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Rob Minervino, searching for a new drummer for his band, was intrigued when a friend of a friend online recommended Chris Wydock, who is deaf. "I thought they meant 'def,' as in really good," Minervino said.
It turned out not to be a misspelling; Wydock is deaf and, as Minervino discovered, also def. "At first I was a little iffy about it, until I heard him play. He was so much better than any drummer who could hear."
Wydock joined Fate To Fly a year ago, and the group of area musicians, all in their 20s, have been playing popular Shore venues. So far this year they've been booked at the Beachcomber in Seaside Heights, Chubby's in Red Bank and The Saint in Asbury Park. On March 14 they'll perform at the Stone Pony in Asbury.
Guitarist Minervino and bassist Mike Archibald, both from Lacey, formed the band in 2001. When their drummer and vocalist left for college, they recruited Wydock, of Toms River, and Neptune resident Travis Johnson, who writes the songs. Their music is "heavy rock," Minervino said, and mostly originals.
"We 'cover' one song, Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' because Chris already knew it." Wydock memorizes the music and Minervino cues him in to changes or pauses with a "look." Another onstage accommodation is sign language; Wydock taught the others how to sign the names of the songs.
His lip-reading skills also help. But the music, says Wydock, who hears only low frequencies and is profoundly deaf to high-pitch sounds, is all about the vibrations.
"I can feel it through me, and my feet, too. On a solid floor it is hard to feel; only when I am onstage or in a house with wood floors can I feel it right off the bat."
Bacterial meningitis left him deaf soon after his first birthday; he began drumming when he was 10.
"It all started when I banged on those plastic upside-down buckets and garbage cans with heavy plastic dog toy bones as my drum sticks. I hit something that I could feel because the impact was so great that it sent some sound waves to me."
When a drummer played at a party in his father's house, "I felt those drum beats and I was hooked ever since. I like to feel music because I am missing a lot of the fun in hearing nature's music."
His garbage can and bucket repertoire resembled the off-Broadway show "Stomp," and his grandmother, annoyed by the constant banging and clanking in her garage, bought him a set of drums.
Fate To Fly is a rock band, but Wydock's range of musical styles includes blues, jazz, heavy metal and even marching band tunes. He also enjoys native American and Jamaican rhythms, which he calls "very cooperative."
"I love listening to Ozzy Osbourne music; it has a lot of drumming," he said, and was influenced by Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Stone Temple Pilot. But his personal role model is Shawn Dale Barnett, who Wydock met during Great Adventure's Deaf Awareness Day in 2002. Barnett died last year. "If there are no other deaf drummers taking his place, I would love to follow his footsteps."
Meanwhile, Fate To Fly band mates are learning more than sign language from Wydock. According to the group's Web site, the dedicated drummer is fueling their fire to perform and record.
Last week they completed a CD, "Watching The World Spin," on an independent label.
Wydock's goal is "to let people know that deaf people can do anything they can do."
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,913355,00.html
It turned out not to be a misspelling; Wydock is deaf and, as Minervino discovered, also def. "At first I was a little iffy about it, until I heard him play. He was so much better than any drummer who could hear."
Wydock joined Fate To Fly a year ago, and the group of area musicians, all in their 20s, have been playing popular Shore venues. So far this year they've been booked at the Beachcomber in Seaside Heights, Chubby's in Red Bank and The Saint in Asbury Park. On March 14 they'll perform at the Stone Pony in Asbury.
Guitarist Minervino and bassist Mike Archibald, both from Lacey, formed the band in 2001. When their drummer and vocalist left for college, they recruited Wydock, of Toms River, and Neptune resident Travis Johnson, who writes the songs. Their music is "heavy rock," Minervino said, and mostly originals.
"We 'cover' one song, Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name' because Chris already knew it." Wydock memorizes the music and Minervino cues him in to changes or pauses with a "look." Another onstage accommodation is sign language; Wydock taught the others how to sign the names of the songs.
His lip-reading skills also help. But the music, says Wydock, who hears only low frequencies and is profoundly deaf to high-pitch sounds, is all about the vibrations.
"I can feel it through me, and my feet, too. On a solid floor it is hard to feel; only when I am onstage or in a house with wood floors can I feel it right off the bat."
Bacterial meningitis left him deaf soon after his first birthday; he began drumming when he was 10.
"It all started when I banged on those plastic upside-down buckets and garbage cans with heavy plastic dog toy bones as my drum sticks. I hit something that I could feel because the impact was so great that it sent some sound waves to me."
When a drummer played at a party in his father's house, "I felt those drum beats and I was hooked ever since. I like to feel music because I am missing a lot of the fun in hearing nature's music."
His garbage can and bucket repertoire resembled the off-Broadway show "Stomp," and his grandmother, annoyed by the constant banging and clanking in her garage, bought him a set of drums.
Fate To Fly is a rock band, but Wydock's range of musical styles includes blues, jazz, heavy metal and even marching band tunes. He also enjoys native American and Jamaican rhythms, which he calls "very cooperative."
"I love listening to Ozzy Osbourne music; it has a lot of drumming," he said, and was influenced by Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Stone Temple Pilot. But his personal role model is Shawn Dale Barnett, who Wydock met during Great Adventure's Deaf Awareness Day in 2002. Barnett died last year. "If there are no other deaf drummers taking his place, I would love to follow his footsteps."
Meanwhile, Fate To Fly band mates are learning more than sign language from Wydock. According to the group's Web site, the dedicated drummer is fueling their fire to perform and record.
Last week they completed a CD, "Watching The World Spin," on an independent label.
Wydock's goal is "to let people know that deaf people can do anything they can do."
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,913355,00.html
