If there’s one thing everyone in today’s music industry agrees on it’s that we are entering a new era in which the old ways of conducting business are no longer effective. The delineation of genres continues to blur, leaving many to wonder what the future looks like. In this uncertainty, the only professionals who persevere and survive are those who live and breathe music to their very bones, those like Willem Jochems. Internationally renowned for his work with professionals like Grammy Award–Nominees Mark Wessel and Robert Adam Stevenson, Grammy Award–Winner Warren Pettey, and many more, Willem is an old musical soul in the body of a new generation drummer. Equally comfortable with fusion, hip-hop, rock, and essentially any other genre one can site, Mr. Jochems is the epitome of what it takes to “make it” in 2025. Effortlessly creative and malleable to any musical setting, Willem has received awards from the Yamaha Corporation for his incredible drumming talent (the Yamaha Young Performing Artist Award) in addition to recognition such as the World Tour Scholarship and Rose Family Scholarship from Berklee College of Music; but more importantly, he’s become one of the first call drummers on both the East and West Coasts of the US. To inspire and inform others about how to navigate the unclear music industry of today, we were granted some time to gain an understanding of how Mr. Jochems became one of the most talked about drummers among musicians and recording professionals today.
Can you remember that first spark of excitement about music that started you on this incredible journey?
Willem Jochems (WJ): My first exposure I can remember is watching my father play in his band. I
remember being captivated by the energy and also the aesthetic of the instruments. The whole thing just looked really cool to me. I was also fascinated by recorded music. My father had recorded music in that band and I was so amazed that music could be kept and revisited even after a long time of it being played. He would also play music that was from before I was born, and I was interested in how music could have this timeless effect and that it had no expiration date. That made it so meaningful to me. This is something that carried on as I became a professional in music. Everything I played on or contributed with, I can find it somewhere on a streaming platform, a CD, a hard drive etc… All these recordings tell the story of where I was at that time in my life and who I was with. There are not many things I have found in life that gives this kind of experience.
Was it instantly the drums that you were drawn to or did you gravitate towards them after exploring other instruments and what they offered?
WJ: I was naturally drawn to the sound of the drums and the way they looked. I started playing on my father’s electronic drumset at home at the age of 3. I think there is something very appealing to children in drums because it is such a physical instrument and it is really fun to watch someone play. I was always interested in the drummers of bands I liked as a kid, like Keith Moon from the Who, Tré Cool from Green Day, Stewart Copeland from the Police to name some of the main ones from my early childhood. I eventually started taking lessons at age 7 and also got my first acoustic drumset at that age as well. I also started playing gigs in my father’s band during that time (summer of 2009). They were pretty low-pressure gigs, playing in restaurants, bars and backyards, but it gave me a great introduction to performing and playing in an ensemble.
Music is a language. I can’t help but think that the fact you are fluent in so many languages is an
indicator of how you also seem so able to play authentically in so many different musical
genres. Do you see the two as related?
WJ: My first language is French, I am also fluent in English, and I am pretty decent at Spanish. I think immersion is the key to communication authentically. Ironically, I think becoming more knowledgeable about each language or genre leads you to exploring another, if you’re curious. For example, I grew up on Rock. Bands like the Who, The Police, Green Day, Toto, ACDC were my earliest influences. As much as I don’t listen to these bands as much these days, I still get a lot of joy out of hearing them from time to time, because they represent that early feeling of excitement towards music. I didn’t really focus on any technical or theoretical aspect of the music. It just is what it is, and it has energy and that’s what got me to this point. My introduction to fusion was through listening to Toto and being a big fan of the drummer Simon Phillips. He was my favorite drummer at the time. Outside of his work great bands, he had his own fusion project, Protocol. I was first introduced to the original Protocol stuff from the 90s thanks to a teacher of mine in primary school. He was a drummer and he would lend me DVD’s one of which was this one. It was on a DVD called Simon Phillips: Complete. It featured Anthony Jackson on bass and Ray Russell on guitar. That film blew me away and it really introduced me to more complex drumming. Later on, I went to see Protocol 2 in 2013 and afterwards I listened to that record on repeat for a while. This experience led me to check out a lot of fusion music in later years such as Allan Holdsworth, Chick Corea, Michel Camilo, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl