Nick Cesarz of Vinyl Theatre: Talks Tour Challenges and Debut Album

Hey, MDL readers! My name is Nick Cesarz and I play drums in Vinyl Theatre. We’re an alternative rock group based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.I started playing drums when I was nine years old, taking lessons through high school and into my college years where I studied percussion formally. Some of my heaviest influences include Simon Phillips, Steve Gadd, Neil Peart, Stewart Copeland, Jason McGerr, and Bernard Purdie.

My live setup includes a mixture of acoustic and electronic drums. For certain keyboard samples and electronic drum samples, I use a Roland SPD-SX along with an additional pad on my left and a foot trigger. I’m a big fan of finding different sounds to use, so in addition to using the stock sounds, I’ve sampled different drumkits including sounds from the Simmons SDS-V and Clap Trap.

Touring has presented a lot of challenges for us. On the Twenty One Pilots tour last fall, we were fortunate to play on a lot of big stages. Three kits on stage every night was no problem. On our current tour though, I am sharing kits with another band, which has challenges that I’m sure many of you are familiar with.

Some of the drives with a van and trailer can be tricky. Fortunately, everyone volunteers to drive in our group—I can’t imagine being the only one driving. We had a crazy trip from Vancouver, BC to Dallas, TX that had to be done in three days on that same Twenty One Pilots tour. It was the toughest forty-eight hours of the tour to endure.

Since signing with Fueled By Ramen, we put out our debut album, Electrogram. We’re currently about to kick off a co-headline tour with Finish Ticket. I hope you heard our first single, “Breaking Up My Bones,” on the radio by the time you read this! It hit #2 on ALT 18 and Electrogram charted at #1 on Billboard’s “Next Big Sound.”

Thanks for reading!