Sept. 21, 2026

Billy McNicol on Drumming, Diversity, and Rocking Louder Than Life

Show Notes
Transcript

Join Pipeman on The Adventures of Pipeman from Louder Than Life festival as he chats with drummer and lead vocalist Billy McNicol. Discover Billy's unique journey in music, how his high-energy trio came together, his deep Louisville roots, and some heartfelt life advice.Main Topics Covered

Billy McNicol's musical background and heritage
Collaborations with the University of Louisville
Assembling a global band in Los Angeles
The art and challenge of drumming while singing
The musical legacy of Louisville, Kentucky and Billy's family history
Advice for musicians and listeners

Key Discussions & StoriesLouder Than Life Experience

Performing at Louder Than Life alongside the University of Louisville pep band and managing the set just before a thunderstorm hit 01:03
Reflections on perseverance and the "divine" elements of his musical journey, including how his bandmates were brought into his life 01:21

Musical Collaborations and Achievements

Being the first independent rock group to release a single with a Division 1 university and do a halftime show at a NCAA event 01:50, 02:14
Co-releasing the single "Real" with the University of Louisville pep band 01:47

Band Origins & Diversity

Meeting bandmates from India and Alaska at open jams in Los Angeles, including Venice Beach and Musicians Institute
Embracing diversity within the group's dynamic and their mission to bring people together through music 03:48, 03:53

Louisville Musical Legacy

Family history with The Rugbys, the first Kentucky rock group to rank on the Billboard charts in 1969, competing with major acts like Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix 04:44, 05:10

Drumming and Singing Simultaneously

Inspired by watching his father, Billy describes teaching himself by observing and emulating technique 05:45
Comparing his learning style to the character in "Drumline," observing rather than taking formal lessons 06:19
Physical and technical demands: cardio, posture, diaphragm use, and being "graceful" like a marionette while performing 06:55

What’s Next

Plans to finish the current record, release more music, and continue momentum after the festival 07:50

Notable Quotes

"We brought rock and roll to the NCAA, and yesterday here at Louder Than Life, we brought the NCAA to play the rock and roll." – Billy 02:28
"We're in the making people feel special business... bring people together business." – Billy 03:59
"My family, my dad, my uncles, they had a group called the Rugbys... the first rock group... out of the state of Kentucky to have a Billboard hit." – Billy 04:44
"You have to keep yourself in shape... do a lot of cardio... be mindful about your diaphragm placement and your posture when you're playing." – Billy 06:55
"God is good. Today is a new day. Yesterday is gone, so don't worry about it. Tomorrow might not even come, so live in the now. Be present. Love your life." – Billy 08:44

Resources & Links Mentioned

Band Single: "Real" (search on Spotify or Apple Music under Billy McNichol) 08:10
Socials/Music: Search "Billy McNicol" on all major platforms 08:10
The Rugbys: "UI" (referenced song from 1969)

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WEBVTT

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Hi, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is

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the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio,

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and I'm here with.

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Billy McNichol.

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Nice, here at Louder Than Life, or as I renamed

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it today, Hodder Than Life.

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Yes, it is much... Much humidity. There is a lot

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of that going on.

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Oh, yeah, no doubt. So tell the listeners a little

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bit about yourself and why you're here at Louder Than Life.

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So my name is Billy McNichol. I'm originally from Louisville, Kentucky.

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I'm an alumni of the University of Louisville. Played drum set.

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I was like the featured drummer for the University of

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Louisville Cardinals for the pep band and played yesterday. I'm

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a drummer and a lead vocalist. I do drums and

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lead vocals at the same time. Yesterday we played, we

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brought up the University of Louisville Pet Band with us,

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and it was an amazing time. It was really, really hot.

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It was super humid. And we finished our set right

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before the thunderstorm, so that was really cool. Nice.

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That's pretty cool. That means somebody was watching over you

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to make sure you got your whole set in.

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Yes, sir. It was very divine. Another divine intervention is

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the fact how God brought my bandmates into my life,

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my guitarist, Vargov Chowdhury. I'm from Guwahati, India, and my

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bass is C.J. Wilson from Fairbanks, Alaska. We have a

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power trio. We do our thing, you know. I do

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drums and lead vocals at the same time. We collabed

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with the University of Louisville. We just released a single

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called Real with them. It is believed that we were

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the first independent rock group to release a single with

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a Division I university. Wow. It's been done with bands

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who have been signed, obviously, Fleetwood Mac and Tusk. OK

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Go had one about a decade ago with Notre Dame.

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They were both signed to major labels. We were independent.

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We also did a halftime show with the University of

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Louisville about two years ago. And we were the first

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rock group to do a halftime show with the Division

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I University and the NCAA. So we brought... rock and

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roll to the NCAA, and yesterday here at Louder Than Life,

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we brought the NCAA to rock and roll.

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Yeah, there you go. Now we're a combined force. Oh, listen,

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thank you for doing what you do and being here.

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So your bandmates, obviously all from different places here, how'd

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that happen? How'd you come together?

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We met in Los Angeles, California. I started going out

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to like open jams and things like that. I wanted

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to find players to play with. That's how I met

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CJ Wilson. I met him at an open jam. We

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vibe so well. It was in Venice beach. He believed

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in what was going down. He started bringing, he started

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bringing like recording equipment, things of that nature out to rehearsals.

