Shooting the breeze: How did you get started in music?
My grandma bought me a little toy drum set when I was like three. I took drum lessons for two months, got frustrated with that, and took it back up seriously in eighth grade when my friends needed a drummer for a band. They saw me drumming on the desk and said, “Hey why don’t you try our drum set, we got one.” I took clarinet lessons when I was in sixth grade until eighth grade. That was my first formal music training. I took bass lessons from an excellent, excellent teacher named Mike Kelly. I feel like the clarinet lessons taught me the formal side of music, how to read, stuff like that. Mike taught me how to fit into the club scene, how to be able to play, how to improvise. But mainly I learned from my friends, my band mates.

STB: What instruments do you play?
BR: Drums, bass, guitar and clarinet. Drums first, definitely.

STB: Who were some of your influences on your music?
BR: Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford, the drummer for DMB; Red Hot Chili Pep