Drumsticks clutched in both hands, he looks out into the crowd filled with high levels of energy and adrenaline. The crowd in front of him is eager to see a great performance.
A young man shouts, “They need to start playing that sh-t right now!”
In a scene filled with headbangs, brick walls and Twisted Teas, a mop of blond hair takes his seat in front of an old garage door with a stuffed Kermit the Frog dressed in a dark cloak accompanying him on his drum set.
Overwhelming feelings of excitement and nervousness fill his brain, but he knows one thing for certain.
Once he hits the first beat, he’s in the zone.
El Camino College music major and drummer Dax Corcoran, 20, has the talent and ambition to succeed in the music industry.
Growing up in the music business, his mother was a tour manager for bands including Kiss and Aerosmith.
He knows how difficult it is to make it to the top.
Being around bands in his adolescence helped Corcoran find his true passion in music. He started experimenting within a band setting when he was just 10 years old.
Currently, he is the drummer for two Los Angeles-based bands, Willowake and XYZPDQ.
The Palos Verdes resident is also in his fourth and final semester at El Camino where he plans to transfer to a university in the Los Angeles area due to its prominence of music in the area.
Along with these short-term goals, he has the long-term goal of making a living from drumming and performing for large crowds.
“I want drumming to be something that I can do for a living for the rest of my life,” Corcoran said. “I love this thing so much and I dedicate all of my time to it, and I’d be beyond grateful to have it be something that I wake up and get paid for.”
Corcoran has played a wide variety of shows.
From festivals with hundreds of people to chaotic house shows where the audience can see him up close, he’s made his rounds in different venues in L.A.
In middle school, a jazz program in Torrance called the South Bay Jazz All Stars introduced him to drumming.
Corcoran realized that the spotlight and overall excitement of the position kept him interested and still allowed him to support his fellow musicians to this day.
“Drumming is the backbone of all music,” Corcoran said. “You’re always in the hot seat, so having the dependency from the other musicians and supporting other people in that way is something that I really enjoy doing.”
In the past, having a great deal of dependency on multiple bands posed some challenges.
He realized that it was consuming a large chunk of his life, but once he learned how to manage his time and reflect on his goals, his experience started to improve.
“There were some points where I was playing in like five bands at once,” Corcoran said. “It was way too much and that’s when I had to learn planning, which was one of the biggest challenges that I had to overcome.”
An experience where he double-booked himself served as his first wake-up call.
He mistakenly committed to a Willowake show and an XYZPDQ show on the same day at the same time and had to go back and forth to explain himself to both bands and their members.
“It came down to a decision of who you are not going to show up for,” Corcoran said. “That’s something that I would never want to choose between because I love both bands equally, which helped me figure out a better way to plan things out.”
Seeing the large workload and time consumption that music had on his life, Corcoran knew that he had to save time for himself aside from music each week. He noticed that he was always tired and had no time where he could just decompress alone.
“For me, I would just see how much music I could fit into my schedule and max it out,” Corcoran said. “In the last few months, I’ve really been valuing my time alone and see the importance of it.”
However, Gavin Alvarado, 19, a Willowake band member and bassist, sees Corcoran’s packed schedule as inspiration.
He said that it taught him to be more understanding and empathetic towards others and their time.
“I think it breeds us to try harder,” Alvarado said. “It makes us want to do more things. If Dax can do 1,000 things, then we can probably do one more thing.”
Willowake’s third band member, guitarist/vocalist Junior Polanco, 20, views Corcoran in the same light. He also draws inspiration from him, which motivates him to not be lazy and create more music.
“It’s funny because me and Gavin talk all the time and we think ‘would Dax be able to do this,’ like yes he can,” Polanco said. “If I’m having writer’s block, I kind of look in a perspective of what would Dax or Gavin play here, and it helps me expand off of my demos.”
The support from his bandmates and other close individuals in his life keep Corcoran locked in on his craft.
