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1. What can you tell us about yourself (background, age, family, education, what would you like us to know about you)?

I was born in the city of Timisoara, in a Christian (Pentecostal) as well as a musical family; my dad was a choir director, my brother a piano player, one of my sisters was playing the violin, and the other sister mandolin. I went to music school and I took 3 years of violin and 3 years of drums. I married Nico in august 2002, being extremely blessed with a wonderful wife and together we’ve been experiencing God in amazing ways.

2. What church do you attend and what is your involvement there?

My wife and I go to “the House of Worship” in Timisoara, and for the past 2 years I’ve been serving as a worship leader. It’s a great blessing to serve in this department and it’s been a wonderful privilege to lead a young and very talented worship team in which I am glad to invest everything that God and other people invested in me.

3. How did you get a vision for “Christian drummers”?

There were 2 main things, which have contributed to this; Meeting Dave Cleveland, an American guitar player, opened my eyes through his personal example and helped me understand that the most important things in the life of an artist are to love God and to be a man of character.  I felt it was important for me to share these things with the Romanian drummers. And secondly, I was moved by this website I found called “Psalm drummers” and I realized how much Romania needs something similar.

4. What made you start an “on line group” on yahoo and a website for Christian drummers?

Considering the circumstances in 2006 when I started the group, online was the only option. Meanwhile it seemed to be a good beginning because we got to meet each other, we got acquainted with each other, develop friendships and when the time came for a live meeting in march 2008, we decided that a website would be a great idea for letting everyone know about the Christian drummers events. Our group now consists of 56 drummers, which is a good number I think.

5. What is your history in drums (how long have you been playing, bands, artists, albums, concerts, churches)?

I started playing the drums for Agape church in Timisoara (Special thanks goes to my brother in law, Mircea Bere who got me started and coached me along). Then I played for “New Hope Trust” Scotland (I also played in a Christian club   as well as with other bands and different projects and events.)  Coming back to Romania I played for Aletheia church and currently “The House of Worship”. All this was mainly praise and worship style. The first band I played with was Kratos in 1992, for an event called the Christia festival. I continued playing with lots of other bands and artists, and I am going to mention some of them (asking the others to forgive me for not mentioning their name):

4j – a band which wrote a lot of their music and I was happy to be a part of; many well organized concerts in and out of my nation;

For sale (not for sale) – a band that taught me a lot as far as artistic approach. I met Emil Kindlein, from whom I learned a lot and the music that we wrote and played took me to a new level. We got to  travel many places both in Romania and abroad.

Next, a dear friend of mine, Cristian Cazacu (Born Again) – and our ongoing relationship …(the band Last hour)

Horea Crisovan guitar player for Blazzaj, Bio, etc.  – I had the privilege of playing with him for the 2007 Garana Festival opening for Scott Henderson and I thank him for inviting me. Adi Barar guitar player for Cargo – club de note, for Adi B. Aniversary …. (I played there with other very gifted artists from Timisoara and other places).

There were a lot of other events, concerts, festivals, evangelistic meetings (crusades) , which I will not mention specifically, although each of them had a place in my heart and each of them had an impact on me musically and spiritually.

The first video drum lessons (especially the double pedal) I’ve ever watched was Carmine Appice; but once I started listening to Dream Theater, Mike Portony became my all times favorite; But there are lots of other artists/ drummers that I respect, and that have influenced me and I definitely appreciate a variety of musical styles.

6. What can you tell us about your drum set? What improvements would you like to make? (what else do you desire? ) (Are there any changes you would like to make?)

I am using Remo skins (pinstripe for the tomes and Ambassador Coated for the snare); I prefer the Vic Firth 7A and 5A for sticks, or the ProMark Hot Rods, but I am using other models as well. I am very grateful for my set, thanks to my friend Gary Chalk from Scotland who blessed me with many of the parts that I am using today. My desire is to switch to Sabian for all my cymbals…

7. We all know that it takes talent and practice for a drummer to succeed (make progess). Is there anything else you want to add to that?

I believe talent makes the difference for many artists. Developing our gift is what we can offer to God who gave us the talent. So it is very important that we practice to improve our skill.

What I am looking for in an artist beside these two qualities is his attitude on the platform, as well as off-stage, and what is the message this person sends out through his life (character). I think there will always be someone better than you. It’s time to quit competing against each other and instead to understand that we were created to bring Him glory and not to ourselves. I believe in excellence and I have nothing against professionalism but all the praise and the glory needs to go to Him.

8. Considering your experience, what advice would you give to the Romanian Christian drummers (those who play in a church or in a band)?

Yes, 20 years of experience is something, but to be honest, it took 10, 20 or maybe all my 30 years of life to become who I am today. I had a father who invested in me, there are years of Sunday School teaching which helped keep me on track, there are friends, individuals and events which made me who I am today. And more than anyone, my wife who is a constant support. She often reminds me that everything I do is for Him, and helps me remain focused on my call.
So my advice (although it may be easier said than done) : don’t forget who gave you the talent and who you’re playing for; stay surrounded by people of integrity (character), make friends from whom you can learn, and who love you enough to bring correction  when needed; make sure you are part of a local church. If you have your own band, talk to your leaders about it; don’t lie to yourself that you’re in ministry, when your leaders know nothing about it.

I learned a lot through the things I went through and I am still learning but I know that God wants me to be a man of character that people can look at and see an example. I am not just a drummer on a platform  that has nothing else to offer. 

So stay close to God, because He has to mean everything to us. For those who play in a band, it’s more challenging, because of all the world has to offer. I did too play with Christian bands in events outside church, I also played with artists/ bands who were not saved, and I learned from each situation. Music is music no matter who plays it; I’m not against playing with artists/ bands in the world, but beware of who influences who. Make sure you are not drawn away by the world, but rather that you have a positive influence around you.

9. Do you have any other hobby, besides drums, music? How do you like to spend your spear(free) time?

Spear(free) time? This is a nice idea, but difficult to find in our days. My time is divided between a full time job, 4 evening collage classes, 1 evening worship practice at church and the Sunday morning service. I don’t have other hobbies and I don’t believe in computer games. I like multimedia and sometimes I end up playing with different computer software/programs. The website takes a lot of my time also, but I would not classify it as hobby. So my free(spear) time, I prefer to spend with my wife Nico, because our relationship is a priority to me.  She is the one who encourages me and is always there for me. My father in law who lives in the country, takes care of my dog, and I wish I had the time to walk my dog out more than once a month.

10. Do you have any future plans for the Christian drummers movement?

I do have some future plans, but I don’t feel its’ time to reveal them yet; I would like  to continue to have our yearly meeting, and to grow both in content and numbers(form) . I would also like for us to start having regional meetings. We will probably have more information on the 2009 meeting by the end of January. Regarding the website, I would like for us to gather a lot of interesting and useful information (mostly originated by Romanians); I would also like to improve the design of our website. I believe that there will come a time when groups of drummers will be part of events, conferences, outreaches and concerts, and that we would play a part in it, and why not stand on the front line of the battles and release the sound of war that comes from above.

Blessings

ADI SCHIOPU