Percussion for
professionals

Beating a drum with your co-workers helps you
understand them better, says rhythm meister

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Steven Zangwill

Age: 38

Occupation: Proprietor of Rhythm Exchange

Bio: This groovy yet notably cerebral Mile End hunk has been banging away on the drums since he was six, “a passion” that led him to rock ’n’ roll on a somewhat professional basis while in his early 20s. Not just a first rate stickman but a scholarly lad to boot, Steven first became aware of “drum circles” while attending university in San Francisco, and, after a decade or two working various multimedia gigs here in Montreal, decided it was time he “start working in the music field again, only doing something interactive with people, not just being a stage performer.” So, some five years ago, he launched something called Rhythm Exchange, a service providing primarily corporate clients with unique “team-building events” where their largely non-musical work forces learn to better communicate with one another via grabbing a drum and discovering “the power of the beat.” To hire Steven’s services, go to rhythmexchange.com.

Why getting your entourage of non-musical goombahs together to make a big collective percussive noise is a good thing: “Because team-building is important for any group. As a former project manager, I know it’s often a rhythm issue keeping everything on track, requiring groups of people to function in a synchronized, harmonious way. Percussion is a really good metaphor and medium to work on those issues because you can create all kinds of dynamics and bring groups into the rhythm.”

So how do these drum-circle-jerk things actually benefit anyone? “Because people get to know their colleagues in a whole different light. They’re used to seeing them in an entirely different context, but there’s no hierarchy in a drum circle, there’s no president and mail boy anymore, everyone’s on an equal footing, which really lends itself to genuine camaraderie. It’s an opportunity for people to participate in a whole new way with each other—and then, of course, there’s the joy of actually grooving and getting locked into a beat. It’s quite exciting to see all these people with no experience, not really believing they can do something, getting locked into a beat and loving it. Really, community is at the heart of it, whether that be corporate or cultural, it’s a communal experience. We foster a sense of unity. There are many ways to approach music and percussion, but we make it accessible and fun. We’re not trying to make people master-level musicians, but we are opening a huge door for many people.”

So if I hate the fuckin’ assholes I’m forced to work alongside every day, will participating in a Rhythm Exchange event suddenly have me only disliking them intensely? “Well, we can’t perform miracles, but people do say they feel a lot of stress management from this. You see, people are in the present tense when they’re with us, they’re not thinking about the future, their upcoming meetings, their BlackBerrys or whatever. These concerns are overpowered because people are really engaged when they’re with us. That’s why people always tell us they feel less stressed and more energized after being with us, because they’ve just been in the music, in the moment.”

Last book read: Klee, by Marcel Marnat.

Musical preferences: Tony Allen, African Head Charge, U-Roy.

Words of wisdom: “Before I speak, I have something important to say.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net