Steven Kelley Denman, drummer.

In May of 2010 I moved to Los Angeles. That's a tough town to show up in with little plan for what you want to do. Glad I did it though. I spent the summer of 2010 jobless for the first time since I was a teenager. Happiest I had been an a while too.

When I move to a new place is when I'm the most open. I haven't formed my limiting habits yet, the reptilian brain doesn't quite have it's chokehold yet. I started putting ads on Craigslist and answering them too, just to try something new.

One Thursday evening I was sitting at my friends place in Beverly Hills playing my 20th game of scrabble that day when the phone rang. It was Steven Denman. He saw my ad on Craigslist and said "man I read your ad and couldn't understand anything it said so I figured you were the right person to call!"

We spoke for 2 hours till my ear was burning. I said "well Mr Denman, sounds like we gotta meet. You up for playing tomorrow?" He said yeah. So next day, Friday night I went to his place in Hollywood. We played in his apartment. I'm amazed the neighbors didn't blow up. We knocked the walls down. Some of the most connected music I've ever done. At one point he screamed and said this is what he needed to do and had been looking for for years now. My feelings exactly.

We recorded a bunch at my friends dance studio Pieter in Lincoln Heights. Here's a bit of us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhe261bgMIQ

https://soundcloud.com/denbro

We barely scratched the surface of what we could do before I left Los Angeles. Steve really helped me take my playing to the next level, get over my nerves and share 100% honestly. That's what happens when you associate with honest people, you give up hiding. Not sharing truthfully lead me to a full nervous breakdown, which you get to witness in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4MDnAsiY7I

That may have been the most psychedelic performance I've experienced. House show, everything was in slow motion. Crash, burn, survive. I decided to leave LA a few days later.

I'm eternally grateful for Steven and his wife Rachelle. A bright ray of sunshine those folks are. I miss them both.

JB