Andrew Baird | SoultoneCymbals.com

Andrew Baird

Andrew Baird

Andrew was born in mid April of 1990. Musicianship was a close friend to his family. His dad was an entertainer for a Pacific island cultural dance business company called Spirit of Polynesia, playing instruments like the Electric Ukulele’, Markesan Ukulele, and most importantly, Tahitian and Polynesian style drums and percussion. His mother was a singer for that group and also a very excellent dancer. Having been surrounded by this form of drums for a huge portion of his life, Andrew picked up drums quickly, playing his first show with his dads business at the age three, simply playing along to a base drum and mallet. This continued for the next thirteen years, where he began to broaden the instruments he played, building on his percussion skills like timing, tempo change, small yet basic hand rudiments, and endurance.

As Andrew grew up, he became interested in drum set playing, and took up a small role as drummer in his forth and fifth grade cadet bands at his elementary school. But as grades started to plummet, Andrew decided to give up on music for awhile and focus on school, but during the winter of 1998, his mother died of a fatal disease, and within the next six years or so, more of the family began to pass on. These passings have forever changed not just Andrew but the characteristics of his family as well. Depression had gripped the family and beyond and as this went on, Andrews taste in music began to get heavier and heavier, not wanting to share his sadness and depression with anyone, music became his light in dark places. He began listening to old classics like Metallica, Godsmack, Linkin Park, and many more.

On his fourteenth, having taken up swimming as a leisure, Andrew decided to use the pain and grief he suffered from to help shape him as person, and began to retake up drumming. While all this was going, his musical taste had eventually broadened to the underground metal society, listening to groups like Slipknot, As I lay Dying, Shadows Fall, It Dies Today, and Unearth. The intensity, speed and complexity that metal drumming brought to its listeners absolutely fascinated Andrew, and began to take up arms(drumsticks) and made a very hard but reachable goal to practice in his closed garage everyday, however small or large the amount of time he had to play during the day.

He eventually helped create his first metal/hardcore band called Someone’s Lullaby with just as dedicated musicians, and began to play his first metal shows and battle of the band competitions in early 2004.

This carried on for the next two years until line-up changes and other dedications within the members ended the band. Because of the increase in freedom, Andrew but in huge amounts of time and effort in playing everyday after school and on weekends up to about 2007 when an up and coming band called Fallujah asked for his help in replacing their old band. Andrew instantly made an impact towards the bands unique musicianship and has been playing the group since then.

Currently, Andrew’s self teaching of the metal/death metal drumming realm has created him into a young and talented drummer, listening to current bands like Abigail Williams, The Faceless, Veil of Maya, The Black Dahlia Murder, Animals as Leaders and many others. As his age has prompted him, Andrew likes to branch off from the intensity and listen to drumming greats like Dave Weckl, Thomas Lang, and Tony Royster Jr. He also has come to appreciate great music like jazz, contemporary rock, indie, and progressive rock/metal. Andrew is in the midst of learning other forms of drumming when given the chance, whether it be hand rudiments, speed excersises, odd time signatures, or just band rehearsal, Andrew enjoys keeping an open mind to all forms of music for its diversity and different qualities to hopefully continue to making an impact on his musicianship and attributes.

In his free time, he enjoys working out, takes one form of self-defense, one form martial arts, paint balling, attends a community college, and is working on getting certified in Pro Audio production.

Current setup is a Peace Pro Kit that has been upgraded to a six piece (3 mounted toms, one floor, snare) consisting of Aquarian/Remo heads, DW 9000 double kick series, 20” Ride, 2 16” Chinas, a bell, 14” hi-hats, 10” splash, and 17” and 18” Crash cymbals.