Meet Demetrius Conley | Drummer & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Demetrius Conley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Demetrius, why did you pursue a creative career?
Ever since I was 11 years old, I listened to a lot of rock music. I listen to bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Weezer, Green Day, 3 Doors Down, Nirvana, Linkin Park, & Daughtry.

Everytime I turn on the TV to watch a rock music video of this song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers called “Dani California” I see that there was a guy in the back playing the drums, it gave me a brilliant idea. My mind was saying “I want to do whatever he’s doing.”

This was when I was introduced to drumming for the first time, my parents bought my very first drum set because they was so tired of me making so much noise in the kitchen. I didn’t knew how to play or assemble a drum set before until I started learning lessons online about how to play or setup a drumset

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What I love most about being a drummer is because drumming is my way of beating depression. There was a very famous quote by Neil Peart (Drummer from RUSH), he once said “If you got a problem, take it out a drum!” Those were the most powerful words that hit me & I’ll say “I’m right on it!” No matter how rough my day went so far, I’ll take it on a drum!

What separates myself from other musicians is how I develop so much technique by playing the drums & how I can keep up with the pocket grooves I develop on the drum set. Cause you know, if you have that pocket groove. Somebody’s going to hire you to play at a paying gig!

I became the baddest drummer in South Florida for various reasons, it’s because of how my style is whether I’m playing to rock, R&B, Pop, Funk, Latin, & Hip-Hop music. Sometimes I’ll come up with crazy gospel chops & do stick twirls on my playing. Yet, I do those things a lot while performing on stages & people will feel very amazed, they’ll say he’s very very good!

The lessons I’ve learned in becoming a drummer til’ this day is getting prepared for the best! When you’re on that stage with thousands of people watching you live, you have to be aware of what you’re playing, don’t make any mistakes while performing, stay focused. Make sure your timing is correct, stay on that pocket groove, & always listen to your backing tracks you have playing. When you get all of those things down, you’ll remember that one day, you have become a successful player, have fans take photos with you, & sign autographs!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a week and took a friend with me, I’d probably go to New York City, eat some good pizza amongst other things, visit Time Square, and stay at very comfortable hotel in Manhattan.

New York City would be a place I’d love to go one day, because basically the city has very nice, fancy restaurants where it can be live music, and that’s what gets my attention a lot. I love the entertainment, the art, food, & crafts. Even sometimes New York City will have street musicians perform live on the street or the Subway, which is pretty amazing! I would love to see more of those things if I ever go.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to show love for two of my music bands, the first band who I dearly love so much is Galaxy Beat .

Galaxy Beat is a South Florida local three-man band consist of Julio Diaz Jr (Guitar/Vocals) & Shane Ragoonan (Keys/Vocals/Synth). We’ve been in the band since November 3rd 2016, all three of us were students at Miami-Dade College North Campus. What got my attention was I see Julio Diaz Jr playing his guitar by the lake & I had my old snare drum along with me, I said “I want to go over there & join along with him.” Julio was very cool & nice about it, I love his playing on the guitar. We were seeking out for a keyboard player who can sing & rap. That’s when Julio & I met Shane Ragoonan, these guys got him up on his feet because he was having such a bad day & that’s when this band saved his life!

On February 18, 2023, Galaxy Beat first released their newest EP called “Finally……… AN EP available on Spotify Music, Apple Music, ITunes, YouTube, & many more! We have worked so hard on creating this best craft into a masterpiece for people to check out.

The second band who I also dearly love so much is J.L.G.

J.L.G. is another South Florida band I joined on June 16, 2022. And how I got in this band is that I received direct messages (DM’s) on Instagram from Garrett Blackburn (Guitar/Bass/Vocals), Juan Felaco (Lead Guitar) & Jordan Guadalupe (Vocals). They’ve checked out mostly all my content on Instagram & thought he can be in a great fit. The band was looking for a drummer & I was so happy that this band has chosen me to be their drummer, they love everything about me. My playing, personality, technique, & etc.

Instagram: Instagram.com/@miamidrummer08

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/capt.conley?wtsid=rdr_0RwiEsMGJerksWGZO

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DemetriusConley