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With the end of the year approaching rapidly, Avonworth students are beginning to purchase their summer concert tickets. This summer, Pittsburgh will welcome a wide array of guests, including Wiz Khalifa, Sombr, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Noah Kahan. Journalism 2 students are also beginning to feel the excitement, especially for the arrival of the last performer. Currently, Noah Kahan is touring with rising artist Gigi Perez, best known for her hit “Sailor Song.” Perez, who recently had a headlining set at Coachella, has a band behind her that is just as talented and sensitive as she is, which brought the afternoon J2 class to Jeremy Berges, or JayJay.
Berges is a Los Angeles drummer who is originally from France. Along with drumming for Perez, he has toured with over ten other artists throughout his drumming career. His love for music began with jazz; he grew up in a town that had large jazz festivals every month. As he grew older, he began drumming in various jazz bands. After graduating from college, he moved to the UK to pursue new music, genres, and artists.
In an interview with Canvas Rebel, JayJay expresses that he truly began to succeed when he began to focus on his creativity and personality instead of his technical perfection and accuracy. Throughout the interview, and our own, it becomes clear that that is the most important factor for his art and his favorite advice to share.
“In music, it’s important to develop your personality,” Berges told the afternoon J2 class. “I’m really happy [with] and proud of my own voice as a musician.”
Part of Berges’ voice is heavily expressed on social media. In fact, we first came in contact with him after he appeared on my TikTok “For You Page!” He often posts videos of himself drumming during large performances, as well as the track playing in his earpiece, which contains some verbal direction and a metronome. This is often referred to as a “click track.”
“We talk a lot about artists’ voices,” Berges said, highlighting the emphasis that Perez and her band put on individuality. Again, one could argue that it is even more important than technical precision. Playing music perfectly is nearly impossible; instead, taking an imperfect yet strong final product and making it your own is an effective approach to professional performance. “I just want people to recognize my playing and also realize it’s not a matter of being the best drummer on the planet,” Berges reflected. “I don’t see it as a competition.”
As a final question-and-answer for our interview, Mr. Tuffiash prompted Berges to discuss what a perfect “flourishing day” would be like for him in his native language, French. Our final translation is still pending, but most of our classmates (including Mr. Tuffiash!) understand some French. Essentially, Berges discussed being able to perform, collaborate, and work creatively without restriction.
At the end of the interview, Berges offered the class free backstage passes to Noah Kahan’s show in July! We are incredibly excited to meet JayJay in person and begin Avonews’ 2026-2027 school year with exciting, behind-the-scenes coverage of Noah Kahan’s concert!
