Recycled Percussion
May 20th, 2007 Posted in Music, NoveltyRecycled Percussion Storms Vegas
Recycled Percussion’s popularity is booming. With recent shows for Kicker and Microsoft that were explosive and extremely well received, they look as if they will be a force in both the corporate and private sectors of the market when the demand is for a high energy show.
Described as “compelling, unique and exciting” by the mainstream market, founder Justin Spencer wants
to make his mark in the corporate market by playing for progressive functions that want to explore something different.
Recycled Percussion is a four-man drumming juggernaut led by Justin Spencer. Over the last ten years, Recycled Percussion has made a name for themselves in the campus and corporate markets, playing almost every imaginable venue from local schools to professional sporting events.
RP originated in 1995 at a high school talent show in New Hampshire. “It started out as a totally new concept and has since evolved into being the premier act on the college market.”
There are four guys onstage during a Recycled Percussion show which includes three drummers and a DJ. “It started in high school. The members have changed over the years, but Greg and I got it started in the beginning,” Justin says. “We are the two original members and we were just looking for something alternative at the time. We wanted a show with a lot of energy and something fun to perform and watch. We also wanted to come up with an act that would let the drummers become the forefront of the band as opposed to being in the background. I believe we have really achieved that. This band has come a long way and for the people who are familiar with us, I think we have revolutionized the way people think about drumming.”
The band has been performing their current show for about a year and a half. During this time, they have been in an ever-accumulative process of collecting bits and pieces of material for a completely new show. “The show we will write has actually been about six months in the making, but we are going to take two months off this summer to sit down and beat out the fine details.” The most exciting new aspect of Recycled Percussion’s show will be a full multi-media experience to go along with the performance. “We will be bringing in big video screens that will say on tour with us, I don’t want to give away too much, but there will be some big surprises on this new tour. It will create a whole new aspect to this power-percussion rock show we have.
Recycled Percussion has been a staple for years in the campus market and over the last three years has achieved impressive status in corporate and theatre markets as well. “We are attacking the big markets now and really trying to make the jump into that ‘A’ class of performance art. We see ourselves in the ballpark with acts like Blue Man Group and Cirque du Soleil. We are investing a lot of time and money into making sure this gets done right. We are currently one of the premiere corporate and college acts touring the country today and we plan on continuing that climb.”
While at first the group may seem to be limited in the corporate demographic just by their age and the sheer energy on stage, Justin explains that this is exactly what makes Recycled Percussion a breath of fresh air for event planners. “We have done shows for any and all kinds of groups. Any event that has a high energy and charged atmosphere is perfect for Recycled Percussion. We just headlined the launch of the new Vista operating platform for Microsoft. It was cool to play with Bill Gates in attendance.” Recycled Percussion has 
actually been doing a lot of work with Microsoft and Monster.com. “A lot of these companies that want high energy find the perfect solution with us. I think a lot of times CEO’s nowadays like a show that is an alternative form of entertainment and really high energy. It stays right in line with the ‘think outside the box’ mentality that has allowed so many corporate entities to grow and change with the times. But no matter what the business, it is always good for the employees to get psyched up and excited at a meeting. More and more planners and producers out there are finding Recycled Percussion to be the perfect fit. We are the best way to open up any event. We are the energy drink of bands.”
Justin says their average corporate engagements have lasted anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour, depending upon the needs of the client. “Sometimes a full show isn’t what our clients are looking for and we are fine with that. A fifteen or twenty minute show may be ideal to set the tone of a meeting. We get in and out at the clients behest.
Like many of the more desirable acts in the market, Recycled Percussion has come to understand the importance of customizing their show to certain events. “We have done many individually tailored shows in the past. The type of show we do makes it easy, but I think a lot of times our clients are so happy with our product to begin with that they want to keep it how it is and let us do our thing. If they have specific message or product they are focusing on, we try to be easy to work with.”
The band has revolutionized the art of drumming, taking the “junk rock” genre to a new level. They play on every sort of object imaginable, from barrels and boxes to ladders and sinks. Because of the uniqueness of the act, Recycled Percussion frequently has audience members that want to meet the band after the show. The members always make sure to take the time for anyone interested. The band has an appeal and talent that makes them a unique pick for any booker. “I think what makes us so good is that we’re entirely original. From a purchaser’s standpoint, you’re going to have people coming in who have seen juggling acts a hundred times, they’ve seen the magicians, they’ve seen a thousand comedians, and the market is waterlogged with the same old kind of entertainment. But there are only a few groups like us around (notably Stomp and The Blue Man Group). Our show is so incredibly chaotic live that it takes you away from your job for an hour – and that’s a goal people have when they purchase our show. They get originality, and they feel like someone has taken the time to find something really special for their event.
