Put Your Name on It: Richie Gajate-Garcia on a Percussionist Career (Episode 103)

Make Music Your Business.

Richie Gajate-Garcia is a drummer, percussionist, clinician and educator. They call him "El Pulpo," Spanish for the octopus, because he plays multiple percussion instruments at the same time. He has accompanied Phil Collins, Sting, Celia Cruz, Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Art Garfunkel and many more, and he is a go-to percussionist for Disney films like Brother Bear and The Emperor's New Groove.

In Episode 103 of The Career Musician, Nomad and Richie talk about what a long career as a session and touring percussionist really takes: owning your ideas, collecting the royalties, reading the room in every camp, and subbing with integrity. If you want percussionist career advice from someone who has done it for decades, this one is a masterclass.

Put your name on it, then ask for the royalty

The octopus nickname started on a disco-era gig. The band wanted cowbell, tambourine and congas all at once. So Richie, then a college student in Chicago, took the clamp off a broken bass drum pedal, mounted a cowbell on a piece of wood, and played it with his foot while he played congas with one hand and tambourine with the other.

People told him to take it to a company. One drum company passed. Then he showed it to Martin Cohen at Latin Percussion at a NAMM show, with a drawing of the design and a live demo. His one condition: it had to be called the Gajate Bracket. At first he did not even think about money. Other people asked him if he was getting paid for his idea, so he went back and asked. The answer: some of their endorsers get a royalty, but you never asked.

"The thing that I say to the younger generation is that anything that you come up with, you need to secure your financial aspect of it."

Richie Gajate-Garcia, 9:20

Nomad pointed out how smart the move was. Richie built a prototype and brought a drawing, because people need to see the finished thing before they believe it. Today Richie also has royalties on a conga line, his books and his sticks. Not house money, he says. Christmas money. That is the Make Music Your Business mindset in one story. If you are not good at the business side, Richie's advice is simple: get somebody to help you, a manager or an accountant or someone you trust.

Mailbox money and why the union matters

The two talked through the checks that keep coming long after a session. Richie mentioned that everybody who plays on union film dates gets paid every year from the film secondary markets fund, and that he knows players who have done very well from playing on a huge number of films. Nomad added the part younger players often miss: union work also goes toward your pension. As Richie put it, at 70, he is at pension age.

When live work dried up during the pandemic, those little checks were, in Richie's words, a blessing. A long career is built from more than one income stream.

Every camp is different, so read the room

Richie has played for singers and for singer-musicians, and he says the difference is real. When he first joined Diana Ross, he was told not to try to hang out or knock on her door. If she talks to you, you respond. Frankie Valli hung out with the band. With Phil Collins, a drummer himself, you could talk drum shop all day, and Richie calls it one of the best gigs he has ever done for pay, working conditions and the way the band was treated.

Then there was Art Garfunkel. On Richie's first night, the crew put plexiglass around his setup, and Art told him he did not really care to hear much of the drums. Richie worked it out. Later, on tour in Spain, a wardrobe person put a crease in Art's shirt and Art was upset. Richie, the father of four, said he could iron anything. From then on, every night, Richie ironed the shirt before playing the show.

That is Low maintenance / no drama in the wild. You adapt to the artist, you solve the problem in front of you, and you keep the gig.

No sideman gig is forever

Richie studied music education on purpose. He learned early that unless you own the band, you are at the whim of the star. Playing with somebody famous does not make you rich. In his words, you come in, do your job and get paid, just like any other job. If you can negotiate better pay, great. If you can't, take what they give you or pass.

So he built a second lane. He taught at Musicians Institute, where LP's Martin Cohen sat in on his class and asked him to present clinics the same way. That turned into his first instructional video, Adventures in Rhythm, and roughly 700 clinics around the world, plus books and an honorary doctorate. Diversify or Die is not a slogan for Richie. It is how he stayed working.

Subbing with integrity

When Nomad asked about his protocols for subbing, Richie got serious. Learn the music. Follow the instructions of the player you are covering for. Show up on time. And never try to take the gig.

"Don't ever go into a gig trying to steal the other person's gig."

Richie Gajate-Garcia, 1:01:39

Even if the band says they don't like the other guy, Richie won't take the chair until that player is gone. He once subbed with Don Henley for two weeks, went home, and left it at that. Because other percussionists know he is not there to steal their job, they send him everywhere. That trust is why he has worked with so many artists. Work begets work.

Pay your own bills and stay ready

Richie put himself through college working at Sears, first dressing mannequins, then filling the nut stations. He tells students not to be embarrassed to take a job to support their music, and to pay for their own phone.

"The thing is to be ready so that if opportunity comes in, you're able to play."

Richie Gajate-Garcia, 56:26

Nomad tied it straight to the definition of luck. Luck = preparation + opportunity. Richie's definition of success is the same idea: success is not only the gig. It is how you prepare for it.

The takeaway

Own your ideas and ask for your share. Learn every camp's rules. Build an income that does not depend on one star. Sub like a pro and never undercut a fellow musician. And when the call comes, be ready. If an audition is coming up, start with the free Audition Secrets guide, and for the career side of the gig, grab the free Get the Gig Guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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