By OP Callaghan.
A little about me …
I love old movies and spend a lot of my spare time watching TCM or some of the other vintage cinema streaming services. I will often watch the same 20 or 30 films, as I have my favorites. A few weeks back, I watched “Paper Moon,” featuring Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal, as a couple of grifters traveling through the Midwest during the depression. Not only was Tatum brilliant and lovable, but her real-life father, Ryan, was detestable and genuinely a terrible person. I went down the rabbit hole and found out that Ryan is kind of a lousy person in real life too. But enough about me. (Cue transition music)
Joshua Gruft is the owner of Paper Moon, a gem of a bookstore right here in Troy, NY. I shop there regularly, as its eclectic selection of new and used books, magazines, and independent publications always has something interesting. I knew that Josh was also a DJ, but I recently learned that he is also a great drummer! His traditional training and punk influences make him a percussive giant, and I am thrilled to introduce him to all of you. So without further delay, let’s welcome DJ, bookstore owner, writer/publisher, composer, and drummer extraordinaire, Joshua Gruft!!!
RRX: Welcome, Josh. Tell me how you got started playing drums.
JG: Thanks for the invite, OP! I started playing percussion in my fourth-grade concert band. I’m so grateful for those first few years of playing rudiments over and over. From eighth through tenth grade, I played in a military-style marching band; our big gig every year was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. All of those foundational skills still come in handy. Once you become a walking metronome, nothing can stop you.
RRX: We hate to play the rudiments, but goddamnit if they aren’t the most important foundation! Do you come from a musical family?
JG: My great-uncle on my mom’s side was an Ecuadorian cumbia saxophonist. I never met him, but I love listening to his records. Other than that, my family was filled with music lovers. There was always music playing in the house. ’70s rock from my dad and ’80s Spanish pop from my mom.
My parents also took me to a lot of concerts, everything from James Brown to B.B. King to Green Day to Limp Bizkit to Weird Al to Rob Zombie. There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing live music.
RRX: Certainly! Is there one moment in time, or a piece of music, or a specific drummer, that really solidified it for you that you wanted to be a drummer?
JG: Green Day was my favorite band growing up. As soon as I saw the “Basket Case” video on MTV, I wanted to play exactly like Tré Cool. I would put on my headphones and tap along to “Dookie” on a practice pad for hours. Even the way he set up his drums inspired me. I still use a jazz-style four-piece setup today.
RRX: Tre is a master of the rudiments! Who are some of your other influences?
JG: I love funky music. Any time I play drums, you can expect to hear a little James Brown or Fela Kuti in there. After my drum teacher taught me all of Tré Cool’s fills, we spent months learning every drum part on James Brown’s ”20 All-Time Greatest Hits!” CD.
I’m also a big fan of Brazilian and Turkish rhythms. I once joined a belly dancing troupe and played darbuka just so I could dive deeper into Turkish music. I even quit a band once because they wouldn’t let me throw in some bossa nova from time to time.
Aphex Twin’s manic breakbeats and J Dilla’s heavily swung rhythms have also had a huge influence on the way I approach drums.
RRX: Very cool! Tell me about your first kit. What are you playing now?
JG: My first kit was a beautiful green woodgrain six-piece Mapex with two rack toms and two floor toms. I had already started gigging by 15, and lugging that entire kit around got old pretty quickly.
My next kit was a white three-piece Tama from the ’90s, and that became my workhorse. In college, I was playing in jazz and funk groups while traveling by subway, so I bought a small three-piece nesting kit from Drummers World in Manhattan. The bass drum and floor tom opened up so the entire kit could pack inside itself.
Very early in my career, I learned to bring as little gear as possible. To this day, I feel most comfortable behind a small kit.
My cymbals are a mix of Sabian, Zildjian, and Paiste. My hi-hats even have a Zildjian top and Paiste bottom. I round out the kit with a Pearl Chad Smith Signature black-nickel snare and Pro-Mark Japanese oak nylon-tip sticks, 5A most of the time, or 5B if I’m playing with a louder group.
RRX: Tell me about some of your playing experience.
JG: In my teens, I played in punk bands on stages all across the Albany-Schenectady-Troy region. In my 20s, I played drums in jazz clubs in New York City. Clubs would book only one band for the entire night, so that’s where I learned how to handle extended three- and four-hour sets.
In my 30s, back in upstate New York, I played in jam bands and started getting serious about producing music on my own. Being primarily a drummer hadn’t given me much songwriting experience, so I spent a lot of time producing instrumentals, mostly for local rapper Wavy Cunningham.
Working with Wavy allowed me to concentrate on recording, production, and songwriting. We released a lot of music before eventually realizing we should just start a band. These days, we mostly get together and jam with other artists.
Now, at 40, I’m back playing punk clubs and basements with Selfless Demise. There’s really nothing like performing for an underground punk crowd.
RRX: Tell me about your latest band, Selfless Demise!
JG: About three years ago, I met our singer, Will, aka Tw3ak, the loudest rapper I’ve ever heard. In November 2025, I finally convinced him to start a band with me, and Selfless Demise was born.
We brought in members from his other band, Pocket Sand, and really hit the ground running. Everyone in the band was already experienced with playing shows, so that’s exactly what we started doing. Even when half the set consisted of improvisations we came up with on the spot.
We play loud and slow, and it’s been incredibly fun. The crowds have been really responsive, which has led us to gig at least twice a month.
RRX: Where can we see you playing? What does the future hold?
JG: You can catch us playing all over upstate New York, from No Fun and Ophelia’s to basements and coffee shops. We plan to record a full-length album this winter and then hit the festival circuit hard next summer.
RRX: What do you do outside of drumming?
JG: In my 20s, I started DJing so I could gig nonstop. My first DJ gigs were in dive bars, where I’d set up in a corner and spin reggae and jazz all night. Building a small following around the city eventually led to playing underground club music at loft parties in Brooklyn.
I still DJ around Troy today, mostly for drag and burlesque events, under the name DJ Mercy.
In 2022, I started an art magazine, which eventually led me to open my own magazine shop and bookstore, Paper Moon. Paper Moon is located at 6 Brunswick Road in Troy, in the same building as Collar City Guitars, Factory Tattoo, and J. Gernon Framing.
Opening the bookstore has allowed me to connect with unique art scenes from around the world and bring some of that work back to Troy.
RRX: Anything else you’d like to share?
JG: Upstate New York has been an amazing place to grow up and perform, and I love having the opportunity to give something back through my bookstore. I post upcoming events and other information at PaperMoonTroy.com. And practice your rudiments!
RRX: I’m playing paradiddles as we speak …