etc… I believe my background in this genre allowed me to fit certain projects such as Santiago Bosch’s group as well as Tim Miller’s group during our performance at the Lilypad. During my teens, I became a big fan of the band Animals as Leaders. They had such a unique sound I had never heard before. They have some jazz fusion elements but they very much have the heavy aspect of metal. I was captivated by that sound and got really into different bands of that style such as Meshuggah, TesseracT, Periphery, Veil of Maya, The Contortionist to name a few. This definitely shaped my playing because I focused on this genre for a few years. It gave me the tools to play drums for Spanish metal band Cofrady on their singles “D Man”, “Seraph”, and “11th Plague”. I only really got into jazz around the time I attended Berklee College of Music. It was quite far from my original musical background, so it took me a while to get invested in it. Berklee is relatively jazz focused, so when I joined my first ensemble with Mimi Jones, was exposed to a lot of important Jazz artists and records to check out. I went deep into checking out jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus. But what’s more formative in my journey outside of the academic setting. One of the standout collaborations was performing with Dakota Cohen at the SXSW Festival, which was a pivotal moment for me both creatively and professionally. I also featured as the lead drummer on her music releases such as “I Don’t Care,” “Fallin,” and “Save Your Ego.” I also was a member of the jazz group Vesuvio, performing on our self-titled album and at notable venues such as The Lilypad, Boston Common Library, and Room 623. These experiences helped shape my voice as a versatile player across genres and performance settings. Beyond those, I recorded on The Awakening by Gaspard Gabriel, Maisonic Brunch by Voodoo Baby Aliens, Heliopolis by Cosmic Rain, and Joey Du Bois by Joey Du Bois. Each of these projects challenged me to adapt to different stylistic nuances further expanding my approach to rhythm, sound, and improvisation.
It seems like it’s a requirement for musicians these days to utilize social media to promote themselves, especially when it comes to those like yourself who are “hired guns” rather than being in a signed band. Do you find this to be helpful to you or is it something that pulls your creative energy away from music?
WJ: For me, social media can easily have a very negative effect on people’s musical output. It is something that functions entirely on short clips and the success of posts typically come from how engaging they are in a short amount of time, rather than how meaningful the music actually is. In my experience, I try to play the social media game but only in a way that makes me feel like I am still creating something that means something to me. I have been posting short drum videos playing songs that I like. I try not to think about too much whether the song is going to engage enough of an audience. I try to just focus on playing along to music that inspires me, and interpreting drum parts of drummers that I really admire. It feels slightly healthier to me in that way.There was a time in pre-social media world, when everyone cultivated their own voice because they weren’t all listening or “following” the same musicians. This is particularly relevant to what is happening among drummers nowadays.
Do you feel that cultivating your own signature sound is beneficial or detrimental in today’s environment?
WJ: Personally, I never really focused too much on creating my own voice. I am generally very curious about many different styles of drumming, and I have the tendency to want to be able to play things that inspire me, even if it’s not typically in my style. I believe that your own voice is created by your own approach, taste and influences, because it is inevitably going to be different for everyone. I think the most important thing is being honest with yourself with what you truly love in music, and exploring that to the fullest and staying curious. The great thing is, taste continuously changes, and in today’s day and age, we get to hear so much music constantly. I hope that my sound keeps developing and that I never settle for a sound even if it seems to work in terms of response from people and listeners.
I’m sure it’s hard to pick just one, but is there one moment or project that really stands out as
the most gratifying for you this far in your career?
WJ: It is a hard question. I have had some incredible and memorable gigs, such as the one with Tim Miller, where I felt my abilities were actually valid at that level of musicianship. In general, my favorite professional experience has been working with people I enjoy spending time with and playing music with. It is quite simple but it is the truth. Over time I have played a lot of gigs in a lot of different settings, and the ones that stick with me the most are the ones where I am playing with people I appreciate and where the music is fulfilling. What I learned from becoming a professional in music, is that it somehow becomes less and less about music. What I mean by that is that at a certain point, everyone can play. Since moving to LA, almost every musician I get to play with sounds great, and the difference is felt more on the social level.
Writer : Basil Thomson
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