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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Eva Corlett in Wellington

One bucket, two sticks and a million followers: how five NZ teens hit drumming fame

Five young men sit on buckets holding drumsticks in front of a brick building with large windows
The Beat Street Drummers practising in Tauranga, New Zealand: left to right, Lucas Shepherd, Tristan Sparks, Elliot Laurie, Daniel Moore and Noah Stuart. Photograph: Alan Gibson/The Guardian

Five teenagers sit shoulder to shoulder dressed in hoodies, T-shirts and sneakers. Behind them in the video is a farm shed, sometimes a street corner or a hardware store. Each cradles a large orange plastic bucket between their knees. The scenes are laid-back but there is nothing casual about what comes next.

The group launch into a tightly choreographed drumming routine – sticks move at break-neck speed, flicking between the surfaces of their own bucket to that of their neighbours’, producing a slick, energetic and flawless sound.

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