Raising a ruckus

Downtown’s street drummer on life (and music) on the streets

Anyone who has been to Cain’s Ballroom, Mayfest, ONEOK Field – or anywhere else in Tulsa, really – there’s a very good chance you’ve seen Jascha Tobias. Playing on a wooden frame adorned with saw blades, buckets and frying pans he calls “Ruckus,” Tobias goes by the title of Street Drummer. Playing since 2005, he is an unwavering fixture in Tulsa’s ever-changing downtown.

The Tulsa Voice: When did you start doing this?

Jascha Tobias: I built the kit in 2003 and started playing the streets in 2005.

TTV: What prompted it?

JT: I was working at a place that had a Mardi Gras party every year. I was known for always drumming on my counter in the ticket booth I worked in and they thought I should play a five-gallon bucket at the party. I said I’d do it, but I went straight home and started building a drum set because I didn’t just wanna play a five-gallon bucket. People do that already. It’s kinda boring. I knew I had a bucket and some wood and extra drum stuff, so I just started throwing a kit together.

TTV: So you started with a bucket and some wood. How did you go about adding things to it?

JT: I first built the wood frame and I rigged up a reverse kick pedal for the bucket.

TTV: How is it reverse?

JT: Most pedals go from down to up against the drum. This one is mounted on top of the bucket and slams down. I threw a hinge on there. Once I got that going real good I rigged up a snare out of a kid’s play-set drum. I got that going and needed something for a hi-hat and used an old broken fan I had in my garage. I took the head off of it and put the stand to the side of my kit with a tambourine in it. That sounded cool, so I started taking saw blades and sticking them on drumsticks and mounting them to the rig. Then Brian [Prewitt], who owned the Blue Dome Diner, gave me a bunch of frying pans, and they were all perfectly in tune from big to little, so I put those on it and just went ahead and started adding junk all over it.

TTV: Is all of it junk besides the frying pans, or does any of it hold sentimental value?

JT: It’s all junk. I mean, I’ve been through a couple buckets, but – ha, nah it’s all junk.

TTV: Where do you play most often?

JT: It’s pretty evenly divided. Most of the time in the summer I can play a Drillers game and then come over here [to Main Street] and play after the Cain’s show, and then once that’s over I’ll go to the Blue Dome [District] and play there for the rest of the night.

TTV: What were you doing with Ruckus between ’03 and ’05?

JT: I just played it at home, and I played for the Mardi Gras party every year, but then I got invited to play a strongman competition at the [then Tulsa] Convention Center. You know, the guys that pull the trucks and all that stuff? I got invited to play that, but the guy who asked me to play didn’t clear it with security, and I got out there and started playing in the hallway, and they were having a Rhema graduation [there] at the same time. Some of the Rhema people, man, they thought it was cool and gave me money, but the security guards had me leave.
Mayfest was going on at that time, so I went over there [instead]. 

I instantly drew a crowd and played for ten minutes. People gave me money and I had a great crowd, but then people with Walkie Talkies came over and said, “Oh no, he didn’t pay for a space.” I ended up going to Blue Dome [Arts Festival] after that, and those folks were cool. But the next year I played Mayfest with the Creative Culture Courtyard, and the Mayfest people asked how much it would cost to have me play next year. I told them a price, but they said, “How about we give you a slot, and you can just keep all your tips?” and now I’ve played Mayfest seven years in a row.

TTV: How long have you been in front of Cain’s [Ballroom], and did they ever tell you they didn’t want a performer out front?

JT: They never said they didn’t want a performer. I’d set up and ask security out front what time the shows would end, and they were always cool. They actually had me play Cain’s and open up for Beats Antique.

TTV: How’d that go?

JT: It was good. I liked it, they liked it. It wasn’t a huge crowd because I was the opener, but they wanted me to play for 45 minutes. I played for 30 minutes straight, stopped and explained how and why I built the kit. I thought, “Oh man, this is gonna be the longest drum solo ever,” but the crowd dug it and Cain’s gave me a little money and some beer. It was cool.

TTV: Do you usually check what kind of show is going on at Cain’s before you head out?

JT: Yep. I check online, read The [Tulsa] Voice, that kind of stuff. Check out what’s up at Brady [Theater], Blue Dome [District].

TTV: What kind of music brings the best crowd for you?

JT: Just a lot of hippie stuff, man. Like the Yonder Mountain stuff, and Widespread Panic.

TTV: Jam bands?

JT: Yeah, I make a lot more money on those types of shows.

TTV: Why do you think that is?

JT: Because they’re more giving and happy. Free.

TTV: Like the Rhema people at your first strongman thing?

JT: Yeah, right. I mean, some shows, like yuppie shows with just a singer or something, the crowd will just walk by you and look at you like you’re homeless. Moms will keep their daughters from walking up to me and stuff. And that’s good, I don’t want my daughters walking up to strangers, but I’m the Street Drummer. I’m not gonna kill anyone.

TTV: Has anyone ever…oh, like this (a man walked by Jascha’s kit in front of Yeti and whacked the cymbals). Do people mess with you?

JT: I almost got into it with a bunch of Affliction-shirt wearing dudes one night. They were wearing their fancy shirts and cowboy hats, but you know they’d never been on a horse, man. One of them whacked one of my saw blades and said, “Yeah!” and his bro hit a cymbal and yelled, “Yeah!” and they went back and forth until I told them my insurance wouldn’t cover it if they cut their hands open. I was trying to be funny, but the guy just yelled, “What, you got insurance on this piece of shit?!” They didn’t get it.

TTV: Have you noticed a change in the atmosphere around [downtown] Tulsa?

JT: Oh, yeah. It feels good to me, man. It seems like everybody’s happy for the most part and enjoying everything. I get a good vibe out of it all. It seems like it’s getting better to me. Everybody’s friendly. Everyone’s been getting along and I don’t see a lot of the crazy fights in bars that I used to. I think the attitude of the people is improving with the city as it changes for the better.

TTV: Is this a main source of income for you, or just extra money?

JT: Right now I’m out of a job because the liquor store I work at is moving to a new location. I was gonna get another job until they re-open, but then I thought, “Man, I just wanna play my drums.” It’s been cool, and I haven’t gone hungry yet.