Drummer appreciates that his life is precious
It’s the time of year where the idea of miracles and gifts permeate our culture. The holiday season, specifically Christmas, often ends up driving us to focus on materialism, buying stuff we don’t need to demonstrate our love for those around us.
It can be forgotten that life is the gift and love is a miracle. In our busy society that doesn’t encourage us to stop and appreciate, waking up every day with breath in our lungs and people to love, and activities to be passionate about is miraculous on it’s own accord.
Jacob Galland, an up-andcoming local drummer, perhaps appreciates life’s preciousness more than others his age. Primarily a worship drummer, his musical journey began on a sudden whim.
“It was kid of spontaneous” Galland said. “I played sports my entire life. My main sport, for a long time, was basketball, and I played in a ton of the leagues out here. Eventually, I was just sick and tired of sports. I knew my grandpa played the drums, but I had never seen him do it. I said to my dad, ‘I want to play drums.’ ”
Galland’s father relayed the ear request to his grandfather. Shortly after, a dusty drum kit emerged from the attic and his journey began.
In experimenting with a variety of sports and activities, he finally discovered his passion. For the last six years, he has pursued music with an added discipline to support it.
“I think the discipline does cross over kind of the same way you play basketball,” Galland said. “Forming your jump shot takes time. It takes time to hone in your craft. Also, I feel drumming felt a little more rewarding than sports. You get something thrown at you, you try your hardest to finally get it, and once it makes sense you go. ‘Oh my gosh, I can finally do this!’ ”
Galland’s drive isn’t just fueled by his sports-derived discipline or musical passion; it’s about the first journey he ever faced. At age 3, Galland
was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor, a rare kidney cancer that primarily affects toddlers and young children.
“It was a mass on my left kidney and it started to spread up to my lungs” Galland said. “The result of that was they had to remove my kidney”
With it having occurred at such a young age, only vague memories remain from that time.
“My parents know a lot more about because they were living through it,” he said. “I actually did get a Make A Wish, but I don’t remember much of it, being a little kid. I wanted to meet Buzz Lightyear, so we went to Disney World and I remember eating a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner one night. Later on, my parents told me about more of the traumatic side of it.”
Now 19 years old, Galland returns to UCLA, where his initial treatment occurred for continued checkups. Fortunately, he has remained cancer free for the last 16 years.
“I’m thankful for opportunity to be here, I guess,” he said. Personally, I am a Christian. The way I perceived it, my grandpa wasn’t a Christian but started praying and going to church after my diagnosis. A year after my treatment, he passed away from a heart attack. It was kind of spontaneous how that happened and I believe God had his hand on me. I’m just thankful I’ve gotten a second chance not a lot of other people have gotten.”
Taking full advantage of that second chance, Galland is attending Antelope Valley College and drumming regularly Central Christian Church.
“I started in the kid’s ministry about two years into my drumming,” he said. “I started playing the main service right when COVID hit. It worked out okay because they started doing live streams. The worship pastor Brian Ingram, who is one of my best friends now, asked if I wanted to come in and play a livestream service.
As services progressed back to inside with a full audience, it was a valuable growth period for Galland.
“Occasionally, we have worship nights and I just played a full one about a year ago now,” he said. “It was 17 songs, which is definitely the longest gig I’ve ever played. The night before I just sat in the drum room and played all the songs until 2:30 a.m. I knew I was ready, but I was so nervous.”
After finishing his AA degree in commercial music, Galland plans to transfer to Nashville to finish his education
“There’s a college out there where the drum instructor has had his eye on me a little bit,” he said. “I really want to go.”
What started as a bleak journey for his young life has blossomed into a bright future for Galland. A fruitful path lies ahead for this young musician with the drive and appreciation to fully embrace it.