Kevin Joseph Sawka was born October 10, 1977 in Seattle, Washington. Kevin attended Heritage Christian School up until 4th grade, when he moved to Kenmore Elementary School. At an early age Kevin was involved in sports, as a lot of young people are, excelling in baseball and soccer.
Due to an accident with an Exacto knife Kevin decided to sideline his catchers mitt and exchange it for drums. His middle school years were spent at Lake Stevens Middle School for 7th-8th grades and 9th grade at Skyview Middle School.
While in middle school Kevin joined the school bands, where he excelled in what else but the drums. His high school years were spent at Bothell High School where he continued his love for music. In 10th grade he met up with future bandmate, bass player, Jeremy Lightfoot.
Some of his early musical influences were the bands: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Rush, LedZepplin and Primus.Man…or machine? That's the question that listeners, show-goers, and critics ask themselves about Kevin Sawka since the Seattle drummer started experimenting with drum 'n bass styles in the late '90s.
The past released album, Cyclonic Steel on Dualdisc -a new CD format that is a CD on one side and a DVD on the other- demonstrates through both audio and video the superhuman quality of his performances and production.
Cyclonic Steel is a study in what electronic music has the potential to be, particularly with Sawka's adeptness with acoustic sounds, jazz, and rock techniques. Sawka's music isn't your typical drum'n'bass affair; instead, the listener is presented with a sweaty, rhythmic expedition into realms situated between contemporary breakbeat, intense drum'n'bass, and new glitch, inspired by the work of Dieselboy, Amon Tobin, and others.
KJ Sawka's live performances are so memorable largely because of the unique extravagance of Kevin Sawka's drum kit. Between 3 snares, 2 kick drums (acoustic, electronic), a few cymbals and saw blades, Electribe sampler, SPD-20 drum pad, Korg Kaoss pad, and a loop station, he also employs custom MIDI drumlights that react to his complex dance beats as well as specialized visuals pulled from in-the-drumset surveillance cameras (!).
Kevin Sawka didn't invent the drum kit. He didn't invent jungle beats, and he didn't invent drum 'n bass. But by pairing these elements with his innovative approach to creating and performing, he is inventing something newer, more intricate, and downright eye-opening.
Keep an eye out for his latest work/album due for release late this summer "Unity of Purpose"
