We were lucky to catch up with Dan Traglia recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Without exaggeration, it’s hard for me to remember a time when I wasn’t set on pursuing a future in music. I was really fortunate to grow up in a home where music was an important part of everyday life. My father is a trumpet player and was a middle school band director for 37 years. My mother was a nurse but also a huge music enthusiast. There was always a wide variety of music being played around the house, so I was exposed to everything from classical music to pop, r&b, funk, soul, rock, and jazz at an early age. My parents made it a point to take me and my two siblings to see a lot of live music. Normally local jazz festivals and things like that.
At around three years old, I graduated from banging on pots and pans when I found a pair of sticks and a Remo drum pad that were originally intended for my older brother to try out. That drum pad became a staple for me and was used far more often than any toy I had. I think this is when my love of playing the drums really started.
Some of my first performances were sitting in front of my grandfather’s living room stereo. He would encourage me to play along to his favorite recordings from the swing and big band era like Gene Krupa with the Benny Goodman Orchestra or Louis Prima. I’d say for about the first decade of my life, I was borderline obsessed (and still am) with MJ’s Off The Wall and Thriller. It made a lot of sense to me later on when I found out that I was listening to performances of legendary studio drummers like John “JR” Robinson, Ndugu Chancelor, and Jeff Pocaro, over tracks produced by Quincy Jones. Even my mother’s early morning Chaka Khan fueled exercise routine, that served as my alarm clock before school each morning, had a profound impact on how I interpreted music.
Eventually, my father brought home an old set of Slingerland drums that his school was getting rid of, and I just became completely fixated. From that point on, it was pretty clear that the drums and music were going to play a significant role in my life.
Dan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My career in music takes on many forms and is constantly evolving, but I can best describe myself, first and foremost, as a freelance drummer working out of the NJ & NYC area. Throughout my career, I’ve found myself covering a wide range of styles from classical and rudimental styles of drumming to blues, Latin, rock, funk, soul, R&B, fusion, and Jazz. I’ve made it my mission to try to draw inspiration from all of these styles to better inform and serve whatever situation I’m playing in.
The one thing that I’ve always been drawn to, even before I could really articulate or understand what was going on, was how the drums in a song made me feel. I’ve always been fascinated with the tiny nuances of my favorite drummers’ groove, no matter how microscopic or subtle they were. This element was always a common thread in all my favorite players like John Bonham, Steve Gadd, David Garibaldi, James Gadson, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Stewart Copeland. They all had such a commitment to playing the groove in a song that their sound become inseparable from that band or recording. This is what I concentrate on a lot. I strive to incorporate this feeling into my playing, regardless of the genre or situation I’m playing in.
Throughout my college years, I immersed myself in Jazz music and studied at William Paterson University under several notable jazz musicians. This is where I spent a lot of time really trying to hone my sound and develope my musical voice through improvisation. The ability to better develop musical ideas in the moment with clarity gave me a lot more freedom to branch out and try a variety of different gigs later down the road.
In the years following graduation in 2011, I became an active player on the local New Jersey music scene, playing in several cover, wedding, corporate, and private event bands. I went on to play with several independent, national, and even a bit of international touring acts including a Latin American Tour in direct support of The Jonas Brothers, as a member of Deleasa & The Foundation. During that time we made several appearances on television networks such as E!, E! Latino, and Fox. In 2017 I joined the NYC rock band, MoTHER, when we opened for several national acts such as Rival Sons and Buckcherry.
After my time with MoTHER, I had the opportunity to work in the NYC Broadway music scene as a sub drummer on shows including Gettin’ The Band Back Together, Rock of Ages, and a production of Footloose at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. This was a completely different skill set for me to learn in terms of how to prepare for a broadway-style production for the first time with no rehearsal. It’s something I look forward to hopefully building on in the future.
Outside of playing, I’ve always been heavily involved in teaching. Teaching is something that I take a lot of pride in and really work hard at improving on every day. I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to pass along the lessons I’ve learned from my own mentors, to help future generations of drummers discover their passion and find their voice as musicians. Over the past 13 years, I’ve served as a drum instructor and provided musical arrangements for high school drum lines throughout New Jersey. I also maintain a steady roster of both online and in-person drum students from my home studio, The DT Drum Studio, located in Morris County, NJ.
Recently, I’ve ventured into the industry side of drumming as a consultant for drum companies like RTOM (Creators of Moongel). In this role, I provide educational content and product demonstrations for social media marketing as well as insight into new product development. Additionally, I’ve worked on projects engraving drum books like The Working Drummer’s Chart Book, as well as video editing work on drumming educational content for the publishing company Hudson Music. My work in these roles has provided a lot of insight into the marketing of my own educational content as well as an opportunity to contribute to an industry and community that I’m grateful to be a part of.
Have you ever had to pivot?
As it was for most artists and working musicians, the pandemic was a time filled with uncertainty. At the time, work was really picking up for me and I felt like I was making a lot of headway on performing full-time. I was on the bus to New York to sub on the off-broadway production of Rock of Ages when I received the call that the show would be closing for two weeks. I had no idea that would be the day that the show would close its doors permanently, along with many other shows like it. Slowly, I watched as all the gigs I had worked hard to build up over the years disappear from the calendar.
I knew at that moment that I’d have to make a change if I was going to be able to provide for myself. Instead of looking for work outside the music industry, I decided to double down and devote my time to my musical development while converting my private teaching business to a fully online operation. I immediately began building out a home studio that would serve as both an online teaching studio and a remote recording setup. During this time, I focused all my energy into learning new recording techniques, how to use a multi-cam setup, and how to market myself by creating higher-quality content. I would frequently attend online masterclasses and lessons to help develop these skills. Looking back, this was one of the most critical periods of growth for me, both personally and professionally. I continue to benefit from these skills post-pandemic.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
If there’s one thing that has helped more than anything, it’s been having great mentors and music teachers that have supported me along the way. Shortly before my 10th birthday, my parents decided that it was time for me to start receiving some formal instruction. Through a recommendation, my father tracked down my first drum teacher and longtime mentor, Joe Bergamini. I would study with him all the way through high school and he’s remained a trusted source of guidance and wisdom to this day.
In addition to instilling the importance of fundamentals, versatility, and studying the legends of the instrument, Joe is a successful businessman and entrepreneur with a multifaceted career in the drumming industry. He taught me how to conduct myself as a professional and how to diversify my skillset so that I can guarantee myself a future in an industry that is not particularly known for its stable working environment.
These lessons have kept me in the game at times and allowed me to use my skills as a drummer to do things like creating and editing educational content, building my private teaching practice, and doing consulting work with drum companies.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DanTraglia.com
- Instagram: @dantraglia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanTragliaDrums/
- Twitter: @DanTraglia
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1bVGqPixmGoxHERl4dTE-w
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/DTDrumStudio/
Image Credits
Michelle Kott, Mike Gowen, Landrew Gomes and Jason Lee