He wasn't 'smart enough' for studies. Now, he owns five drum schools and holds a Guinness World Record

He wasn't 'smart enough' for studies. Now, he owns five drum schools and holds a Guinness World Record From being a self-taught teenager drumming in his parents' Tampines flat to sharing the stage with Mandopop artistes, Mr Er Chow Kiat's love for music has taken him further than he imagined. Three glass doors barely muffled the beats thundering from Mr Er Chow Kiat's studio in a quiet corner of Katong Shopping Centre. Inside, there was just a drum kit and recording gear, but the wall outside the little glass cave told a different story. It was lined with framed media reports, accolades and, most recently, a Guinness World Records certificate. In May, Mr Er set the record for the most spin-and-strike drumbeats in one minute – 233 beats in 60 seconds, to be exact – a feat that drew in this journalist, whose jaw slightly dropped as he demonstrated it live. The 36-year-old's hands seemed to blur as he deftly performed the flashy, crowd-pleasing drumstick flourish. Mr Er, known to others in his circle as CK or Chow, has become known for this trick, having performed it while drumming for the likes of Taiwanese singers Angela Zhang and WeiBird, guitarist Paul Wong from Hong Kong rock band Beyond, and Brazilian guitarist Mateus Asato who used to play for pop singer Bruno Mars. Besides an illustrious career as a live performer, he has spent the past decade running Drum Tutor Singapore, a drum school he founded in 2016. What first started as a home-based outfit where he taught about 30 students out of his parents' four-room flat in a public housing block has since grown to a school with 20 staff members and five outlets across Singapore that have seen more than 1,000 students. But drum prodigy Mr Er was not. He picked up his first drumsticks only at 14 years old, at a time when he was struggling with schoolwork and felt directionless in life. "I wasn't a particularly great student ... I'm not the studious kind," he said. "My Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) result wasn't the best, and my parents were really concerned." He remembered the shock of receiving his PSLE result: 159 out of 300 points. He later sat his O-Levels as a private candidate – after not being able to progress to Secondary 5 with his N-Level results – but did not meet the polytechnic admission threshold. "For a long time, I thought I wasn't smart enough," he said. As a teenager, he would not have envisioned the opportunities that opened up for him later – including a full-ride scholarship to one of the top modern music schools in the United States, a year of performing on cruise ships while travelling around the Caribbean and, now, running a business that teaches others to love playing the instrument that sustained him. Even now, Mr Er talks about these experiences with an air of amazement. "This wasn't something that I planned," he said, the awe in his voice contrasting the laid-back manner in which he showed me drumming trick after trick that I could barely begin to keep up with. "I really love music, but (I never thought) that I could convince myself to pursue a career in it. Drums and music saved my life." THE MOVIE THAT SPARKED HIS INTEREST At nine years old, Mr Er first saw what drums could do while watching Hollywood film star Tom Hanks' directorial debut, That Thing You Do!. The 1996 movie features an aspiring jazz drummer who turned the catchy title track into a worldwide radio hit. Immediately hooked, he pleaded with his parents to buy him a copy of the DVD. "I loved the movie so much I would rewatch it (often). I kept listening to the soundtrack on CD." At the age of 14, he convinced his father to buy him a drum kit. Learning to be a drummer changed everything. It gave him "a purpose, a sense of direction and something to look forward to every day". His 70-year-old mother Wee Sock Kheng, a retiree, told me later that her husband was initially worried about noise complaints from the neighbours, but the young Mr Er suggested that they lay down carpeting for extra soundproofing and promised to refrain from playing at night. "I was definitely worried (about his studies), but he loved to play the drums," Madam Wee said in Mandarin. In secondary school, he joined the school band, where the band director took one look at him and assigned him the trumpet – something to do with his "round mouth shape", Mr Er recalled, still a little befuddled by that. He was later allowed to play both the trumpet and drums for the school band in Secondary 3. Every evening after school, he spent around two hours drumming at his Tampines home. This being the early 2000s, he did not have the luxury of endless free tutorials on YouTube and other online platforms. Instead of easy-to-follow videos that explained techniques and drills step by step, he spent long hours piecing together information from different music education websites. Much of his self-training was also spent playing to albums he loved by ear. Some of his favourites at the time included Till The Ends Of The Earth by contemporary Christian music band Hillsong United, Continuum by John Mayer, and Songs about Jane by Maroon 5. "That was really an escape for me. I didn't really understand the concept of studying back then, but I could listen to music and try to emulate the drummers." After completing his O-Levels, he was torn between enrolling at the Institute of Technical Education or enlisting for his mandated National Service. That was when he heard of the LASALLE College of the Arts from a senior in the school band. Upon getting into LASALLE's popular music diploma course, everything "escalated very quickly" for Mr Er. For the first time, he threw himself, heart and soul, into his schooling pursuits at LASALLE. He eagerly attended classes, worked with a private teacher and played in ensemble sessions. He found himself surrounded by fellow musicians, many of whom had also felt out of place in traditional education pathways. Gigs started coming in through word of mouth, earning him as much as around S$150 a performance. At the age of 21, he landed his first high-profile gig drumming for Singaporean singer-songwriter Corrinne May at the Esplanade. Mr Er, who still keeps in touch with the singer, said: "I used to listen to her music when I was studying privately for the O- and N-Levels. "It was very surreal." GOING TO LOS ANGELES, FACING A TOUGH REALITY In 2012, having graduated from LASALLE and completed his National Service, Mr Er entered a global music competition for a chance to study at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, California in the US. The competition had three rounds: a YouTube video submission, a voting round and an in-person audition. For the final round, Mr Er was the only Singaporean flown in to Hollywood to compete against other young, accomplished musicians from the likes of India, South Korea and the US. Mr Er beat out tough competition to earn a full-ride scholarship at the well-regarded institute, which has produced multiple Grammy Award-winning alumni such as drummer Chad Smith from the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. "It