John Wood, a bandleader whose groups included jazz legends like Woody Shaw and Billy Higgins, once led a campaign called “Drum Machines Have No Soul.” It was a slogan that echoed the concerns of real-life drummers, who viewed the introduction of programmable drum machines as a threat to their livelihood.
Those fears of redundancy weren’t entirely unwarranted, as evidenced by the widespread proliferation of electronic beats in today’s dance, hip-hop and pop-music communities.
But for Summer Krinsky, the solution is to combine the best of both worlds.
“I really like incorporating electronic sounds along with the acoustic drum kit,” says Krinsky, who’s the singer, songwriter, programmer — and, yes, drummer — in the Detroit art-pop band Summer Like the Season. “I like them fighting with each other. Because as we move into this kind of cyborg life, I think that having your foot in both worlds is what’s really unique about being alive today.”
Krinsky also explores that juxtaposition in her songwriting. “I like to mix programming terminology into the lyrics,” she says, citing “Root Mean Square,” the first single from the band’s newly released Hum album, in which she uses statistical analysis to weigh the pros and cons of a failed (human) relationship.
While female drummers have long been a rarity in the music world, Krinsky’s desire to bash away at the instrument was made that much more unlikely by the fact that her parents were both piano teachers.
“I can’t really remember a time when I didn’t play piano,” says the musician, recalling how her parents outfitted the piano with pedal extenders so she could reach them. “But I always really wanted to play the drums, because I thought they were the coolest instrument.”
Summer’s parents didn’t agree. “I knew there was a drum kit hidden in our storage unit,” she recalls. “So I asked if I could bring it out and learn to play drums, and they said that it didn’t work. But I set it up, and of course it did work. It’s a really amazing old Rogers ’60s kit that I still use today.”
Hum is the first time that Krinsky’s vocals are placed front and center, a departure from previous EPs and singles, on which her vocals were submerged in waves of synthesizers, live drumming and digital breakbeats.
“When I started playing in bands, I never felt like I was confident with my voice, or that I even liked my voice,” she says. “I was very shy and self-conscious about it, so I definitely buried it in the mix. But I’m more confident about it now — and I also realize that it’s a big part of the sound. So on this new record, it’s way more upfront.”
Onstage, Summer Like the Season offer up a mix of instruments that are electronic, acoustic and somewhere in between. Krinsky sings and plays drums. Liam McNitt handles electric guitar and harmony vocals. And Scott Murphy takes care of keyboards, triggered electronics and electric violin — an instrument, Krinsky laughs, that the band is going to bring back single-handedly.
But Krinsky says she hasn’t entirely parted ways with her musical roots. Classical piano, she points out, often has a lot of complicated rhythms that translate to drumming. As for composers, she cites Claude Debussy, who’s sampled on the track “Substance,” as an inspiration for the more melancholic, reflective side of her band’s music, and Sergei Prokofiev for its more unconstrained moments.
“Prokofiev was a wild composer, just an absolute maximalist,” she enthuses. “I think of him as the classical bridge to the music I make. And if Prokofiev were alive today, I think he’d be using electronics in a similar way.”
Of course, if Ray Kurzweil has his way, most of today’s musicians will have access to whatever musical developments arise in the centuries to come. A pioneer in sound engineering who created one of the first analog synthesizers, the 73-year-old futurist views technology as the gateway to immortality.
“I don’t think he’s wrong; that will happen eventually,” says Krinsky. “He’s committed to that narrative, and I think he’ll be crushed if it doesn’t happen before he dies. I don’t personally think that will happen, but maybe it will. I’m hoping for him. I hope he’s the first one uploaded.”