Once upon a time, a young man decided to walk from New York City to Redding, California. He put his best foot forward, and six months, 3100 miles, and five pairs of shoes later, he accomplished his goal and arrived at the Sundial Bridge.
And then he started the Beats From The Core drum school in Redding. Meet Jeremy Schulz.
Mr. Jeremy, how are you?
I’m doing well, thank you.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Were you born here in Shasta County?
Well, I was raised here my whole life. Everybody in my entire family was born here. I was accidentally born in Portland, Oregon. Don’t hold that against me, but I was born just as my parents were in Portland. But yes, I’m a Redding native through and through. I graduated from Shasta High in 1992 and lived in old Shasta. That’s where I grew up. I’m more of an old Shasta kid.
And then you decided to go out into the world?
Yeah, like I said, I graduated high school in 1992, and I was just obsessed with drums. In the nineties, the Seattle grunge scene was happening, and I did not care for L.A.; I was fascinated with Seattle, so I put my drums in the back of my truck and drove to the Space Needle, where I met the very first band that I ever went on tour with.
What was the name of that band?
It was a legendary Seattle band called Barbie Car.
Barbie Car?
Yeah, Barbie Car. They used to be pro skateboarders, snowboarders, and all-around wild dudes. And the first night I was in Seattle, I saw them perform and said, “Man, I should be your drummer.” And they took great offense to that. But I got their phone numbers and started contacting them, and eventually, they came to my house. I got my drums up in Seattle and played for them, but they walked out. The next day, they called me and said, “Hey, man, we just fired our drummer.” Do you think you could learn 30 tunes in a week? And I said, “Bro, come on!” And that was it. Then I went on tour with them for three months, it was great! After that, I began my career.
I wasn’t generating any money until I enrolled at the Seattle Drum School between 1998 and 1999. That’s when I buckled down and started taking things seriously. It was all fun and games until then. Growing up and writing, I couldn’t imagine the world before the internet, right? And then we got to see the entire country. And then I realized, “Wow, I think I want to make this my living,” and I started going to Seattle Drum School, a very prestigious place. I was taking lessons there, and within a year of taking lessons there, they asked me to start teaching, which was strange because I was the only person there who was going to teach and didn’t have a drumming or music degree, nor did I go to college.
So, the owner taught me how to read music, and he invested in me. And he says: “We need a rock guy here because everybody else here plays jazz and stuff.” I was a member of several of Seattle’s most popular rock bands then. Pretty soon, I resigned from my job at the grocery store and started working at the drum school. The grocery store gig was the last job I held in 2000, and this was the last W-2 I had. Then, I started making a living.
Do you remember your first paycheck as a drummer?
Yes, I remember my first paycheck! The first time I was paid as a drummer, I was in a recording studio, tuning up a drum set for a song, then playing that song, and then playing on the track a little bit and tuning that as well. And it was like $350, and I hadn’t even been there for an hour, so I was like, “What?” I mean, that was my entire grocery store check in one hour. And then the lightbulb went off. I was like, “Hmm.”
Okay. So you were in some noteworthy bands?
Yeah. A legendary band out of Seattle called The Oswald Effect. Another one that probably everybody knows is Mother Crone. Those guys were hanging on my wall. And then another band in the 2000s called Only Human. Those were the bands that I wrote in. And then I toured in a whole bunch. This one band was a one-hit wonder; they did a song with Lady Gaga, and they were called Underride. And I toured with them all over the world, and it was great. Yeah, it was awesome.
And you ended up in New York?
Yeah, eventually. By then, I had over 20 years of touring under my belt. Then, my life took an unexpected turn; I went through a brutal divorce and breakup, and I felt really lost. I was living alone in New York City, and I was like, “Man,” I had actually achieved all of my dreams. But I was confused, “Why do I feel so empty?” I could not put my finger on it. I had a place in Bangkok, Thailand, and then Dallas and New York. When I was living in Thailand, this guy ran across Thailand, and he gripped the whole nation. I remember watching it on TV, and I was inspired by it.
