Steve Hadeka of Burlington is a busy drummer, well known for his work in several Vermont groups, including The Seth Yacavone Band, Lowell Thompson and Josh Panda and The Hot Damned.
Hadeka is also an avid woodworker, creating functional pieces with a mid-century twist in his studio space, Pleasant Ranch.
When asked to describe one of his pieces (pictured below), he says, “This is a little keepsake box that I made. It’s made of solid walnut; it came from a single chunk of walnut. There’s a little drawer in there. Basically, you cut the whole thing apart to remove the inside drawer, then you glue the whole thing back together, but it allows you to keep the grain structure going all the way through the piece.”
He finished the piece off with an accent of funky blue coloring, giving it a 1950s vintage look. “I think there’s a mid-century, modern thread that connects most of my pieces. It’s just a lot easier than the fussy, Victorian style,” Hadeka says.
Most of Hadeka’s materials are re-claimed wood, often from his musician friends who have leftover wood after building guitars. He says this helps to push his creativity forward. “I’ve got to work with what I’ve got. These limitations foster creativity and give you unexpected results, and that’s a really fun part of it,” Hadeka says.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR9VDuw7hUE
Hadeka has a variety of how-to videos on his website.
Hadeka's two worlds – drumming and woodworking – connect in many ways. “The concept of design and the idea of stripping things down to their most essential parts, getting rid of the fussy pieces that aren’t functional and not beautiful, that’s a concept I apply in both designing a drum beat and a bird house.”
"The concept of design and the idea of stripping things down to their most essential parts, getting rid of the fussy pieces that aren't functional and not beautiful, that's a concept I apply in both designing a drum beat and a bird house." - Steve Hadeka, woodworker and drummer
Hadeka sees other parallels between drumming and woodworking. “I just love repetitive stuff. Some people can’t do that. I really just enjoy that feeling, like every time you stack another block up, you’re getting closer to a goal and that’s really satisfying to me,” says Hadeka.
View more of Steve Hadeka's work on his website, Twitter and Instagram.
