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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Where is He Now....Looking for Sonny (Sik Phuk) Yung

I'd completely lost touch with my first drum teacher, a little know but brilliant performer named "Sonny" (Sik Phuk) Yung. A Korean by birth, he came to Canada as a 20 year old to seek fame and fortune and left half a year later with Chlamydia. In those few months of lessons with him I learnt more about the art of musical performance than in all my years of study that were to follow.
Sonny used to say; "You got to putting good show...every time!!" or "Why you no having fun, music make you happy...every time!!" He wasn't a great technician but he swung like nobody's business and thanks to regular contributor Dixxx and YouTube I've found him once again.He taught me that technique was a means to an end and not the end itself. As such I came to loathe Drum corps even though I was studying to be a percussionist. Watch this next clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFtc_rpg-Wg&feature=related and see if you agree that it is an awesome technical display, precise beyond words, and yet at the end of the day remains a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Sure they're hot but could they move an audience to tears like Sik Phuk??
I'd always thought that drum corps was to music as body building was to sports/athletics, both concentrating on only a couple of parameters and raising them to super human levels. After the initial "awe" factor wore off I was left cold....until I saw the following clip of drummer girls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNgPIx45Lk0 (again Korean...they say you are never really cured of yellow fever once you get it) in this drum corps style performance. Drums played by sexy Oriental chicks in suggestive poses, what's not to like??? So what if they're probably all gay and doing each other...a guy can dream can't he??!! (in fact gimme a minute....Ok, I'm back)
Flashy, sexy, precise, whatever....I'm sticking with Sonny Yung, a drummer who had more Seoul in his little finger than the whole lot of them (cue rimshot).

3 comments:

Maria Callous said...

I've never watched a drummer up close and personal before. Tell me, Blobby, do you make the same faces during the climax of musical passion?

slapper58 said...

Good question Maria but there's never a mirror around when I need one. I suppose I can invite you to my next performance and you can be the judge. Oh yeah...Phyllis will be here in 2 weeks.

Anonymous said...

I heard tickets for this event are being scalped on ebay and craigslist. Seats in the reds are going for about $500.