Early Life and Musical Beginnings (1983–1990)

Discovering Music and Percussion

Greg Kocis was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the suburbs north of the city. By the early 1980s, music was beginning to become an important part of his life.

Around the age of 12, Kocis became interested in playing drums. His older brother already played guitar, and rather than following the same instrument, Kocis was drawn toward percussion.

While in sixth grade, he learned about the North Hills Buccaneers Baton & Drum Corps. He knew a friend who was involved with the organization and also remembers seeing a flyer at school.

In 1984, Kocis joined the North Hills Buccaneers, beginning what would become five years of intensive musical training and performance.

The Buccaneers provided his first formal musical instruction. At the time, he had not yet taken private drum-set lessons.

The North Hills Buccaneers: 1984–1988

From 1984 through 1988, Kocis completed five full performance seasons with the North Hills Buccaneers Baton & Drum Corps.

The corps performed extensively during the spring, summer, and fall, with approximately 40 parades during the main performance season. Most performances took place throughout the Pittsburgh area, but the organization also traveled to other locations.

During his years with the Buccaneers, Kocis performed in places including:

• Hershey, Pennsylvania
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Montreal, Canada
• Ocean City, Maryland

Over five years, he progressed through several percussion instruments. His development included playing:

• Cymbals
• Bass drum
• Glockenspiel
• Triple toms
• Snare drum

His first year was spent playing cymbals. He moved to bass drum during his second year, followed by glockenspiel and triple toms before eventually becoming a snare drummer.

During his fifth and final year in 1988, Kocis was appointed drum captain by an instructor while playing snare drum.

The experience gave him extensive performance experience at a young age and established the discipline that would remain part of his approach to music.

Junior High School and Concert Band

While developing as a marching percussionist, Kocis also became involved in concert band.

He initially held the position of fourth-chair percussionist, but after approximately one year moved to first-chair percussionist.

He would continue playing at the first-chair level through both junior high and high school concert band.

During junior high school, Kocis also auditioned for the school’s jazz band.

The ensemble required only one drummer, and he was not selected. At the time, his musical interests and playing experience were much more heavily rooted in rock music.

The audition was nevertheless another step in his growing musical development.

Talent Shows and Early Small Ensembles

Kocis began performing outside traditional marching and concert-band settings while still in school.

In both junior high and high school talent shows, he performed a duet drum solo with another drummer.

Later, during high school, he performed with a small group consisting of a pianist, bass player, and Kocis on drums.

The group came together specifically for a talent-show performance and did not continue afterward.

Among the songs they performed was “Foreplay” by Boston. Kocis also remembers performing what may have been “Piano Man” by Billy Joel, although the exact song remains uncertain.

The performances gave him some of his earliest experiences playing popular music in a small ensemble outside the structure of school and marching organizations.

His First Drum Kit

After beginning his musical education through marching percussion, Kocis eventually wanted his own drum set.

Around the age of 12 or 13, his father purchased his first drum kit from Hollowood Music in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

The kit was a used blue five-piece Slingerland drum set with Zildjian cymbals.

Kocis suggested an arrangement that would allow his father to purchase the entire kit while spreading the gift across multiple birthdays and Christmases.

Different parts of the drum set could be considered gifts over several years.

His father agreed.

The blue Slingerland gave Kocis the opportunity to move beyond marching percussion and explore the rock music that was becoming increasingly important to him.

Learning the Drum Set

After getting his first drum kit, Kocis began taking private drum-set lessons.

He studied at a music store in Pittsburgh’s North Hills and later at Volkwein’s Music Store in downtown Pittsburgh.

Volkwein’s would later become an interesting footnote in his musical story. The location is now associated with the site of the Andy Warhol Museum.

Formal lessons were only part of his education.

Kocis spent countless hours playing along with records, learning songs by ear and developing his technique through the music he loved.

Among the artists he played along with were Rush, Van Halen, and John Mellencamp.

He remembers playing Rush songs including:

• “Red Barchetta”
• “YYZ”
• “Tom Sawyer”

He also played along with Van Halen records, John Mellencamp songs, and whatever else inspired him on a particular day.

Musical Influences

Kocis’s musical tastes developed across a wide range of styles.

Progressive rock became particularly important to him, especially artists such as:

• Rush
• Pink Floyd
• Yes

He was also drawn to heavy metal, including Iron Maiden, as well as several of the pop-metal and glam-rock bands of the 1980s.

At the same time, he listened to artists outside hard rock, including:

• Paul Simon
• Prince
• John Mellencamp
• The Beatles

Classic rock and album-oriented rock radio were also a major part of his musical environment.

Artists such as Led Zeppelin and Tom Petty were among the many musicians whose music he heard regularly.

This broad range of influences would eventually become part of his approach to songwriting and music production.

Drumming Influences

Several drummers played an important role in Kocis’s development.

Among his major influences were:

• Neil Peart of Rush
• Phil Collins
• Bill Bruford
• John Bonham
• Kenny Aronoff

Neil Peart was particularly influential during Kocis’s early development as a drummer.

Bill Bruford’s work with Yes and King Crimson connected with Kocis’s interest in progressive rock, while John Bonham represented a powerful and influential approach to rock drumming.

