We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lee Kolarik a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
That’s an interesting topic or idea for me to speak on. The reason I say that is because as time passes, the meaning and motivations I’ve had with various musical endeavors of mine have changed quite a lot. I originally was just a drummer. I went to school for music and have a bachelor’s degree in music performance and jazz studies. I set out early in my musical journey with the aspirations of becoming a sideman (a high caliber musician, who is hired to perform with a wide variety of musical artists). It took me a long time, a lot of gigs, and a college degree (insert a sweating emoji), to realize that maybe, that’s not the path that was meant for me.
It’s funny, I spent so much time practicing and getting in my own head about how “good” I was at the drums, that I missed the MEANING behind it all. The meaning for me is to connect with people and to connect with the music I am playing. To connect and have a positive nurturing relationship with my bandmates on and especially off the bandstand. To allow myself to be vulnerable enough to make mistakes and to be human after all. It is okay for music to not be perfect all the time. In fact, that’s when I think it is the most meaningful.
In the past couple years, I have begun to write songs under the guise of my band Simple Routes (pronounced roots) and it has proven to be the most meaningful project I have been a part of in my musical journey thus far. My band consists of two of my dearest friends Joseph Rangel, who is a wonderful guitarist and Chris Parsons, a fantastic bass player. We are in the truest sense a band, a unit that is not replaceable and a group that lets each other explore, make mistakes, be vulnerable, and grow. My bandmates encouraged me to sing the songs I had written for our most recent EP which was just released in November of 2023. I had never had the urge to sing before, but they encouraged me to try, as they thought only I could capture the meaning behind the songs I had written. Now, after the EP is out, I am so thankful they pushed me to try something that was way out of my comfort zone, the release has so much more meaning to all of us because of it.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Lee Kolarik, I am a drummer/musician from Cleveland, Ohio.
I began playing when I was about 10 years old and from then on music is something I have been truly passionate (some would say obsessed) about. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to perform, compose, and collaborate with so many amazing musicians that I am lucky enough to call my friends.
While freelancing in the greater Cleveland area I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to perform and record drum set, percussion, and vocals with Cleveland based singer-songwriter Mimi Arden and LA-based artist Matt Moody. In recent years my primary focus is as the composer and bandleader for my original project, Simple Routes.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I have had to pivot many times in my life, but I think that is what keeps things interesting. I’ve always had two or more jobs, that’s the way of life for creatives in our society, right? From as early as I can remember, I got home from my gig at 2am and set my alarm for 6am when my shift at the grocery store started. After I finished college, I became the Operations Manager for a small chamber music festival, taught drum lessons, and was playing gigs all around northeast Ohio. I think you already know where I’m going with this but then came a pandemic (dramatic music fades). As my calendar cleared up and future endeavors seemed ever so unsure, the covid-19 pandemic became a time of deep reflection for me. I thought more about things that were truly meaningful to me and how I should pursue them in life moving forward. With that said, I applied for a job at a steel mill, the last place I thought I would ever work. A dark, dirty environment, with a crowd of blue-collar workers that I didn’t think I would ever fit in with (well… still kind of don’t). However, I found the work interesting and got accepted into an electrical apprenticeship that is offered through the mill. This new job has afforded me more freedom in the musical endeavors I pursue than ever before and I believe it is just a new layer to the creative onion that is Lee.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding part of being a musician or creative person is bringing an idea to life from seemingly nothing. The release of my first EP as a bandleader is titled “Leeway”. The four songs that are on that EP started out as 10 second voice memos on my phone. Now they are complete songs with full band arrangements and album artwork. That process, from the writing of the music to the recording, to the shows, is what I live for, it is the one thing that I have that pulls me through.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simpleroutesband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimpleRoutesBand/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/fortissimodrummer
- Other: Here is a link to a Spotify playlist of my discography if you would like to hear the variety of music, I have been given the opportunity to record on: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mBHTLhwjx1b5oDcrOWy56?si=b0fb233e83d1448c Here is a link to listen/follow my original project Simple Routes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rGuRGtryeXywMZKXdLPWM?si=0wDKNDQcRAqA4yI8ZG-CaQ
Image Credits
Photos from: Nina June Ripich, Dan Cornelius, and Bardic Roots Photography