Japanese Culture

Why do I play Taiko

Playing Taiko — Michael de Groot

First of all the headline is that Taiko was a happy accident for me!

I learnt kit drumming when I was in my teens and even played in a punk band in London for a while, but the band never amounted to anything. I had a wish to be playing the drums in a band since I was about 13.

Here’s one of the songs that we recorded with a make shift reel to reel recording equipment and microphone.

[embed]https://youtu.be/xPgtWrKlXRA[/embed]

But then I got a girlfriend in my late teens and she wasn’t so happy about me being away drumming at the weekends and so regrettably I stopped. They say you should have no regrets in life, but actually if I had to think of just one, giving up drumming is my only and a massive regret!

My wife and I attended a personal development workshop in Bristol in 2018 and we met a guy who was on his own in the queue going into the workshop. He was from Devon and we became friends. A few months later we went to stay with him in Devon for a weekend and he shared with me his passion for Taiko.

I had never ever heard of Taiko and when he showed me a video of him playing in his group at an Exeter Chiefs rugby game, I was hooked. When I got back to the Midlands, I searched for Taiko high and low and there wasn’t anything near me, but that didn’t stop me. Eventually I found James and Taiko West in Church Stretton, Shropshire, signed up for a weekly course and after the first lesson I was hooked. It meant travelling for an hour there and back, but it was and is totally worth it. After 40 years of not being able to drum, I feel that I have come home to Taiko.

When I play Taiko, I am totally focussed in the moment, it is my meditation, my yoga, my music and the vibration of the drums fill my whole being. I know that I will be playing Taiko for the rest of my life now. To have drumming back in my life after a 40 year absence is quite incredible and I never expected it. Thank you to James, Taiko West and all the Taiko students that I have the pleasure of playing with.


Taiko Central Group at Leamington Spa — Beer and Music Festival 2019

Michael de Groot

Taiko drumming increases my joy!

Our venue at The Civic in Stourport on Severn — Photo by Daryl Barber

[embed]https://youtu.be/nHI7Y6BFcs4[/embed]

Thanks to a new friend Chris Sanson, who we visited in Devon during August of 2018, I’ve taken up Taiko Drumming.

Taiko is the art of Japanese drumming on very large drums and performed in a group format. It’s electrifying to watch and even better to play.

I played on a conventional drum kit, when I came to the UK in 1977. I then joined a punk band in London in 1978 and we even recorded a very poor demo tape in a studio in Islington. We didn’t have a name for our band, so I named it ‘Islington’, listen to our recordings below! I loved drumming. But life took over, a possessive girlfriend didn’t like me leaving her behind and she had no interest in my craft. I gave it up. Probably the biggest regret of my life I can recall.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1DrvSW1_WqgpoUTGv1Aexzc7Cyn22-8i[/embed]

But the regret has now turned into joy. Chris showed me what Taiko was all about, explained it and I knew that I had to do it. Upon returning to the Midlands after our trip to Devon, I searched to web to find a local class or group. There were none!

Except a class, one hour drive away. I booked on it and have been a student of Taiko now for the best part of 6 months. I attended my weekly class in Church Stretton, Shropshire, a monthly class in Bearley, Stratford upon Avon and I have even convinced my teacher, James Barrow of Taiko West, to open up a class in my local town Stourport on Severn in February 2019.

We’ve been interviewed on local radio twice (BBC Hereford and Worcester), you’ll find the interviews below, and have had a great attendance so far with booking for the next 3 months looking really strong.

[embed]https://www.mixcloud.com/stayingaliveuk/wyre-forest-taiko-bbc-hereford-and-worcester-interview-with-michael-de-groot/[/embed][embed]https://www.mixcloud.com/stayingaliveuk/wyre-forest-taiko-bbc-hereford-and-worcester-interview-with-michael-de-groot/[/embed]

I love Taiko and I look forward to many years of practicing, learning and performing with my groups in the Midlands.

Come and join us.
www.facebook.com/wyreforesttaiko
www.stayingaliveuk.com/wyre-forest-taiko
www.styin.me/wft-registration

Happy drumming!

Michael de Groot