Today we are with an artist who shows us how fun and passionate electronic drumming can be (Nord Drum 3p). Viktor is a drummer musician with an incredible talent and not to tell you more! enjoy!
What is your artistic concept?
Viktor: I’m into grooves and sound design. My mind is buzzing with new ideas all the time. My IG page, the nord.drummer is about to have a daily dose of new videos of how a drum synth can sound. I even share my user banks for free so my main goal is to have a community of people with the same infection. 🙂 But if I’m playing live I like to see how the people move because of the groove. Whether it’s downtempo, dance music, or going crazy.
When and how did you discover music?
Viktor: My first memory of music is when I was about 3 years old and my aunt listened to Michael Jackson. We were dancing on the floor, dancing on the bed, on the sofa. I have loved dancing ever since. Since I was a kid my parents had so much music around me. Even classical music, pop, rock, techno, everything. When I was a teenager I realized that I was focusing on the rhythm all the time. That was the most important part of the music for me at that time. If the music had a great groove my whole body was dancing. Almost exactly 21 years ago I asked my mother to enroll me in the local music school to learn drums. My mom thought this miracle would only last for three days but then I went to work during the summer holidays and bought a drum kit with my first salary. Oh, it was an old, musty, run-down Czechoslovakian drum set and I loved it so much. After that year I was in my first band and had my first gig. I knew the drumming would be love forever.
What instruments do you use in your creative process?
Viktor: Well, it depends. My main instrument is a Nord Drum 3P virtual-analog percussion synthesizer and I have an acoustic drum set with some great cymbals and tons of percussion. I work with many different methods. Sometimes the starting point is a groove, sometimes a melody, sometimes I generate random chords or I try to play on my Yamaha Reface CP and something comes out. But mostly, I use the Nord Drum and I’m layering it with acoustic VSTi drums, and I have some VST synths and keys and so on. So it really depends on what I’m working on.
What other artistic activities do you enjoy doing?
Viktor: I graduated as a graphic designer. I like to draw ambigrams, and logos, and design business cards. I used to design websites. I used to take photos, but I preferred to spend my money on drums instead of cameras. I like to draw and I would like to learn to paint. I like mixing and mastering. I really enjoy playing on the kazoo for my kids. I’m in a school choir with my son. I do some music production for the choir. Oh, and I like to go to jam sessions.
What event have you most enjoyed participating in?
Viktor: There is a big festival in Hungary for street music and our band was asked to play on the main stage last summer. It was an honor and pleasure. I also enjoyed playing at the Kaunas Jazz Festival (Lithuania) and at the Novi Sad Jazz Stops Festival (Serbia). Those three cities were the European Capitals of Culture. The people were so lovely and the trip was funny and adventurous. I really enjoy the ECC events because they are international events and there are so many different artists all the time.
Any project you would like to share with us?
Viktor: We have a band called Kijube. We are working on our first album. It’s gonna be so great. That is my main project besides my drummer page. Kijube on Spotify
What do you like most about the drums as a musical instrument?
Viktor: First of all, drums are the best for creating the main groove of the song. That is what makes people dance. And the drummers are in the full range of the frequency spectrum. The bass is the kick, the mid-low range are the toms, the snare rules the mid-range and the cymbals are for the high frequencies. The drummers can cut through a whole band to be heard. And I love how it feels when I hit the drums or cymbals. It is so dynamic and the energy hits me back from the drums through the stick. It’s a constant flow.
Would you do this for the rest of your life?
Viktor: I once stopped playing drums after one of my biggest bands (a funky group of 11-12 people) broke up. I even sold my drum kit. My stupidity lasted for two long weeks, then I bought a better drum kit and started writing new songs. So I’m sure I’ll be a drummer forever.
Many thanks to Viktor for allowing us to conduct this interview today, I invite you to follow him on his social networks and digital platforms.
Instagram: @nord.drummer