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Percussion Polygamist: Jamie Perkins hits stuff with sticks
Posted: January 24, 2007
"Aren’t you ready to find one nice band to settle down with?" I asked Jamie Perkins when we had coffee the other day. He laughed. No. Musical monogamy just isn’t for him. At the moment, he is the drummer in three bands: Famous (along with Ben Phillips and Mark Damon -- they can be found online at www.myspace.com/famoustheband), Starch (with Jon McCormick, Drew Wyman and Sean LaRose – www.myspace.com/starchrock) and Museum of Science (in this experimental trio his alter ego is Dr. Bunsen Honeyjones and he plays with M.C. Foodcourt and Le Baron – www.myspace.com/mostheband). And since he started playing when he was 12 (this makes 2007 his 20th year playing), he counts at least 12 bands in which he’s claimed membership – and he continues to sit in with friends’ groups around the Seacoast, notably including Hokum, Jon Nolan’s Band and Tim McCoy and the Papercuts.
 MULTIMEDIA
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You see, drumming is his thing, it’s what he does. He can’t help himself, not since he was 12 and saw a rock band for the first time. That year, with the blessing of his parents, he got his first drum set, started growing his hair (it’s nearly waist-length now, with strands of gray coming in to his chagrin), watching Friday Night Video (NBC’s answer to MTV in the ‘80s --- www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_Night_Videos), rabidly listening to the bands of the day, and hasn’t stopped since. Jamie overextends himself on purpose. Making just one kind of music is never going to satisfy him. He likes the varied musical settings, the experimentation, and the constant, constant creative stimulation. He says if didn’t play this much, there’s half a chance he’d be institutionalized for constantly banging on car rooftops, tabletops, knees and thighs.
Jamie lives in Dover, works up and down the Seacoast in the rain, sleet, snow and sunshine for a local landscaping business to pay the bills, but most evenings and weekends are devoted to rehearsals and gigs. Just last week he played two nights at the Dover Brick House (www.doverbrickhouse.com) and was off to Manhattan’s Lower East Side to play the Lit Lounge (www.litloungenyc.com) on the weekend. That last gig was for Famous. One band mate, although currently living in New Hampshire, made New York home for years and thus, the band’s publicity and booking are taken care of there. It’s rare that most local acts make it farther than Boston, but the Big Apple connection has secured a modest but decent measure of exposure. Famous plays the city on a regular basis, and has a private showcase (for industry types) coming up. It is this band, more than the others, for which Jamie has the highest hopes for success.
So, with all this drive and ambition, does the guy take himself too seriously? No. He knows all the jokes. You know, the ones like, what do you call a guy who hangs around with musicians … He admits drummers are an easy target. In his words, "Come on. We hit stuff with sticks." So, Jamie occasionally dons an Animal (the Muppet) T-shirt and tries to break the mold with skill and a lack of theatrics onstage (other than the signature hair toss, of course).
Check out the accompanying slideshow to get a look at Jamie, listen to our conversation and hear the music that’s going to fill Famous’ destiny. Just try to have more of an impression than the vapid music biz investor-type who walked up to Jamie and the rest of the band after a set at a New York showcase. All he had to say was: "Hi. Good drummer. Great hair."
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