A Message for James Lafevers
131 views · Published 26 February 2018 · 5:32 · Indexed 19 October 2026
Channel: Nathan Sletner (The Lucid Drummer) · 2018 · Education
Happy 30th birthday, you monster. Thank you for inspiring me to go beyond. Here's what I said while playing, if you couldn't hear. "So, this video's for James. James Lafevers. He's a friend of mine from Redding California. James is a great man. He's a...he almost defies description. His Talent is unreal, and hanging around him, if you're not careful, you can discourage yourself if you try to compare yourself to him. But one of the things about that that I love is that his existence, his friendship inspires me. And he doesn't inspire like a typical person. He'll inspire you by looking you in the face and saying 'Not only am I better than you, but I'm so much better than you that you'll never catch up...you'll never beat me. That might sound like a dickhead thing to say, but it's not. If you think that, it's because you don't understand James. It's his belief in himself that has allowed him to just surpass mere mortals like me. Not just surpass, transcend. There's something I've learned from him though. That thing was: whatever I was trying to do, whatever belief I had in myself...it was too little. That I should shoot higher. That just by believing that I could do it, just by shooting for it, I'd get further than I ever could by pacing myself. Not that pacing yourself is bad, but there's a time and place for it. And sometimes, to be a man, it meant and means that you have to go beyond what you think you can do. Stretch your limits."
