1. When did you first start playing music?
I started at age two. My mom was a choir director, organist and singer, and I grew up in church. I had a little Smurf drum set at home, and on Sundays the church drummer, W.C. Williams, would sit me on his leg at the snare and hi-hat and let me play along with the children’s choir.
By about four or five, I could play along on a slightly bigger kit. My mom wasn’t really the type to stop everything and coddle me if I messed up. She had a service to run! If I wasn’t getting it, she’d turn around and say, “Marcus, get off the kit,” and somebody else would finish the song.
I had to figure it out, go practice and come back and try again.
2. So discipline was part of your musical education from the beginning?
Definitely. My mom wanted me to be a kid more than anything. She wanted to see if I was going to be serious enough to practice on my own. My dad was in education, so he brought that discipline of timeliness and sitting down and working on something.
That became a really deep part of how I learn.
3. When did you begin studying music more formally?
In seventh grade I got into concert band at Colonial, and my teacher, Mr. Ransom, wanted me to play French horn. Everybody wanted to play trumpet, saxophone or drums, so he wanted students to play other instruments.
I took it seriously. I learned music notation and some theory, and then I went to Overton High School, where Chris Piecuch was my band director.
Overton was a performing arts school at the time. You had to maintain a certain GPA, audition, take private lessons and participate in things like All-West, solo and ensemble. We had marching band, jazz band and wind ensemble. It was a very serious music environment.
4. So you got exposure to a lot of different musical worlds while you were young.
Absolutely. I did marching band, jazz band, orchestra and wind ensemble. I played in the Memphis Youth Symphony and even went to Italy with them.
I also got into big band music, which I still love. I really liked large ensemble sounds. The more environments I was exposed to, the more I realized how much there was to learn.
5. When did you start thinking about music as a career?
By the time I went to Middle Tennessee State University, I knew I was going to be a player. I just didn’t know exactly what that career would look like.
I started as a music major and then switched to recording industry. While I was in school, I’d drive to Nashville and try to “sit in” [join other musicians to get experience in different musical settings] with whoever I could. I was still playing in the marching band, jazz band and orchestra, and I started getting some gigs. I wanted to be versatile.
6. What was your first professional touring opportunity?
Right after I graduated, I got my first gig with a singer/songwriter named Warren Barfield. That gig only lasted a few months, but it was my first professional tour. I was fresh out of college, so I didn’t know any better. I was just excited to be working. Then that tour ended pretty abruptly. I had dates on the calendar that disappeared, and I was thinking, “Man, what am I going to do?”
Two days later, I got the call to tour with Donna Summer. It was incredible. I got that opportunity because the bass player had been playing with the Wooten Brothers in Nashville and thought enough of me to recommend me.
I toured with Donna for about a year. Then I got opportunities to work with Billy Preston and Larry Carlton. I was able to do all three of those tours in the same year, which was an incredible way to come out of graduation.
7. What do you think prepared you for those opportunities?
The preparation started way before the phone calls. I had been playing in church since I was a kid. I had learned to read music. I played in the marching band, jazz, orchestra and wind ensemble. I had been sitting in, learning songs and putting myself in different musical situations.
You don’t always know which experience is going to matter later. But when the opportunity comes, you want to be ready for it.
8. You’ve clearly never wanted to be boxed into one style.
Marcus Finnie: No. One thing I always knew I wanted to be was a versatile drummer.
I wanted somebody to be able to say, “Call him. He plays rock. Call him. He plays orchestra. Call him. He plays Latin.”
But I didn’t just want to imitate the people who already played those styles. I wanted to understand the language of each style and still sound like myself.
That’s something I’ve carried throughout my career.