“Our show fits any age. You can have a thousand people with 800 of them over the age of fifty, nobody leaves and we get two standing ovations. People respect our talent, and they respect the fact that there’s literally no talking during the whole show. Music is a universal thing. Half the time our audience is staring at the thing that’s being played, and half the time they’re staring at the guy who’s playing it.”
Recycled Percussion remains one of the busiest groups out there, especially considering the aggressive nature of their act. After a week’s worth of shows in Canada to kick things off, Recycled Percussion will be geared up for a major tour that will run from this fall through next spring and will include over 200 stops for shows along the way.
If you have ever seen an RP show, you may be wondering how it is possible for these guys to get out there and 
rip an all out no-holds-barred brutal hour-long total body workout over 200 times in less than a year. What these guys do is immensely physically challenging. Justin says the band works out five days a week to stay in shape for the strength and energy necessary for their show. Even so there are lots of injuries, primarily tendinitis and the cracked elbows and twisted ankles that come from banging and leaping around a set full of heavy metal objects.
All the guys, Justin says, are indeed pretty healthy. Need more proof? “We are all walking around with about four percent body fat,” he says, “and we train like madmen. We have to, to be able to play the amount of drums for the amount of time (six days a week), that we do. Not only that, everyday we rehearse the whole show, every show, before we play it. If there is something wrong, no matter how big or small, we break it down right there that day and figure it out. We don’t cut any corners and strive for perfection in every show. If there is something not right we will absolutely not let it slide. It is our commitment and our passion to this art of ours that makes it as good as it is and we will not bend on that. All of this certainly lets us stay busy.”
The amount of physical strain these guys go through almost daily goes without saying. Obviously they have to stay in incredibly good shape to be able to do what they do, but as Justin explains, about three to four hours after each show, they completely crash. “Immediately after the shows we feel great. We are so pumped on adrenaline and endorphins we could probably tear down a brick wall. It’s a little later that the fatigue catches up with you. When we get off the stage we are tired, but wired. Sometimes after we have been done for a while though, we have a complete meltdown.”
Justin wants to emphasize the extent to which Recycled Percussion has gone in order to create an all-new, mind-blowing show. “This show is literally just a massive project. We are spending so much money to develop this show into something that has never been seen before. We are taking this form of entertainment to an entirely new level and we are going to attack the corporate market full-force. We will go after as many corporate booking as we possibly can because we truly feel we are one of the best-suited acts out there for this audience.”
Recycled Percussion, like any good act, is highly adaptable. They have learned things about performing for corporate audiences that have helped them to continually improve their show. “One of the biggest things we learned is how much this 
demographic seems to enjoy audience interaction. They love it when we bring people up on stage, whether it is a big wig or the top sales guy. We always get a big response from the audience with that.
Coming from a background of playing college shows, Recycled Percussion earned their stripes in a niche market where most of the audiences are in the exclusive four (or so) year age range of 18 to 22. Obviously this is radically different in the corporate market. One might think the energy of the crowds and the rapport Recycled Percussion has with them would diminish, but Justin says just the opposite holds true. “I think they like it more than the colleges do. The older the audiences are often the better ones in our minds. We get insane reactions from some of the most apparently buttoned-down people. You just never know and Recycled Percussion has the formula for any audience to get amped.”
One big reason Justin says the rapport and success with audiences exists with Recycled Percussion is because of their personal connection to them and the audience knowing they are always seeing the real deal. “Recycled Percussion is a legitimate band,” Justin says. “The difference between us and Stomp or Blue Man Group or Cirque du Soleil is that when you book Recycled Percussion, you get Recycled Percussion. There is one band and one band only. We don’t hire people to come in, it is not a performance group and we have always done it ourselves. I think that people can relate to that in the work force. When you have 2,000 people in the crowd that are working class, they can look at us and appreciate the hard work and drive we have maintained to build this into a successful enterprise. We don’t farm anything out, we don’t make substitutions and we don’t send out cheap knock-offs. What you see is what you get and that is years of blood, sweat and tears poured into our craft to put it in the elite class of entertainment. We have given our lives since high school for this to make it a one-of-a-kind, mind-numbing entertainment experience.”
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