He only had his drum set for a few hours — and was pretty green when it came to playing — but a teenaged Mike Belitsky was still in demand.
“My mom and I went to pick it up from a friend of mine and I paid $90,” says The Sadies drummer.
“Before I got it home, the word was out that there was another dude with a drum kit.”
A Queen Elizabeth High School classmate had a punk rock band and called Belitsky to play that night at 10 at the Grafton St. Café.
“I didn’t even know how to play,” says Belitsky. “The guy said ‘That doesn’t matter. It’s better.’”
The former Haligonian and the rest of his Juno-nominated band are performing at The Marquee Club this Saturday night to promote the album New Seasons. It’s the band’s first time back in Halifax since opening for The Tragically Hip last year.
“It’s a little extra-nervous, in the last few years especially,” Belitsky said about playing at home.
“People are interested in coming out to see us play, people who I haven’t seen or talked to in a long time.
“So there is that extra expectation that makes for extra nerves and tempos that are a little faster.”
Belitsky said his first drum kit was a real beater, and nothing like the Ludwig Ringo Starr kit he purchased when he started to get serious about playing — and obsessed with drumming.
“I get like that about stuff. I get super obsessed where all I can do is live and sleep and think it,” he says.
“I have renaissances were I get as obsessed as I was before.
“It’s like a relationship; you grow into a deep love and obsession.”
