Seven Questions with Percussionist Kaleb Kirby

Kaleb Kirby’s become one of the go-to drummers in St. Louis, with several standing gigs, including one behind the kit with the recently everywhere-at-once Guerrilla Swing and that group’s solo/duo spinoffs. But don’t limit him to one act, or even one style of music.

“I play in a lot of other groups outside of Guerrilla Swing,” he says. “I play with my own band called Animal Children; I've written all the material for this group. And I play in a new project called KBA featuring Adam Maness and Bob DeBoo. I also freelance around the city quite a bit with various local musicians.”

Growing up in a musical home, with two working pros as parents, Kirby was routinely hitting open mics with acts like the Soulard Blues Band as early as his mid-teens. “I remember sitting in with SBB when I was about 15-17,” he recalls. “At that time, I was also playing with Billy Barnett. Those two experiences really got me into shape, playing-wise. It was kind of a wake-up call at an early age that there's no time to waste on this.”

Kirby’s the lead-off hitter for our every-other-week series of conversations with area musicians, which will alternate with off-week interviews with locally based visual artists. These questions will recur every time out; the answers, obviously, will be as unique as the people sending them back.

Music school? Self-taught? Some variety of both? Or none of the above?

I went to Berklee School of Music for the majority of my education. Then spent some time at the Marcel DeSautels conservatory in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. And now I'm finishing the last of my credits at UMSL. Even with all of the schooling I've had, I would say I’m a pretty even combination of professionally educated and self-taught.

Regarding your creative habits, are you a night owl or an early bird?

As far as my creative habits are concerned, I'm usually more inclined to write in the morning, and I usually practice at night. I like to practice right before I sleep because I feel like it solidifies more; but everyone's different.

What makes for the idea studio/recording experience?

I live to record, I really love to sit down and make a project. Ideally I like to record live with everyone playing at once. It generally has more energy to me, but I've been involved in some pop recordings recently, and I've had a lot of fun recording solo drums in a super-isolated setting. It's kind of like putting a microscope to everything you're doing.

Is it more rewarding to play a technically solid gig to a moderately engaged audience, or to play a loosey-goosey set to a crowd that's clearly "there" with you?

The audience is a huge factor at live shows. Having an engaged audience can make any show into something magic. Usually if the audience isn't engaged, the band members start playing for themselves, which isn't always a bad thing, but I would definitely say that it's more satisfying to play for people who are enjoying and aware of what you're doing. That's one of those "grass is always greener" kind of questions!

You're able to wake up tomorrow, magically gifted proficiency on the instrument of your choice, one that you currently don't play. What instrument would that be?

I would really love to be a bass player or piano player. I think they have so many options in regards to their instrument and roles that they play in a band. Plus, a good bass player is needed on every bandstand. That being said, I would never give up knowing drums. That instrument is raw energy.

From childhood on, what's the very first song that you played to a point of real, true satisfaction?

I've played so many songs in my lifetime. Everyday for about 10 years, I would say, and I honestly couldn't tell if I've ever felt truly satisfied. There's always something else that could be explored or something that could've been cleaned up but really that's the name of the game. It's what keeps you practicing and perfecting.

Do you believe there are musical "guilty pleasures," or is this an unfair and misused term?

There are TONS of guilty pleasures in music. To be honest, it's an art to play "musically" as opposed to just playing in a way that's self-gratifying or self-indulging. When I play, I make a conscious effort to imagine myself in the audience. I want to play in a way that's intriguing but relatable. When you start practicing on stage, you're no longer engaged with the audience and therefore the audience has no reason to be engaged with you.