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And he saw the vibe. He saw, you know, I

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could do the vocals at the same time. And he

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was like, dude, let's, Let's keep pushing. Let's keep pushing.

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And about a year later, we met a really, really

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great guitar player, Bargov Chowdhury. He was attending the L.A.

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Musicians Institute there in Hollywood.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And now he's teaching there, which is awesome. And so,

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you know, you hear this a lot. You hear this

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a lot, you know, about you hear a lot about diversity.

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And that's one of the great things that I take

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a lot of pride in with this group is that

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we're from all different corners of the planet.

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Yeah.

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Universal is the ultimate common ground, you know. We're in

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the making people feel special business, you know. We're in

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the bringing people together business. So, again, the pleasure is

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all mine to be playing with these guys.

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I love it. I love it. And so you're like

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a serious Louisville musician, homegrown.

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100%.

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I love it. So what is it that's great about

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being a musician in Louisville? What are the great?

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The greatest aspects about being a musician in Louisville and

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being from Louisville is the fact that there are a

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lot of really, really amazing bands that have come before us.

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There is a huge legacy of talent that have come

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out from this area. I have to be frank and

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I have to be biased. My family, my dad, my uncles,

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they had a group called the Rugby's. They were the

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first rock group. out of Louisville, Kentucky, or actually out

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of the state of Kentucky, to have a Billboard hit

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in October of 69 with the Rugby's. They had a

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song called UI. And there was a lot of competition

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back then. It was right out of the Woodstock era.

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So we had Led Zeppelin on the charts, Jimi Hendrix,

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The Temptations, Elvis Presley. And this band out of Louisville, Kentucky,

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cranks out a number 24 hit. I think it went

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up to 21 on Cashbox. So there's a lot of heritage,

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there's a lot of great musicians, and there's a very,

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very abundant legacy that has come out of this town,

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and it's an honor to actually be a part of

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that family tree.

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Absolutely, and you're carrying the torch well.

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Thank you so much, Dean.

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So I also want to ask that somebody that drummed

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for like nine years, how the hell you sing and drum?

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Well, my dad did it. So I watched him do

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it a lot. And so that was one of my

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favorite things to do as a kid was just like

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watching him do his thing, you know, because he didn't

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really give me any formal lessons. I just kind of

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sat back and I was like, OK, all right. I

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see what he's doing there. He's got the bass going

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down on one, and he's hitting the hi-hat at the

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same time. Now there's a hi-hat in between. Now there's

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a snare and a hat on, too. It's like, did

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you ever see the movie Drumline? I'm pretty sure I did. Yeah,

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like the character that Nick Cannon's playing, he didn't know

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how to read music. But you see him, he's just watching,

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and he's watching, and he's watching. That's kind of how I.

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Was when I was a kid. But it's the singing

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part while doing it. Like, to me, doing drums and

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anything else is like rubbing your stomach and your head

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at the same time, man. It's hard, you know, because

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especially when you're drumming, you're, like, really active. And to

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be able to be focused on that mic. while drumming

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and still be like a very active drummer, my mad

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respect for you.

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You have to keep yourself in shape. You know, you

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have to like do a lot of cardio and you

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have to be mindful about your diaphragm placement and your

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posture when you're playing. Yeah. And it's, it's a lot

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of it is, is so pretend you're a marionette, a marionette,

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like a puppet, right? So you're going down. I don't

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want to move the microphone to what you're going down

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and you pretend that you're coming up like that. Somebody

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has strengths, right? That's kind of how you have to be.

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You have to be graceful with your posture, but utilize

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your diaphragm. Utilize your diaphragm. You're coming in. It's almost

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as if you're going to dive underwater for a bit

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and hold your breath. You've got to be conservative with

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your breath, but you also have to be mindful and project.

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That's how you execute it.

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Wow. Nice, nice. So, ladder to life afterwards, now what

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are you doing? What are you doing to follow this up?

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Well, I was planning a world domination.

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Nice.

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No, I'm just kidding.

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No, no. I think you should.

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I'd like to finish this record that we have going on,

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and I would like to make some more releases, and

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just keep it going, keep it pushing.

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Nice. Tell everybody how they can reach out to you

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on socials, on the web. check out everything you do?

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It's everywhere.

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If you just type in my name, Billy McNichol, it'll

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take you to Spotify or Apple Music. It's everywhere. It's

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all out there.

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I love how you have the drum key on your necklace.

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Oh, thank you. When I got my regional endorsement with Yamaha,

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when I first got on with them, when I got

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my kid, I had this key. My dad played Yamaha,

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so it was very special to me. I took the

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key and I put it on.

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This necklace nice is there any other things you want

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to let the listeners know that we haven't covered already.

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God is good today is a new day yesterday is

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gone so don't worry about it tomorrow might not even

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come so live in the now be present love your life.

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No better words could be said and so thank you

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for being you thank you for being here at ladder

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in life and thank you for being on the adventures

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of pipe man Thank you, brother.

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Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.

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Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pikeman on

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W4CY Radio.

Billy McNicol on Drumming, Diversity, and Rocking Louder Than Life

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