The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 11/10/00 Section: Campus News

JT Paz, a senior biology major from Pecos, maintains the beat of the Red Raider Fight Song durign the Lady Raiders' exhibition game against the Croatian Women's National Team.

With the help of a four-wheeled dolly and a friend or two, J.T. Paz maneuvers his four-piece trap set onto the elevator at the United Spirit Arena.
At every Red Raider and Lady Raider home basketball game, Paz hauls his drum set into the arena and sets it up on a specially made platform in the center of the Texas Tech Court Jester Band.
For some, the constant setting up and breaking down of a drum set might become burdensome, but for Paz, it is a labor of love.
The 23 year old from Pecos has been drumming for 12 years and said drumming is in his family's blood.
"My uncle and my brother were drum set players in high school and in college," Paz said. "Having drums around the house all of the time made it easy to take an interest in it. I guess I started first when I was seven. I would get up there and bang away on stuff. They would get mad at me and slap me around, but I would keep on going for it."
Paz has played the drums for the Court Jesters for six years.
As the drummer for the Court Jesters, Paz keeps the beat for the band and also uses his instrument to inspire the crowd and the players.
Paz said the art of drumming has been inspiring reactions from audiences throughout history.
"Drums are a pretty primeval instrument," Paz said. "They have been around for a long time. They used to go to battle to drums. They used to march into wars with drums. On the big ships, they'd be ramming drums. Drums are what get down to the raw primal urges of people. It gets them moving inside. That is what rhythm is all about. That's why I dig it. I know if somebody is dancing or rocking out there, then I am doing my job right."
Keith Bearden, the director of the Court Jesters, said Paz adds an energetic element to his band.
"It's great to have J.T.," Bearden said. "He has just really developed into a great drummer. He loves basketball. He is a lot of fun and fun to have. He just adds so much enthusiasm to the band, and everybody just kind of feeds off of that enthusiasm. He's a showman."
Coleman Goode has played tuba for the Court Jesters for three years.
Goode said Paz's personality not only fires the crowd up, but the band as well.
"His personality gets us going," Goode said. "He goes wild and crazy, and the beats he plays really just kind of gets the whole band going."
Paz said his greatest inspiration in drumming comes from the late drummer of Led Zeppelin, John Bonham.
Paz said the powerful control Bonham displayed while playing made him one of the most creative drummers of all time.
Paz used his creativeness last season to start up an impromptu version of the Twisted Sister classic "We're Not Gonna Take It" following a controversial ending to the Tech-Texas A&M men's basketball game.
Paz said his sense of humor and knack for timing produced the 1980s hit following the contest with the Aggies.
"The thing is, I am part comedian too - you've got to be when you are a drummer," Paz said. "You've got to sell yourself to the crowd and get everybody light-hearted and everything. When the time gets right, you've got to get the people reacting. I know there was a weird call at the end of that game, and everybody was real restless. So I had to just break the tension somehow."
Paz is also in a band outside of Tech, as he bangs out the beats for the local band, Plain Brown Wrapper.
Paz said he would like to pursue a career in music after Tech but regardless of where life leads him, it will always be about the music to him, and he is making the most of his opportunity to play with the Court Jesters.
"A lot of people will tell you that it is all for the music, and they really don't mean it, but I do," Paz said. "We have a great repertoire of music, and the thing is, you couldn't find another ensemble like this to play this kind of music. It is just a treat to get to play this kind of style with a big brass band. It is just great."

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