“The Green Drummer”

Annika Fisher-Eddy (she/they)

Editorial Team Member

If you know one thing about me, you know that I identify as green. People always ask me, “Why green?”, and the truth is, I honestly don’t know. For my whole life, the color green has always just felt so “me.” Something about the color just feels right. 

Identifying as a color is a type of “conceptkin.” Conceptkin is a term used to describe someone who identifies as a concept. This can include identifying as a season, an emotion, or, in my case, a color.

I don’t know how I developed this type of conceptkin, but my theory is that it’s because my mother’s wedding dress was green; my parents have a picture in their bedroom of them kissing on their wedding day, and I used to look at it all the time when I was little. Things we’re exposed to as small children tend to have a big impact on us for the rest of our life. So, that photo of my mother’s wedding dress may have triggered my love for green.

I’ve also been playing drums for as long as I can remember. My mom is a guitar player, and she pretty much sat me down on a drumset as soon as I exited the womb. I’ve stuck to it for my entire life, because something about drums also feels so “me.”

I’ve tried other hobbies; I’ve tried taking up swimming, drawing, and dancing, just to name a few, but I’ve never really stuck with any of those things. I even tried taking up playing the violin, but that only lasted three days before I got bored of it. Drums are the only hobby I’ve had consistently for my whole life that I haven’t given up on.

I love drums. It gives me a way to get my feelings out. No matter what emotion I’m feeling, I can put on headphones and play a song that matches that emotion, and just drum along to it. As a person with ADHD, being able to have an outlet in which I can be as loud and energetic as I want, and where it’s good to be those things, has really given me confidence.

I’ve connected these two parts of my personality: my love for green and my love for drums, and it has sort of become my identity now.

For one thing, my drumset is green, and I use it to perform whenever I can. Unfortunately, however, I can’t always use it because sometimes I have to use the drumset at whatever venue I'm performing at. So, my way of making up for it when I can’t use my green drumset is that I always use green drumsticks; that has kinda become my shtick as a drummer. No matter what I’m drumming for, you will only ever see me use neon green drumsticks. Whether I’m performing a drum solo or performing with a band, I will always use green sticks. No exceptions. 

Also, my mom and I have a band together, and we are always color-coordinated when we perform. She wears red, and has dyed red hair. I wear green, and my hair is dyed green. My mom has a red guitar, and I have a green drumset. 

At school, I’m known as, “The Green Drummer.” You could say I’m well-known at my school, and the fact that I’m a really good drummer and am always green is the reason for that.

All of this happened by pure accident and coincidence. I happened to become a drummer who also happened to identify as the color green. When I first started my drumming journey, I didn't really expect or even think about the fact that my love for green would become involved in my drumming. But now, I can’t ever imagine myself not being green, or not being a drummer. I think it will always be my thing, and I will forever be known as, “The Green Drummer.”