TRAVERSE CITY — From playing with Traverse City’s The Marsupials and northern Michigan’s Distant Stars to touring with platinum-selling alt-rock band The Verve Pipe to leading his own jazz-infused Pocket Watch, drummer Zach Dubay has emerged as one of Michigan’s go-to percussion wizards.
He’s made such an impact that one Grand Rapids venue, Turnstiles, has even named a hamburger after him: “The Dubay Burger,” a combo of egg, bacon and burger that he ordered so often that the establishment had no choice but to give it a new handle in honor of the congenial drummer.
“I’ve played here so much it feels like home. If you get this place packed out, it’s wild,” Dubay said in a recent interview.
The Grand Rapids drummer’s current roster of Michigan bands and artists he plays with is exhaustive: Pocket Watch, Nathan Walton & The Remedy, The Verve Pipe, The Marsupials, Distant Stars, Hannah Rose Graves, Cosmic Knot, Austin Benzing, Bradley Sinclair, Earth Radio, Elijah Russ and The Blue Water Kings.
He boasts an arsenal of 15 or so drum kits and his skills on all of them can be a bit dizzying. He’s playful, but he’s also obsessive and nearly compulsive about practicing.
“I practice all day, from the moment I wake up until I go to sleep. When I was younger, I would wake up and play the kit all day, like literally all day and have some breaks,” Dubay said.
“It’s that like, cracked-out, 110-percent mentality. It is obsessive. It’s completely, like one-track mind.”
Even backstage, Dubay can be seen ticking away on a rubber drum pad, a discipline that can be traced to his marching band days.
His parents, Kevin and Tresia Dubay, have been incredibly supportive of his musical endeavors, making tight household finances work to nurture his percussive abilities. His brother, Jared, had a major impact on encouraging him to unlock his potential at a young age.
“I guess that I look up to him for motivation in life. He never explicitly stated anything about it, but he’s just such a driven guy. And, you know, he’s got like, a huge personality. So that rubbed off on me.”
The drummer’s musical influences include Carter Beauford from Dave Matthews Band, Rush’s Neil Peart, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham, The Police’s Stewart Copeland, jazz cats Philly Joe Jones, Ron Bruner and JD Beck, Justin Tyson, Vinnie Calaiuta and “the list goes on.”
“I’ve been playing since I was a wee child. I remember sitting on my dad’s lap tapping the drums either at a year old or before; it’s crazy that’s my earliest memory,” he said.
“But I think I really started playing more around 3 or 4, and got serious at 12 or 13.”
Dubay has graced some big stages. He recalls performing for more than 5,000 fans at a festival in Illinois and marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Still, humility is important.
“I’ve found if I’m cocky, I play worse,” Dubay says. “It’s just kind of more fun to be really nice to people and just show them how you play with your skill. I do it because I love to do it. And there’s nothing in the world that I’d rather do.”
Dubay, a full-time musician, says his plans for 2024 are the same as last year: “Play better drums, be a better person, and keep building relationships in the industry.”
He’s currently pouring most of his creative and business energy into his original group, Pocket Watch, an award-winning jazz fusion band based in Grand Rapids.
“We have quite a few tours coming up this year. Also, I’m stoked to play some insane shows with The Verve Pipe that I’ll get to travel for, as well as some amazing opportunities with Nathan Walton & The Remedy, Hannah Rose Graves and The Marsupials. It’s gonna be a crazy year.”