himself across New York City with soulful performances and true crooning that brings a breath of fresh air back to a heavily diluted R&B genre. I got a chance to kick it with Lance as he gives insight on his growing music career, comparisons to John Legend and his epic performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. R&B thugs pay attention! This guy is setting a trend that you might want to follow.
Jamil Crews: So the last time I spoke to you Lance was almost four years ago when I was finishing up college at the University at Buffalo and I interviewed you on my radio show. I remember the day vividly because you were a bit under the weather with a sore throat and I put you on the spot and had you sing for all of my radio listeners, and sore throat and all, you did it and you nailed it! Next thing you know I had the phone lines going crazy asking who you were.
Lance Drummonds: Really?
JC: Yeah man, you made a great impression on my listeners.
LD: That’s great man.
JC: And since then, you’ve been doing a lot of big things.
LD: You know, I’ve just been working man, straight grinding, trying to make it to the top. You know that is.
JC: That’s a modest way of putting it…
LD: [Laughs] Yeah man.
JC: So what exactly have you been doing over the last four years that’s put you in the position that you’re in right now?
LD: Well, first and foremost I’ve been doing a ton of shows, and in doing so, I was able to put together a band called the Lance
Drummonds Experience, and we’ve played in a number of places, opened for artists including Laura Izibor and now I am currently working on my album. I’ve been traveling a lot as well. I recently did a show in Vancouver, just trying to get my name out there and trying to get exposure. You know how it goes man.
JC: Speaking of Vancouver, if I am not mistaken, that was for the Vancouver Olympics, right?
LD: Yeah! I performed at the Olympics. It was an exciting and excellent experience. The energy was so crazy, it was truly unbelievable. What we did was link up with a group I work with called Old Money had a show out there and they invited me out. So we put together a show for one of the festivals that was being held for the Olympics and it was just a blast.
JC: That’s a really good look. And the crowd was receptive to you and your music out there?
LD: Oh yeah man. The thing is, the energy from the Olympics alone already had the crowd going crazy. Then when you bring in the music, everyone was really enjoying our show. You say something like “What’s up Vancouver” and the crowd just went wild.
JC: That must have been an amazing experience…
LD: It was man, definitely a memorable one!
JC: So the way I discovered you seems to be the new way of discovering artists in today’s music business. I happened to come across a YouTube video of you and I heard you singing the song “Sweet Dreams” and the fan reaction that you got from that was remarkable. Explain how you went from being somewhat of a YouTube sensation to the point where you are now in your music career.
LD: That video you are referring to was recorded at Wesleyan College. That’s where I learned to play the piano and a lot of my music was developed at Wesleyan and I just had people record it every now and then and it started to blossom. People who were seeing those videos started to come to me and tell me “you should really start to pursue music as a career because this really works for you”. So it started growing from there, at Wesleyan with the YouTube videos. And from there I just kept going with it. I started to network, started finding different venues to perform at, different people to collaborate with and the rest was history.
JC: Did you have any interest in pursuing a career in music prior to all of this?
LD: That’s an interesting question because before the music, I was going to Wesleyan to pursue my Bachelors degree in Government. While I was there, I started taking piano lessons, and started singing with the piano and it kind of blossomed and developed into what it is now. But I didn’t have an interest in pursuing it full time until I had a couple of performances and the crowd would just go crazy. So I said to myself “Okay, I think I can really do this and turn this into a professional career.” So I started to hone my skills, network and just get my name out there.
JC: So how often do you get compared to other artists? Because if you listen to your sound and with you being able to play the piano and sing with it simultaneously, one would immediately think of other artists with that same ability like Alicia Keys or John Legend. How often do you get those comparisons?
LD: All the time! Not that I am as good as they are. But I think it’s the visual of a performer singing and being able to play a piano in an R&B realm is something that seems to automatically attract the idea of John Legend or Alicia Keys. I have no problem with that. They are Grammy Awards winning musicians, so I would GLADLY take any comparisons to them. I’ve also heard comparisons to Maxwell. Those are like the three main ones that I’ve heard.
JC: So how would you describe your sound?
LD: Musically, my style would definitely be R&B with a touch of Rock, with a touch of Soul, with touch of Electro; all of that, with the core being R&B.
JC: I hear that man. It’s good to have a distinct sound because not to knock anyone in the business, but the quality of music that is being put out today is not up to par with the music that I had the privilege of growing up listening to and I had the opportunity to become a fan of….
LD: I agree.
JC: But I think with you, your music sort of has an old classic-like feel to it. Like timeless music…
LD: I appreciate that
JC: And I think if you stay in that direction with where you are going in your music career, you are going to have great longevity in this industry.
LD: Thank you. What makes the music that we make genuine is the fact that it comes from personal experiences, it comes from feelings and emotions that we actually go through. And that’s what makes it genuine. Our music just has feeling. I feel people like you and I, and people of our generation have been spoiled growing up with great music. I mean, come on! We grew up with Michael Jackson. You can’t beat that. So we got spoiled. But I definitely see that the music industry is again beginning to look for that genuine, personal, relatable music that my team and I create.
JC: That’s good to hear because as we know, the music business has changed a lot over the years. For a long time it was not about raw passion and soul in your music. It was just about making a buck, which as we know is not good anymore because the business of music has been on a serious decline over the last decade. So if the business continues in the direction that it’s going, how do you see yourself making a living in the business if this is going to be your career?
LD: For me, the money is more in the experience that my fans get as opposed to what I am trying to sell them. Making an album and trying to sell it to them; those days are kind of over because most people get their music for free anyway. So when we do our shows, we have the fans pay for more of an experience than anything else.
JC: Absolutely. Also, we are living in a digital world. So how are you using social networking to your advantage?
LD: Well we have a big network on Facebook and I am growing my network on Twitter. Also with my blog, I have the three of those connected. I want people to be able to know me before they know the music because if you know the artist, you feel like you have a personal connection to them. Then you will have your fans wanting to help you further your career.
JC: So are you actively shopping for a record deal, or are you content with doing your thing independently for now?
LD: Well, we will cross that bridge when we get there. But for now I am just focused on finishing my album, “Time and Space”. Also doing more shows and building up the foundation for a full time career.
You can check out Lance on his Facebook Fan Page by clicking HERE. Also check him out on Twitter @ldrummonds, or on his blog at www.ldmblog.com.
