I first heard of Mike Peterson while away at college. All my friends would call me from Seattle saying the same thing, "You've GOT to see this drummer in the band Bam Bam!" Unfortunately, I never did see that band. Years later, I was living with a brilliant bass player, Bob Heinemann. He started a 3-piece band with drums, bass, and sax called "Sauce." The drummer, Mike, was unlike anyone I've ever seen or heard. He was incredibly dynamic, fluid, creative, fast, precise, and loose (all of which, I was not). They were playing a style of jazz-rock that had all the elements of jazz improvisation and driving rock beats. I would watch him play the fastest driving, yet barely audible, swing beat on the ride then make the room jump with a surprise gunshot-like rimshot. I've seen him stretch time by dragging a beat so slow that he eventually locked into a triplet beat below. I nearly fell out of my chair with the amount of tension created! Talk about giving your poor bass player a workout! And right when the trio would be rocking their hardest, Mike would stop and pass out flyers for the next show while the other two continued the jam. 

Mike also had more personality and presence that any room or stage could hold!

Mike and I quickly became friends. We discovered we both had the same private drum instructor, Garey Williams, while growing up. Garey told me later that he had a hard time teaching Mike since he would be in tears of laughter half-way through each lesson. The stuff that Mike was playing was so mind-blowing to me that I finally took some lessons with him at Seattle Drum School. I learned then that he was a great instructor as well. I too found myself in tears of laughter half-way through each lesson!

Years later, I called Mike to see if he would teach drum lessons at Moore Brothers Music. I always love to see kids faces light up when they first meet Mike and they always leave the lesson with a smile on their face.

Mike brings unparalleled positive energy and enthusiasm to his teaching and playing. His drumming performances are simply jaw-dropping, mixed with lightning fast machine-gun rolls, 4-way independence, and spontaneous creativity. His styles range from jazz to speed metal and everything in between. 

Fill out the form on this page to meet the real life "Animal" himself.

Instrument: Drums

Days: Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays

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