Tram Cram by P. Mason

Peter Mason began his drumming career in 1995 as a member of Col John Chester Junior Fife and Drum Corps, the oldest junior corps in the country, which has been around continuously since 1940. Peter began competing in Col John at the age of 8, first on the bass drum taught by his father Donald Mason, then on the Snare drum taught by Tim Cecil, David Fontaine, Bill Rotella, and many more. Peter had many influences growing up as a drummer through competition. In 2004 he started to take private lessons with Swiss drummer and Connecticut Patriots drummer David Fontaine. This was Peter’s first influence into the world of Swiss drumming. In 2004 Peter also joined the Connecticut Patriots. In 2005 he joined the only Swiss style fife and drum corps in America, America Clique, which uses Basel drums and plays traditional Fasnacht music. In 2006 the Connecticut Patriots went to Basel Switzerland and Peter saw the Swiss drumming competitions for the first time and was fascinated by it. In 2012 The Connecticut Patriots went back again, and Peter competed for the first time. In 2015 Peter did an internship for 2 months studying cooking and drumming in Basel. His writing is greatly influenced by drummers such as Ivan Kym, Roman Lombriser, Paul Cormier, and Brendan Mason. Peter is now a charter member or Tambourenvieren Lenzburg, and Märtplatz Clique Basel. Peter is a strong advocate in the rare disease community, having 2 rare diseases called Keratoconus and 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. When he is not fighting his illness, he spends his time drumming and writing, and spreading a message of positivity!