Student Sam Rollins finds his passion and love for percussion

He tightens his grip on the drumsticks, raising his head to the crowd before him. Beads of sweat begin to form on his face, but he knows that this is his time to shine. It’s his time to show everybody what he’s practiced for, what he’s made of.

Sam Rollins’ concentrated face and upright posture are visibly noticeable as his sticks become a faint blur between his drum strokes. With the snare down at his waist, and one of his wrists cocked to the side, he is able to create literal music to the ears in a percussional style that only a drumline can exhibit.

Drumming, like any other form of art, is not a skill that comes easily to anyone; it takes practice, hard work, and dedication towards the craft. Having started in the 5th grade, Rollins has been achieving just that and working his way onto the school band’s Drumline. The type of passion Rollins exhibits when in his zone is a entertaining thing to see, and display a  hard to accomplish set of skill.

Interview:

Q:How did you become interested in percussion?

A:In fifth grade, I started out by playing trumpet, after a few months I just really couldn’t enjoy it, I wanted to switch and I saw that everyone in percussion was having a lot of fun, so I switched to that Did he have any friends in percussion?

Q:What would you say is your favorite part about it?

A:Probably the moment when you are standing on the field with everyone else in the band, and knowing that all the time that everyone devoted to rehearsing, learning drill, and memorizing the music is about to be put to use. It makes you realize that you are really apart of a much bigger picture than yourself.

Q:Are there any type of competitions you or the band has won?

A:Every year we go to the Colony Day Competition (Atascadero) in October, last year Drumline won first place in their own competition, and I believe the band overall won 3rd place in field show.

Q:So Paso Robles’ Drumline is pretty good compared to other schools?

A:Yes, but I think that it’s because we all really do get along (most of the time), and our school is one of the only ones that has a separate class for the percussion than the rest of the band.

Q:Do you see yourself continuing this passion in the future?

A:Most likely. Hopefully College Marching Band (whichever one I go to) and then maybe as a hobby afterwards, but not professionally.

Q:So college is about how far you want to take it in a professional sense?

A:Yes, my brother was in the Cal Poly Marching band, and he said that it is one of his favorite things in college, so I want to be in my college drumline.

Q:is there anybody you’ve looked up to as a role model in your time as a drummer?

A:My first actual role model was Jen Ledger, the drummer from the band Skillet, because she became a professional at 18 with her first audition for the band.

Q:Have you had any friends in percussion that have stayed with you since you’ve started?

A:There aren’t any who are still involved from fifth grade, but in seventh I became pretty good friends with Wesley Harmon, and Shelby Havel, and then in freshmen year I became really good friends with Alec Wingfield.

Q:What is your favorite piece to perform?

A:Favorite song that we have played has got to be Excalibur, it’s super super high energy and a lot of fun.