He especially commends his mother for being a large influence on his music career and his band’s success.
As the former tour manager for Aerosmith and Kiss, Britta Wichers knows the ins and outs of the cutthroat industry.
Wichers currently works as an event producer for Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles and Brouwerij West but has also played a vital role in securing venues and times for Corcoran’s bands.
In a state of boredom caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Wichers decided to take on Corcoran’s bands and mentor the young musicians. She helped them navigate the musical world with advice and teachings from her own time in the industry.
“I went out and got them shows and I would get them PR,” Wichers said. “I also help them navigate the parts of getting along with each other in the band and tell them that they have to understand each other’s feelings and creativity, as well as being inclusive toward each member.”
Along with band work, Corcoran also puts a lot of effort into his solo work on social media.
His TikTok, drummerdax, has gained over 102,000 followers and has multiple videos exceeding over 1 million views.
His talent shines through his covers of other popular songs or his contributions to viral videos on the platform.
“I started out just posting for a while, but I couldn’t figure out the niche that I eventually got, but what started [bringing traction to my page] was covering songs from the band The Garden,” Corcoran said.
After gaining a decent following, he started posting duet-style videos that helped bring more traction to his page and help promote him.
The stardom across social media has also helped Corcoran and his image.
Having a large following has brought attraction from large brands, including Heinz Ketchup, to offer collaborations and payment in exchange for videos advertising their products.
“[Heinz] ended up going a different route, but just having that even happen helped me see that [social media] is a free marketing system for myself and the bands I play in,” Corcoran said.
The experience also allowed him to see that he wants to put more effort into social media and continue to build his fanbase.
“With music, you have to stay current and keep up with what’s going on,” Corcoran said. “Having a little brother that’s 14 years old saying things sometimes, and I’m just like ‘what does that even mean,’ so it’s really just about keeping up with the generations, especially on social media.”
Apart from social media, another outlet he’s dabbling in to try to help him stand out from other musicians is fashion. He says that he’s still trying to figure out his own style, but it’s something that is really important to not only himself but also his bandmates.
He didn’t see the importance of what he wore, but as he progressed throughout his young music career the importance of having his own brand and image became evident.
“Part of your music is selling it and selling your brand,” Corcoran said. “Trying to get people to think, wow, those guys are cool, is something that I strive towards. Building an image and an aesthetic that people gravitate towards is something that I’ve learned a lot about recently.”
Gabriel Feldman, a professional musician located in San Pedro, shares the same ideals. He also believes that having your own image and brand is essential to a musician’s success.
“[A musician] needs to have something that helps them stick out,” Feldman said. “Something that catches the crowd’s eye and makes them wonder how and why they chose their image.”
The long-sleeve fishnets that Corcoran wears underneath his shirts have become a staple in his fashion during shows. His long, dirty blonde hair, which sits at his shoulders, bounces around on each beat he hits.
His blonde hair is a trait that he shares with his close friend and XYZPDQ bandmate Salem Meade.
Nine years ago, Corcoran and Meade met through another guitarist who wished to start up their band XYZPDQ.
Although the guitarist is no longer affiliated with the band, the two have maintained a strong relationship and continued to make music into their late adolescence.
Meade, already cementing herself as an up-and-coming artist, has seen immense success at the age of 18. She was a winning finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition in 2020 and was featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show when she was 14.
Seeing the early accomplishments, she knows what to focus on to make a name for the band.
“Songwriting definitely helps [to maximize our success],” Meade said. “Another thing we’re really trying to push is getting our songs out on social media and trying to make cool videos with our songs, so songwriting and promoting are our two biggest priorities.”
It’s a long road to success for Corcoran and his bandmates, but they’re determined to make it to the top.
Staying away from comparison and self-doubt, his determination to be a star keeps the fire burning inside his heart to strive for greatness.
“Being patient with progress is something I need to get used to,” Corcoran said. “I know there’s a long road ahead of me, but I’m incredibly committed to the life I live.”
