PHOTOS
BIO
by John Sinkevics, of LocalSpins.com:
For an admittedly “introverted, quiet, nerdy person,” Scott Pellegrom transforms into a dazzling and rhythmic “pretty crazy” beast on the drums – a world-class percussion powerhouse.
“I’ve been called an alien, I’ve been called psychotic, a mad scientist or a magician when I’m playing the drums,” Pellegrom concedes. “When I get behind the drums, nothing else matters. I play for everyone and I play for myself, and just let everything out.”
For that reason, Pellegrom long ago established himself as one of Michigan’s most-respected, in-demand drummers, touring the globe as a drum clinician and turning heads with his maniacal yet precise attack.
He took that go-for-it-all attitude into the recording studio for “SuperNaturalBang,” the first album being released under his own name in an already illustrious career.
“I just wanted everything to be fun, original, honest and organic – very few edits,” the Spring Lake musician says of the project recorded in Grand Haven, Mich., by internationally renowned sound engineer Bill Chrysler.
“I was able to take my time and just have fun with the record, and get weird.
Pellegrom was able to do that with “a lot of talented friends” – namely guitarist Kevin Kozel (who wrote the album’s two vocal tracks), vibraphonist Reese Gall, back-up singer Joe Sturgill and bassists Bernhard Lackner and John Supplee.
With more than half of the album “improvised using the structure of songs and ideas” from his band’s usual trio approach, “SuperNaturalBang” unfurls like a wondrously eclectic, genre-blending masterwork that shifts seamlessly from intricate prog-rock to jazz to world music to a jam band-like wizardry, sometimes all within the same track and all propelled by Pellegrom’s extraordinary rhythmic prowess.
And with its funky and bluesy folk-rock vibe, “Wish I Was Alone,” is destined to become an audience-rousing anthem.
“We just wanted it to showcase all the different styles that we are influenced by,” Pellegrom offers.
The project represents another milestone in a meteoric career that Pellegrom argues actually began when he got rambunctious “in the womb,” later taking out his percussive proclivity by playing “pots and pans and pulling everything out of the cupboard” as a child.
It all paid off in 2006 when he won local and district competitions in Guitar Center’s Drum Off, reaching the national finals in Los Angeles where he met other prominent drummers. That success opened the door to drum education clinics and solo shows across the globe – in China, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom and more.
He even developed the signature “Scott Pellegrom Crop Circle” cymbal being marketed by Toronto’s Dream Cymbals as part of its Re-FX series of recycled cymbals. It’s a two-inch wide circular cymbal cropped out a larger cymbal to which can be attached jingles that create an effect “that is out of this world.”
His travels and musical collaborations have helped him experience the “very inspiring” family, brotherhood and universal language of music. Because for Pellegrom, it’s all about passion and “going for blood” every time.
“Playing the drums and playing music makes me the absolute happiest,” he says. “I can’t help but smile and play my ass off. I just love it. Music consumes my life 100 percent. It is my religion, it is my faith, it is my reason to be here.”
VIDEOS
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Scott Pellegrom Trio – SuperNaturalBang
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