His name was Toon Bodyslam, and Bodyslam was his heavy metal band. They called him Toon Bodyslam. And he ran across the country raising money for a children’s hospital. He also talked about the freedom that he felt in his soul when he ran. I yearned for that. I was like, “Man, I wonder if I could feel that.” An idea was born…
I woke up one day and called my friend over the phone. I said, “Hey, man, I’m going to walk home.” He’s like, “Where’s home?” I answered, “Redding, California.” He didn’t even really think about it or take it seriously.
Then I just started planning it, and suddenly, I decided that I was done playing and would never play drums again. I was a working drummer in New York City.
So, I had drums for my whole career, and they were now stacked in my apartment. I got rid of every single thing that I owned, everything. I got rid of all my drums. I had a snare drum given to me by Matt Cameron from Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. I got rid of that. Even stuff that was one-of-one, I got rid of everything.
Then, on April 22nd, 2019, I had my backpack on my back, full of everything I owned. I gave away my apartment and stepped off the Brooklyn Bridge on my way to my unexpected 3,100-mile journey across America. And I found what I was looking for: I found God, I found my purpose, I found everything. I found the meaning for my life and everything.
How long did that take?
Six months and 3,100 miles. People ask me all the time, “Why 3,000?” because it’s only 2,600 across the U.S. Well, at the very last minute, I decided to walk up to Niagara Falls, and I didn’t know why. I went 500 miles out of my way up to Niagara Falls and then scaled Lake Erie. Then, I went down to Oklahoma City and continued my journey.
So you took a detour?
I took a detour, yeah! (Laughs) I had no map. The day I left, I had no predetermined route or anything. I knew which way west was. I’m like, California is right there. So when I was walking up to Niagara Falls, people were like, “Hey, man, you’re going the wrong way.” I’m like, “I know.”
So you walked home. What was it like when you arrived back here?
It was surreal because, like I said, I had a couple of near-death experiences, and that’s when I found God. And then it came to me to do drum school, to teach, and to be able to impact people’s lives. And so I was like, “Hey, am I supposed to play drums? What was happening?” When I got to the Sundial Bridge, there were people I knew waiting for me with drums, and they said: “Yeah, you have to keep playing.” I still have some of those drums here at the school.
So that was my answer. And that was surreal. I’d had six months of very hardcore isolation. Sometimes weeks at a time.
Then, just a couple of months later, COVID hit, and everything shut down; the whole wide world shut down, and I was unprepared for that.
Then I planned to go back to New York City because I had met this amazing woman right before I left, and I was going to go back and maybe talk to her again, but I wasn’t going back during COVID. And then, about a year and a half later, she actually contacted me…
We went on one date before I left New York, and I didn’t even tell her I was walking across the U.S.
And here she is; the rest is history.
She thought I was so cool that she came out here and married me.
When was the opening day for the drum school?
Opening day for the drum school was September 1st, two years ago, 2022.
Now that you’re back from traveling the world, do you feel like this is home?
Oh yeah, yeah. Redding will always be home. Yeah, it’s a very unique place. There aren’t many places like this, that’s for sure.
Do you guys get to go out and explore Shasta County?
Oh yeah, a lot.
What are some of your favorite places to go?
We have a secret swimming spot that few people know about when we go to Whiskeytown and then up to Whiskey Creek. My mother, a local and native, told us about this area. She says, “I don’t know why, but nobody’s ever there.” And it has a pool with ice-cold water; that lake might be jam-packed, but there’s nobody up there at our spot. So that’s one of our favorite spots, we go there all the time. We also really enjoy going up Mount Shasta and the Headwaters. And we also constantly visit the Sacramento River Trail; we love those.
Okay, last question. Do you guys have some favorite restaurants to eat at?
Well, we have three: Racha Noodle for Thai food, Market Street Steakhouse just up the road here, and for date nights, there’s a nice pub right over here called Pourboys. And it’s dog-friendly, so we bring our dog down there. So yeah, those are our three favorites. That’s pretty much what we choose every time.
Thank you for sharing your incredible story!
Thank you!