Our Lady Peace's Jeremy Taggart Set To Drum For Darfur

Have you ever spoken to a former hippie about the 1960s? It's usually a pretty bad idea; they'll prattle on at length about how sitting around, smoking pot and banging on a darbuka ultimately ended the war, man.

While hitting a drum won't change the world, it will be able to help the less fortunate this Saturday (May 29), as War Child Canada holds its second annual Drummers For Darfur event.

Several big names from the Canadian rock scene are among the many big names to show up, including Our Lady Peace's Jeremy Taggart, who invoked the Woodstock spirit when describing the day.

"It'll probably be a local community vibe," says Taggart. "Last year, we got together at Grange Park, and everybody kind of hung out.

"You gather, and you walk through downtown Toronto, and it feels like the old days, when people got together and made a big noise. All you need is a drum, or any kind of instrument that makes a percussive sound."

Our Lady Peace and War Child have a long history together, going back to 2000 when singer Raine Maida traveled to Iraq with wife Chantal Kreviazuk on behalf of the organization.

While Taggart makes a living beating drum skins, he explains that when it comes to helping the charity, keeping a beat is anything but work.

"When it comes to places like Darfur, where they have nothing, and somebody comes along and asks you to help for something like education, or clean water or whatever else that's going to be needed, you do what you can," he says.

"If I'm just cruisin' around with a drum on my waist for a day and raising a little awareness, it's pretty easy to say yes. Drumming for a good cause is easy. If anybody asks me to drum for a good cause, I'll be there."

When organizing an event of this scale, there tends to be some logistical nightmares. CHARTattack asked Taggart about the most pertinent one, namely: how the hell do you keep hundreds of unrehearsed drummers in time?

Taggart compared it to techniques employed by a certain legendary-yet-homicidal music producer.

"It's called marching! It works," he says with emphasis. "It happens! Hopefully, most of the people that bring drums are slightly rhythmic.

"If you're out of time, you're mostly gonna blend in anyway. Like the old days when Phil Spector would get like 15 people into the studio to record those old songs like The Ronettes. It didn't matter if everyone was in time; as long as 80 per cent of them were, you were good to go."

If you're still insecure about your ability to keep time, you can still get involved. Anyone can go to the War Child website to make a donation. If you do feel the need to make some loud noises, the website features a sign up page.

The 10 participants who raise the most cash are entered into a draw for a Westbury drum kit, while everyone who raises more than $20 can win a pair of drum sticks signed by Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins.

The second annual Drummers For Darfur event will take place Saturday, May 29 at 1 p.m., starting at Grange Park in Toronto. For more information, visit www.warchild.ca.

You can also see Taggart drumming with Our Lady Peace here:

June 5 Brantford, ON @ Lion's Park (Brantford Hockeyfest)
July 2 Lockport, NY @ Molson Canal
July 3 Owen Sound, ON @ Kelso Beach (Big Music Fest)
July 8 Cornwall, ON @ Lamoureux Park