Victoria Bialic’s journey to becoming a professional drummer hasn’t exactly followed a conventional route. In fact, it started with an instrument that couldn’t be much further removed from a modern drum kit: the violin.
Speaking to Drummers Review presenter, Ollie Winiberg, Bialic explained that she actually told her parents from around the age of six that she wanted to become a drummer. Concerned that drums would be too physically demanding, they encouraged her towards the violin instead. Four years later, however, she finally decided she’d had enough and returned to the instrument she had always wanted to play.
Her early musical education nevertheless proved invaluable. Studying classical percussion exposed her to instruments including marimba, vibraphone, timpani and snare drum, while composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky helped develop an understanding of phrasing and dynamics that Bialic continues to apply to her playing today.
Perhaps the most remarkable chapter of her story began when legendary session drummer Ash Soan discovered her playing on Instagram. After Bialic uploaded a drum recording, Soan commented on the video and encouraged her to keep posting.
The pair eventually met at a drum festival in Poland, where Soan told Bialic that he believed in her and encouraged her to find her own sound. That meeting had a profound impact.
“Please record more videos,” Soan told her. “Be unique.”
Bialic has taken that advice to heart. With social media becoming increasingly saturated with incredible drummers, she believes the key to standing out isn’t necessarily playing the fastest fills or performing the most spectacular tricks. Instead, she believes audiences ultimately respond to authenticity and emotion.
The drummer also spoke openly about being a woman in the drumming world. While she says she hasn’t experienced significant discrimination herself, she admits she sometimes feels the need to work harder to prove herself and prefers situations where her playing can speak for itself.
Her message to the next generation is refreshingly simple: don’t be afraid.
“Everything is possible,” she says. “Be nice, be positive, smile, and work hard.”
And judging by Bialic’s rapidly growing career, that combination seems to be working rather well.