felt like redemption. And I think that made my parents really happy and proud," Mr Er recalled. But the reality of a dream come true, he added, turned out to be "very tough". "I had no friends or family there to look after me in my early 20s. When I was taking the plane there alone, I teared up." His mother was especially worried, given that it was the first time he was living abroad by himself. At the Musicians Institute, he had to adjust to a much higher standard of musicianship. Besides the gruelling nature of the classes and long practice sessions, the sheer talent of other musicians he met there from all around the world was intimidating compared to those he had interacted with in Singapore. "It was humbling ... It challenged me to be better and to practise harder." Facing mounting pressure to do well in the course and land a job soon after, it was the very first time he felt like giving up on drumming entirely. "It's not like I studied business or could pivot to something else. I had to make it work." Wanting to gain more industry experience before returning to Singapore, he applied for performing jobs at Disneyland and Cirque du Soleil. Eventually, he accepted a job as a show-band musician with the Carnival Cruise Line. He took two short contracts playing on cruises for about a year, where he had to rehearse 200 songs and cover tunes in the span of two weeks before boarding his first ship. Onboard, he worked six nights a week, from about 7pm to 10.30pm every day, travelling across the Caribbean and Europe. To a cruise lover like me, it sounded like a dream job, enjoying never-ending sea views while doing what you loved best. Again, Mr Er said that the reality wasn't so sweet. "Creatively, it's very boring. You're just playing the (same) set list over and over again." After three years away from home, he decided it was time to hop off board and head back to Singapore. Even before he left for LA, Mr Er had played at events such as the National Day Parade and the New Year's Countdown at Marina Bay. Since returning from the US, he has continued drumming for homegrown artistes including Mandopop star JJ Lin, The Sam Willows and Gentle Bones. In his own words, his style of drumming is more flamboyant, focusing on high-energy showmanship and a mix of rock and pop with a dash of jazz and funk – taking notes from percussion icons such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Smith and Steve Jordan, long-time drummer for singer-songwriter John Mayer and now, of the Rolling Stones. Mr Er prefers playing on a live stage because he can feel the energy from the audience. However, there's also "something magical" about recording in a studio, he said, knowing that the music you make there could outlive you. LAYING A TRACK FOR ASPIRING DRUMMERS At Mr Er's studio, my eyes lingered on a crowded board decorated with memorabilia: lanyards from past gigs, photos of his time in LA, print-outs of his proteges' accolades and handwritten cards from grateful students, including one with a 3D pop-up drum kit. To him, these mementoes are a constant reminder of how far he has come, helping him to take pride in his work each day. "To wake up every day and go to a job that you like doing – I feel very blessed." His mother shares the same pride, her voice clearly conveying that as she said: "The success he has today is from his own hard work. As his parents, we are happy for him." These days, Mr Er still does gigs and short tours selectively, balancing such projects with teaching and running his drum school. He has seen interest in drums take off in recent years, noting the increase in boutique drum schools in Singapore. He has even heard from others in the music education field that when it comes to enrolment rates in graded music assessments for students, drums are now second to piano. "There's a huge demand for drum classes, and I think parents are also more encouraging. They want their kids to spend a bit more time off their mobile devices, to do something a bit more interesting, fun and engaging." His students today are overwhelmingly children, but a growing minority are adults – about 20 per cent, by his estimate. One of his school's oldest learners so far: a retired taxi driver who picked up the drums at 66 years old in 2020. To wake up every day and go to a job that you like doing – I feel very blessed. Despite the success he's carved out for himself, Mr Er, who got married in 2021, admitted that he wasn't sure if he could encourage any of his future children to choose the same path, given how difficult the process had been for him. Even so, he readily acknowledged that these days, opportunities for professional drummers have expanded. Beyond performing on stage, drummers have found success as social media content creators, teachers or session musicians, he said. At Drum Tutor Singapore, Mr Er has tried to break away from the stereotype of the strict music teacher and establish a more forgiving, accommodating atmosphere. This extends to practicalities such as reading drum notation, which can be tough for younger children with no formal music education who are still learning to coordinate their limbs. Mr Er's solution: a new pictorial drumming concept for teaching, which lets children look at images. For instance, he uses a cartoon of a leg kicking a ball to denote a "kick" on the bass drum, instead of the traditionally used note (identical to an F note written on the treble clef). He takes a roll-with-the-punches attitude with his teaching, because things can go wrong even with experience. "When you're on stage, there are so many things going on – the camera, the lights, the smoke, rain – it's just hard to control. And what if you're reading the piece halfway and the wind (blows) your score off, or your iPad breaks down? "Practise to perfection, but don't be so hard on yourself if you ever make a mistake, and try to recover." He spoke with pride of one student who recently received an outstanding performance award in a regional drum competition, and another who won first place in a drum competition here and got into her dream school, the School of the Arts in Singapore. He is also equally proud of students who took part in competitions or festivals and didn't win anything, or who did not get into a school of their choice. "It's the spirit of trying and never giving up. It reminds me of my earlier years. In August last year, Mr Er enrolled in a part-time Master in Music Leadership at the National University of Singapore's Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, his very first university programme. "I wanted to inspire my students, to let them know that you can always go for more if you try or if you want to. "I always tell my students, find an interest or a skill that you think you're good at," he added. "Try and develop it, cultivate it, pursue it if possible. Not everybody will make a career out of it, but at least you will get some fun out of it." This includes the recent Guinness World Record. "I'm just glad I opened this new category for drummers and kids," he said with a smile. "The record is there for anybody to beat. Please go ahead and do it."