{"id":39696,"date":"2022-11-28T15:15:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T23:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/?p=39696"},"modified":"2023-01-30T18:40:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T02:40:11","slug":"charlie-engen-a-change-in-trajectory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drumeo.com\/beat\/charlie-engen-a-change-in-trajectory\/","title":{"rendered":"A Change In Trajectory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My entire career shifted in one afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, I was playing drums for Scale The Summit and making a ton of online content. I\u2019d developed relationships with a lot of drummers, including many in the arena circuit. One of my buddies, the original drummer from Five Finger Death Punch, would say, \u201cWe gotta get you on the big stage!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was like \u201cYeah, that\u2019d be great, Jeremy – let me know!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually I planned to go visit the Death Punch guys down in Chicago. A few days before making the drive, I was on a Skype call with Dave Atkinson from Drumeo to talk details for a visit to the studio that November. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My phone started blowing up next to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was trying to ignore it. The screen kept flashing and I was like, \u201cWhat the hell?\u201d I looked over and saw messages and phone calls from Jeremy and Zoltan. I had no idea what was going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finished the Skype meeting with Dave and called Jeremy back before reading the texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, what\u2019s going on? I see you\u2019re trying to get a hold of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremy dropped the bomb. \u201cI know you\u2019re coming down in four days to hang out. How about you learn a few tunes and jam with the guys during soundcheck and see how the vibe is? I want you to take over for me this coming fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"charlie
My first tour with Five Finger Death Punch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I called Drumeo back and told Dave I needed to prepare for a two month long tour, so I wouldn\u2019t be able to come out. He was totally understanding of course, but it was amazing how fast my career could shift in a matter of 20 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I headed down to Chicago from Minneapolis with my now fianc\u00e9. During the drive we hit a bunch of floods that added like 2.5 hours to the trip. I was panicking. Am I even going to get there in time?<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was on my way to the biggest jam session of my life, but every new route we tried turned into closed roads and dead ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was panicking. Am I even going to get there in time?<\/em>“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We arrived down to the minute I was supposed to be going on stage. I got my in-ears and the assistant grabbed me and showed me the dressing room. It was the first time I\u2019d ever met any of these guys in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a quick greeting, they walked me out to the stage. I got behind Jeremy\u2019s kit and it was extremely uncomfortable for me – not set up at all how I would play it. It was my first time using triggers and there were all these variables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris, Ivan and Zoltan came up and shook my hand. \u201cLet\u2019s jam a tune. How about \u2018Lift Me Up\u2019?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can jam to an album a thousand times, but to suddenly go to a click and hear the guys through a random in-ear mix? I remember this feeling of discomfort. I think I muted most of them so I could just hear the click and some guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a surreal moment, playing on someone else\u2019s kit with guys I just met, at the biggest jam of my life that could send me home or give me a dream gig. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"charlie
This was the first time I met\/jammed with the guys<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s funny to look back at this image and now know I have 150 shows under my belt. I went from playing technical progressive music in small clubs to playing in front of 15,000 people in sold out arenas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had a month to prepare for that first tour and I learned the live set by watching videos of Jeremy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangely enough, my anxiety leading into it wasn\u2019t so much around crowd size or the music – it was how I would look on a big stage. Would I be too boring? Would my movements not fit the big arena rock vibe? Can I play these tunes and be the powerful drummer that I am and still look cool doing it? What am I going to wear on stage and at the photoshoots? I\u2019d never been in this position before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"charlie<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Going into my first show, I remember how surreal it felt in the dressing room. I could hear the crowd and I went to watch Breaking Benjamin perform so I could get a sense of the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it was my turn, I was more focused on the count-ins than the songs themselves. All I could think was don\u2019t derail the train! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The show went perfect. It was such a rush playing to a huge crowd, a fan base that loves the band so much. I didn\u2019t know if they\u2019d accept the new guy – and I looked so young at the time – but they\u2019ve been amazing and made the transition nice on me, which was a relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This experience showed me that being on top of my craft was so important. I needed to be able to rise to any occasion on short notice. If you\u2019re confident and prepared, it\u2019s so much easier to handle an epic situation. You won\u2019t have to stress about your skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You never know when you\u2019re going to get a phone call that changes your life. It\u2019s such a cliche thing but it\u2019s so important. Be adaptable, whether that means saying \u201cSure, I\u2019ll play that\u201d or \u201cI won\u2019t move that\u201d or changing the in-ear mix and not taking an hour to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things can change from one trajectory to another so quickly. I was playing drums and working a day job and went straight to joining one of the largest rock bands in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Networking and making friends is such an important asset – really the most important asset in your drumming career.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Charlie Engen<\/h3>\n

Five Finger Death Punch<\/strong><\/h6>\n

 <\/p>\n