Kate Kuziakina | I Fell Asleep With My Pink Drumsticks More Often Than A Teddy Bear

Hi :) My name is Kate. I'm a 9 year old girl from Ukraine. I love to play drums.

Splinters

On that evening as usually my Dad sat on his chair and... suddenly decided to buy me drums. No magic - just a splinter. A splinter that appeared there after an intensive "drumming" with chopsticks.

My Dad and Mom say that at the age of 4 I constantly pattered on chairs with pencils and chopsticks. Also, I could eternally watch how someone played drums. In the end - due to a small piece of wood in the chair - Dad and Mom realized that it was serious, and I got my first drum kit. I was 6 years old then.

There are no such words to describe how happy I was. I could play my drums for hours. I fell asleep with my pink drumsticks more often than with a teddy bear.

Family and Friends

My Dad is a producer of music video clips and photographer. Mom has studied playing piano but now she keeps house and takes care of the family with three children.

My older sister Valery (she is 16 years old) is my manager, promoter, and main encourager. She thinks up scenarios of our videos, films and edits them, designs suits and make up, as well as manages social networks.

Nastya (age 3) is my main fan and trusty assistant. Sometimes Nastya plays tambourine in my videos.

My Dad has a lot of friends among Ukrainian musicians and rock bands. Some of them are my friends too.

Music Shed

I will tell you a big secret - very few people can listen to a kid playing drums for more than few minutes. But I play for two or even more hours in a row - because I have a separate music studio! To tell the truth, it is a small backyard shed :) . But for me it is a real kingdom of music. All my instruments, my awards, and my ideas are there. And my first spectators - hens and rabbits - live nearby too. Mom says that hens lay eggs better when I play drums :) .

Music Teachers

I am a self-taught drummer.

We live in a village not far from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. There is no music school nearby in the radius of about 70 km, not to mention the speciality "Drums." So if you want to learn music, you have two options: to hire a tutor or learn by yourself.

I started studying drumming using the Internet. I listened to a song for about 10 times and then tried to repeat the tune on drums. Also, we found free drumming lessons and I learned them too.

Sometimes professional drummers (my Dad's friends) gave me lessons. Also, I was lucky to play with such 'adult' rock bands as Mad Heads, Vopli Vidoplyasova, Numer 482, Ot Vinta, Tabula Rasa, and High Score. This was an incredible experience of live performances that helped me a lot to improve as a drummer.

Music Teachers - Level 2

My Dad always said that I need a regular music course and lessons from the Internet are not enough.

The problem is that the tuition fees asked by good drum tutors are too high for our family. Don't forget that drum gear and its maintenance are expensive too. However this year we have tried to raise funds for music course on fundraising platforms. The result was not as we expected but that money has allowed us to start tuition. And this is really cool!

First Failure

In 2015 we participated in a famous TV talent show. After the audition the judges' verdict was simple: "No talent! Go home."

We were certainly upset. Except my older sister Valerie. She said that those ladies and gentlemen had been wrong. I am not sure that she used just these words - you know those teenagers :) . Then she designed a suit for me and we recorded a video. Valerie posted it on the Internet, and in a few days it became viral. Here is that video:

https://youtu.be/JgwnkM5WwWE

After that we believed in ourselves. Since then we are not afraid of failures. They could be a good chance to take the next steps forward to your dream.

Procrastination and Star Fever

While I love drumming, sometimes I'm not so much happy with learning drum exercises such as paradiddles or triplets. But musicians can't improve without a day-to-day practice.

Thank God I have my family! My sister Valerie knows all my weak points and encourages and supports me in time.

Due Valerie we have overcome a lot of obstacles and difficulties. But after our first success and first wave of popularity she fell a bit ill with star fever (I didn't tell you this :) ). However our Dad found right words to quickly cure it. That case was a good inoculation against conceit.

Misunderstandings

We make drum covers of songs and put them on our YouTube channel. Now I have created about 50 covers of rock, heavy metal, and pop compositions. Some of these videos are real music video clips. Here is one of them - the cover of S.O.A.D.'s Toxicity:

https://youtu.be/lDY6LQ9cRS4

When people see that some of your videos have got quite a few views on Youtube they think that your channel gains a lot of money. But in reality these videos do not give any income because this is covers of songs created by other people. According to the laws on copyright, if even ads are shown, all income goes to the song authors and copyright holders. The drummer who plays the cover gets nothing.

Contests

I have participated in the international art contests and festivals for children in the USA, Finland, Spain, and Ukraine, and usually won the Grand Prix's and First places.

The art contests are a great way to understand who you are and where to go next.

In 2016 and 2018 I became a finalist of the famous contest for female drummers Hit Like A Girl (HLAG), USA. But how different these cases are!

In 2016 Ukrainian media issued numerous articles and TV news stories about me and my participation in the contest. And many people voted for me at the stage of the public voting. This helped a lot to become a finalist. But in the final I didn't win. I tried to play well but as it turned out not enough to win then.

In 2018 we prepared much more carefully. My drumming skills became much higher. This year I am in the HLAG contest final too - but as a winner of Week One in the division <18 (girls who are less than 18 years old)! The results of the HLAG 2018 contest will be announced on the 5-th of June so I don't know my place yet. Here is my the HLAG 2018 entry:

https://youtu.be/iSf-C6NJeIY

People

Often when you are a kid and live with your parents you don't communicate with a large number of people and might think that all people are good and all bad guys live only in the fairy tales. But if you become a bit popular, you have no age and you suddenly find out that there are a lot of persons who can say bad words about you or try to hurt you in one way or another. If you are 7 years old, this is very painful.

Fortunately, there are a lot of other people too. I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who have been helping us with money for the trips on the international contests and for paying my tuition fees. Who give us drum gear and drumming books. Who support us in difficult situations - with special thanks to the YouTube Team! Who help us in promotion. Who just say kind words - from the USA, Canada, Germany, the UK, Brasil, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, Ukraine, and many other countries. You are awesome! I love you all :) .

Drumming Style

I prefer impressive and artistic drumming when you play drums as in the dance: not because it is your (hard) work but because it is your life and feelings.

Toys

Drums mean so much to me, more than dolls and games. Music is my passion and my main toy. Yes, it takes time. Yes, sometimes I see blood on my hands after that. But drumming is an incredible fun. It's a real happiness. I'm just flying to the sky when drumming :) .

But my life has a lot of other sides too. I love our dogs and rabbits. I adore riding my beautiful bicycle. Also I am keen on traveling. Unfortunately, I can't travel a lot because it's expensive.

Dreams

I dream to become a professional drummer and master different drumming styles
I'd like to play with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk and his famous Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy
I'd like to organize a girl rock band

Thank you for reading :) Have an amazing day! May all your dreams come true!