Kenny Aronoff became another favorite, particularly for his work with John Mellencamp.

Kocis was drawn to the contrast between Aronoff’s direct, powerful style and the more technically elaborate approach of drummers such as Peart.

Expanding the Slingerland Kit

By approximately age 15 or 16, Kocis had begun expanding his original five-piece Slingerland drum kit.

He added custom-made concert toms and regular toms designed to match the original blue finish and drum lugs of the Slingerland set.

He also added a second bass drum.

The original used five-piece kit had gradually become a much larger drum setup.

Years later, before moving to New York City, Kocis sold the Slingerland kit. By then, he had purchased a Yamaha drum set.

He no longer owns any part of the original blue Slingerland kit.

Shaler Area High School: 1987–1990

Kocis attended Shaler Area High School, graduating with the Class of 1990.

Beginning in 1987, he performed with the Shaler Area High School marching band.

For two years, his involvement with Shaler overlapped with his final seasons in the North Hills Buccaneers.

The schedules generally did not conflict significantly because the Buccaneers performed primarily during the warmer months, while Shaler’s marching-band activities were centered around the school year, including football games and other school events.

Kocis also continued performing in concert band, holding the position of first-chair percussionist.

During his senior year in 1990, he was appointed drum captain by an instructor.

The appointment marked the second time he had been given a leadership role as drum captain, following his final year with the North Hills Buccaneers.

High School Musicals and Other Performances

In addition to marching and concert band, Kocis performed as a drum-set player in Shaler Area High School musical productions.

Although he no longer remembers the titles of the musicals, the experience exposed him to another type of musical performance.

Playing for theatrical productions required a different approach from marching percussion, concert band, or playing along with rock records at home.

Throughout junior high and high school, Kocis also participated in talent shows and other school performances, continuing to expand his experience as a live musician.

Mid-East Instrumental Music Conference

From 1987 through 1990, Kocis performed annually as a percussionist at the Duquesne University Mid-East Instrumental Music Conference, held at Pittsburgh’s William Penn Hotel.

The name “Mid-East” referred to the geographic region associated with the conference rather than Middle Eastern music as a genre.

The annual event added another significant performance experience to his musical education.

By the end of high school, Kocis had performed in drum corps, marching band, concert band, theatrical productions, talent shows, and instrumental music events.

Early Songwriting and the Four-Track Recorder

Around the age of 16, while still in high school, Kocis began experimenting with recording and writing his own songs.

He used a Tascam four-track cassette recorder, although he no longer remembers the exact model or where he purchased it.

His early recordings included combinations of:

• Drums
• Keyboards
• Vocals
• Possibly bass

He was already writing his own musical ideas, including melodies and lyrics.

Kocis now jokes that some of his earliest lyrics were not particularly good, but the experiments represented an important change in his musical direction.

At the same time, he was beginning to teach himself guitar.

His guitar skills had not yet caught up with the songs he wanted to create.

He remembers being unable to smoothly change between chords while playing. Instead of giving up on the idea, he used the four-track recorder to work around the problem.

He recorded one chord on one track and then recorded another chord separately on another track.

By layering the chords, he could create a chord progression that he was not yet capable of playing continuously.

It was a simple solution, but it revealed an instinct that would continue throughout his career: when he did not yet know how to accomplish something musically or technically, he experimented until he found another way to make the idea work.

The four-track recordings marked his earliest serious experiments with songwriting, arranging, and music production.

Outside of Music

Outside of music, Kocis describes himself as both shy and outgoing.

He could be reserved around people he did not know but became outgoing and social among friends.

He got along with people across different social groups, including musicians, band students, and other groups that did not always overlap socially.

He had many close friends during this period.

Music remained his primary interest.

He was an average student academically, but music was the one subject in which he consistently earned straight A’s.

Outside of music, he enjoyed football and later developed an interest in hockey during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He also enjoyed movies and old-school arcade games, including Ms. Pac-Man.

Still, music was the dominant focus.

Working While Still in School

Beginning around the age of 16, Kocis also started working while attending high school.

His early employment included work in the food-service departments of a nursing home and later a hospital, where he worked as a dietary aide and cook.

The experience introduced him early to the challenge of balancing regular employment with his musical ambitions.

By 1990

By the time Kocis graduated from Shaler Area High School in 1990, music had already occupied much of his life for several years.

He had completed five full seasons with the North Hills Buccaneers, progressing through multiple percussion instruments and eventually becoming drum captain during his final year.

He had performed extensively throughout the Pittsburgh region and traveled to other parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Canada.

He had advanced from fourth-chair to first-chair percussionist in concert band.

He had performed in marching band, talent shows, high school musicals, and annual instrumental music conferences.

During his senior year, he was appointed drum captain of the Shaler Area High School percussion program.

At home, he had expanded a modest used Slingerland drum kit into a much larger setup and spent countless hours playing along with the records that influenced him.

And by his mid-teens, he had already begun experimenting with something that would eventually become just as important as drumming: writing and recording his own songs.

By 1990, Kocis was primarily a drummer.

But the songwriter and producer he would later become was already beginning to take shape.