Chris Barchet

Being a drummer can be challenging. The thing is, many musicians and people don't know how drumming works, but most of them sense whether the feel is right or not.

Not being aware of this I was attracted to the drums at a very young age. I would set up washpowder-boxes and cushions serving as toms and bassdrum. A metal tea-stove and lids became the snare and cymbals. The drummers that I listened to at the time where Ringo Starr, Steve Gadd and Jeff Porcaro. All the jazz- and other guys came later when I was introduced to them in record-stores, by teachers and other musicians. 

I took cellolessons at the age of 8. Playing classical music taught me feeling, tone and timbre as well as dynamics, sightreading and ensemble-playing. 

Yet the drums remained my favourite instrument and finally I got a real snare-drum, hi-hat and the drumlessons that I had been longing for. The first bands were local jazz-combos, big-bands, a fusion-, rock- and a showband. The diversity of styles and sounds attracts me up to this day. 

When I was 19 I moved to Munich where I got involved in professional gigs. The urge to deepen my understanding brought me to Holland where I studied jazz and other styles at  the Hilversum Conservatory. 

Currently I am gigging (with different bands and projects playing jazz-, rock-, soul- or funk-music), recording (also at home) and teaching (including percussion and band-coaching). Bands include the big-bands "Just Us" and "VSOP" and the "Jesper Buhl Trio".

I had my own project "Warp Expansion Protocol", where we experimented with loops and samples. I am still hot on drum'n'bass and all these new beats. 

Recordings or radio-broadcasts I have done with musicians and bands such as Tjitze Vogl, Ferdinand Povel, Herbert Noord, Rinus Groeneveld, LX-Press, 1 Step-Seven Seas, Peter Tuscher and Konstantin Wecker.