Meet the Musician: drummer and Flashband veteran John Heinze

This post features drummer and Flashband veteran John Heinze. John has participated in 10 Flashband events, and performs with many local groups, including The Lucky So and So's (hip-hop with a twist of genre mash ups), Aztec Sun (funk and soul), The Fresh Hots (Jazz funks), and with Avervge (alongside a DJ spinning a hot mix of everything).

The Lucky So and So's

Three weeks into living in DC, I was at at a Flashband Meet and Greet at a house in Virginia. I was excited to meet people who played music. I play drum set, primarily, and I dabble with other instruments. (My secret dream is to be a guitarist singer/songwriter sitting on the porch when I'm 60.)

I hadn't really explored many areas of DC at all, so this was the first time I was going out and socializing. I basically came here with 36 dollars to my name, so I was cooped up in the house looking for work.

I really hadn't heard of anything like Flashband... And I really had a great feeling coming in and out of the Meet and Greet. The house was very welcoming and I felt at home with all the great people I met. I brought my snare drum and a cardboard box that acted as my kick drum. I was ready to jam!

I jammed with people but ended up socializing, and forgot I was supposed to find a band to play with for the event the following month. But I felt great about it. Then two days before the show I got a call from Rico, a brilliant and wonderful lad that I was talking to most of the evening. His band had lost their drummer and asked me to fill in.

Mustache of Numbers by WWDF? from john on Vimeo

We had a practice, and then played at Gypsy Sally's the day after. It's a great sounding venue with a nice stage and good people. It was a blast!

I was hooked and right away joined the next one, which was hip-hop themed. That is how I and The Lucky So and So's found each other.

I've met many great people that I see regularly as a result of Flashband, whether by being friends or playing music, or working. Flashband introduced me to 7drumlessons, where I teach drums regularly. And I currently live with a great person I met on that first Flashband show way back in February of 2014. There isn't enough to say about the value for me.

The actual experience of Flashband—playing under the short circumstances and melding ideas within themes—that's always exciting to me. It's a great creative outlet. You have just a couple of rules to follow that make the experience freeing as well as poignant. It's very satisfying.

Aztec Sun

To other musicians who are new to Flashband, I would say: Do it, have fun. Don't worry one way or the other about talent or experience. Everybody is in it together to win. And by "win," I mean playing music, having fun, creating, expanding your limits, and countless other things. Whether you're new to performing, or haven't done it in a while, or if you do it regularly and want to give Flashband a whirl... It's a no-brainer, really.

I like that the people in DC really like to listen to music. They come out and support any day of the week. I went to a house show on a weekday, and it was very packed. The music started promptly, and as soon as the music finished, people disbursed—of course, not before they bought CDs and t-shirts. They weren't there for anything else. I think that is something.

Music is important in my life because it really gets under the skin of everything good and bad in life, ultimately making everything better. I think they call it the happy drug... at least, those kids nowadays do.

Music is timeless. I like that, especially when we're all so concerned with how much time we have.

Want to be featured in an upcoming Flashband Meet the Musician? Contact Deborah Lash for more info.