Born as Jeremy Victor Smirnoff in St. Petersburg, Russia, Jeremy's music career began back in Europe at an age of seven. Being brought up on classical music by a family of actors, Jeremy started taking piano lessons. However, three years later, he received his first exposure to rock music by watching concerts of Motley Crue, AC/DC, and KISS on TV. "There was so much adrenaline in their stuff that it really changed my musical motivation! Within a couple of months I realized: I wanted to be a rock musician. I wanted to go out there and do something a little more daring and controversial than sitting in my room playing piano all day long." Soon he started his record collection of rock, metal, and punk albums and decided to switch his instrument. "I wanted to play drums, because to me it was the ultimate physical, adrenaline inspired instrument that projected power and volume."
Soon, Jeremy Smirnoffmoved to Chicago, IL with his family. It is then, while playing in various local metal bands, Jeremy also started getting involved in different types of music through the school program. "I was literally living and breathing music, day in, and day out! In school I got myself involved in every possible musical situation I could find: be it concert band, wind ensemble, jazz band, marching band, pep band, or whatever else! It was then that I found my inspiration not only through Pantera and Metallica, but also John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Lester Young, and Herbie Hancock." Through time invested into studying music with several drum teachers, Jeremy soon found his way to the top of the drum section, while getting recognition not only in Chicago, but throughout the country as a talented up-and-coming young drummer. Upon graduation from high school he continued studying music in college.
To get himself through a rather expensive school Jeremy worked as a session musician for various jazz, pop, and rock artists, as well as teaching drums to private students.
In 1999, upon return to Chicago and a short stint with a death metal band Brutals Eve, Jeremy crossed paths with a singer/guitarist/songwriter Eric Babcock and bassist Jason Hoyt who were looking to replace a drummer in a hard edge rock band Condition 1. After one audition Jeremy joined the band as a permanent member, recording their self titled release and touring the Midwest area for the next year and a half. In early 2000 he started studying with Steve Vai's drummer Mike Mangini, using Mangini's acclaimed Rhythm Knowledge system.
In April of 2000 Jeremy parted ways with the Condition 1 to form a progressive project Dark Matter Theory, while maintaining a rigorous practice and teaching schedule. In 2001 Jeremy was contacted by a Chicago industrial metal band Spent who were looking for a new drummer. He joined the band as a full time member. However, the musical chemistry of Spent began dissipating towards the latter half of 2001 and Jeremy ended up leaving the band in search of a new sound. He took a couple of months off, while concentrating on teaching and working on Rhythm Knowledge concepts. Jeremy has revamped his drum setup to accommodate Mike Mangini's "open stance" concept, allowing him to explore new sonic possibilities.
In September of 2001 Jeremy joined a successful industrial band 9mm. The band's loop driven industrial sound demanded a tasteful acoustic compliment to already existing keyboard-driven electronic percussion, while precisely locking with a click track to create an integrated, non-stop experience during the band's live shows. "Working with these guys was incredible, it opened my eyes to so many more possibilities with the whole electronic edge to the music. The parts I had to play for the band were a lot more groove based, rather than technical flashy stuff, but I have never had so much fun in my life! I was doing my part to complete a really dynamic sonic picture. Plus, it really gave me the possibility to just rock out without doing all the technical stuff I normally do!" In late 2002 Jeremy got together with another mentor to push his limits even further: this time it was the sensational LA drummer Virgil Donati. "I can't express my gratitude enough to Mike Mangini and Virgil for opening my eyes to new ways of doing things, for the inspiration to push my performance to the next level. It is truly a never-ending learning process, and these two guys really know how to get you to see things in a new light."
In February 2003 Jeremy made a difficult decision to join the US Air Force, which meant leaving 9mm. "I am a very involved person, and seeing all the things happening in the world I wanted to take part in it. It was a very difficult thing to do: I had to leave 9mm, which I have really loved my time with, and temporarily leaving Chicago, but it was a right decision to make, and it opened new musical possibilities for me."
In April of 2003 Jeremy got to revisit his marching drumline background, taking charge of the snare drum section for the Air Force's Red Dragons Drum and Bugle Corps. "This time around I got to incorporate a lot of techniques that I can add to my drumset playing, especially the visuals like backsticking, which I never got to do before."
Jeremy Smirnoff now resides in San Antonio, TX and is currently working on his solo CD, which he expects to be musically diverse: "There will be elements of just about everything I have done in the past on it. There will be jazz fusion stuff, the heavier stuff, the odd time progressive stuff, the electronic-industrial type of stuff, and even some simple pop driven music. It will all be combined into this monster of a record which I will record as soon as the writing is done. Expect to have many guest musicians, including some people I gave worked with before. Being a member of the Air Force does not limit my ability to continue my music career. As a matter of fact, I have more time to write and practice than ever before! The only thing I had to sacrifice is teaching, only because moving away from that gave me time to do what I really love to do: make more music!"
Today, Jeremy Smirnoff remains one of the most sought after drumming forces and is looking forward to continuing working with many future projects, sessions, and bands.
