Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tim Chenault. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tim, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

There could be many risks you could face when you’re exploring new ideas… it’s just as simple as weighing your pros and cons for every decision you make. Here are some examples: working longer hours and becoming very weary, to then earn and save money to invest into your project. Starting from scratch without any help and then through trial and error, you learn from your mistakes and adapt, and keep pushing through. So today, I’d like to share my stories about taking risks.

My name is Timothy Chenault. I’ve been in Charleston, SC for 18 years. I attended James B. Edwards Elementary, Moultrie Middle School, and graduated from Wando High School in 2015. During graduation, I was awarded with a ‘Green Cord’ that represents a sense of pride and ownership during my community service throughout high school.

In sixth grade, I auditioned to become a percussionist and I barely passed, but I learned from my mistakes… because I didn’t practice. This is where I learned how to read sheet music and to understand note values and the basics. I wanted to learn more about music and I saw that the school (Moultrie) has a Jazz Band, so of course I’m going to audition for that. A friend of mine persuaded me to learn how to play the drum set. His dad is also a talented musician; sometimes after school, I would go over to my friend’s house and play on their drum set to see how this contraption worked. After awhile, I knew that this is what I wanted to do in school. Moultrie had band concerts at school and jazz band concerts as well, in the same night and this was the time to really showcase our hard work to parents, friends, family, staff, etc. As always, it was a great night when we performed.

Fast Forwarding to high school, Wando has an extensive amount of extra curriculars and the arts section is what I was aiming for. They have: Concert band, jazz band, marching band, orchestra, drama, and more. I auditioned to be in concert, jazz, and marching band throughout my four years of time. In the 9th grade, I was in percussion in marching band, otherwise known as PIT.I then moved on up into being on the drumline (snare) during my 10th grade year, and was learning drill. My 11th and 12th grade years, I remained on the snare-line to really hone in my skills on one drum, before moving onto multiple drums. All of my teachers from 6th grade to 12th are phenomenal and I’ve learned how to be persistent, to have patience, to PRACTICE! Overall, I’m highly grateful for how everything aligned then. Thanks to the real OGs.

Now, from 2015, we’re diving into 2019, pre-covid. I was still writing drum tablatures for myself and at the time, I played on my electronic drum set to build my chops and learn about the art of drums, such as technique and grips, and how to conserve energy, etc. Another friend of mine had the idea to start a band and already had his line up; he just needed a drummer. I agreed, and he finds us a practice spot and then we made time out of the week to get some work done…and theeennnnn, the Covid-19 outbreak happened, as we’re all familiar with. No more practices, due to the ordinances. Everyone had to quarantine. I came up with the idea to work online through Google Drive. We’d just record ourselves, upload the files, and pass ideas around for song writing, instead of giving up. Many months later, In September of 2020, we had our first show as ‘Kept In Ruins’, and it went very well!

Obviously, during this time, there were many major risks at hand and procedures we had to follow, but everyone had such high potential that, we didn’t want to throw in the towel too soon. We received a lot of backlash for either playing during the approved ordinances or, to some, saying that we were all “selfish” for performing, to where, at one point in time, we couldn’t book any shows. To those who have seen us since 2020, knows that, we aren’t stopping our flow and we’re staying in our lane and adapting to the world, just like everyone else is. We take the negatives and use it as resources; maybe it’ll be a major record one day, who knows?

As my story winds down, yes, we have dreams and aspirations and would love to achieve them, but no one said that it would be easy. You’re going to fight through the trials and tribulations. You’re going to be tested. Me personally, I used to work two full-time jobs and had two practices every week, just to make sure I could by equipment and pay for my bills to “feel” like I’m maintaining everything. I currently work about 45-50 hour weeks, my vocalist works HVAC, and everyone else has a steady job to maintain their lives. They have families to spend time with. In the end, it’s all about if you want it or not. Do you WANT to be in ‘Kept In Ruins’ and grow the band into the next best “Local/Regional/National or International” band? Do you WANT to make music, not because you have to, but because you want to? Do you WANT to take a vacation? Yes… but sometimes, money isn’t always free; you’ve got to work for it.

I appreciate my family and friends. I appreciate my bandmates and to those who’ve supported us through the rough times, and to those who have given us opportunities to excel and to be better than our past version.

Thank you.

Tim, 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?

Tim Chenault, Drummer, Co-Founder of Kept In Ruins.

What sets me apart from others, that I believe, is that I can transcribe certain drum songs into tablature. I write all of my drum parts on a program called ‘MuseScore’ first, before playing them on my drum kit. I feel as though my style of playing drums is different from my peers in my area. Very versatile.

What am I most proud of?
– I am proud to be apart of the music scene and to perform in front of an audience with everyone else who works hard and that does the same thing that we’re doing. It’s not always about the money. Sometimes, it’s never about the money, but just the given opportunity to be expressive, especially to an audience that would reciprocate that same energy back to you. To me, that’s a proud moment in time.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I would love to make it into the music industry for the experience and opportunity. To travel internationally and perform sounds amazing.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Having positive feedback from others. I work very hard on my craft and writing skills and i receive high credit for what I do and how well I perform them. That recognition means a lot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.keptinruins.com
• Instagram: keptinruins1
• Facebook: Kept In Ruins
• Youtube: Kept In Ruins
• Soundcloud: Kept In Ruins

Image Credits

Fallon Oneill