Banging drums. Making bangers.

I'm Greg Braun, the drummer and producer behind G 5000. I play, record and produce music in my home studio, and I'm behind a kit just about every day.

I started playing drums at the age of 2. By 12, I was playing live in nightclubs. In high school, my band Brownstone recorded a 10 song tape that I sold in the hallways (we had tapes back then). After high school I went off to college, but my real focus was Myopia, the band I had with my brother and my best friends from high school. We played every weekend and had a wild live show that made us pretty popular around Central Ohio. Then came the pinnacle moment at 24. I found myself on a tour bus playing drums for Pay the Girl, supporting Shakira across the country on her Tour of the Mongoose, playing Staples Center in LA, Madison Square Garden in NYC, and everywhere in between. I was living my childhood rockstar dream. PTG was signed to TVT Records, with an album produced by Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam’s "Ten," Temple of the Dog). Our single "Freeze" hit #21 on the Billboard Adult Top 40, and our song "Clueless" landed on the Swimfan movie soundtrack.

Then it all stopped. The band got dropped by their label, and touring life was over. Looking back, I was tired of being a broke musician and jaded by the whole journey, so I turned my back on music. Not on playing it. On wanting it. Months turned into years, and years turned into decades. I dusted off my DW kit and joined another group, Introspect, and we played almost every weekend for years and recorded a full album together. I even got a second chance at a national tour with Leo, a real "life's kinda cool sometimes" moment. But I never let myself fully enjoy it the way I did when I was younger. I'd folded. I let the demands of life dull the excitement, and I let my rockstar dreams die in the rearview mirror.

Then BOOM.

Someone very close to me suddenly passed away, COVID rocked our world, and I was punched in the face by the overwhelmingly haunting feeling of my own mortality. I thought, if I were to die tomorrow, would I feel like I'm living to my full potential today?

The answer was NO. So I came back. That's exactly what my song "I'm Back" is about, recorded with my son Ben Braun and 2x Grammy winner Michael "The Wanz" Wansley.

Today, G 5000 makes hard rock sounds built from the drums up, mixed with all sorts of other genres: originals like "Blackout" and "2 Sharks," plus my cover of a cover, "Am I Evil?" Then there are songs I produced and played on but didn't write, like "Curtain Falls" and "My Medicine," plus drums on "Runaway." I'm collaborating with friends old and new, supporting the next generation of musicians, and having more fun than ever making noise.

If you play drums, make music, or just love music that hits hard, you're in the right place. And if you ever set down something you loved, take this as your sign: it's never too late to pick the sticks back up.

Follow the journey: G 5000 on Spotify, and @g5000music on YouTube and Instagram. Stay tuned for new drum videos.