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Drumming Like There's No Tomorrow

Photos courtesy of Ravi Jakhotia

Tampa native Ravi “DJ RAVIDRUMS” Jakhotia (center) will perform at the Super Bowl pre-game show with Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.

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By SARAH HOYE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2008

TAMPA - Ravi Jakhotia asked his parents for a drum set when he was 12. But when his father said no, he threw himself on the floor at Kmart.

"That was my first memory of it," says Jakhotia, a Tampa native. "Drumming just always attracted me."

Nowadays, the 38-year-old makes his living playing the drums and will perform during the "Super Bowl XLII Pregame Show" today, alongside "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul.

Jakhotia, aka DJ Ravidrums, relocated to Los Angeles to break into the music business in 1997. He has since scored big, from landing a gig as resident deejay at the Playboy mansion to collaborating with everyone from the Black Eyed Peas to Will Smith.

"I'm straight up stoked," Jakhotia says during a phone interview from his home in L.A. "At first I just wanted it to happen, and now it is happening."

During the pregame show, which begins at 2 p.m., Abdul will debut the music video for her new Randy Jackson-produced single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" and perform live. The Super Bowl airs on Fox from the University of Phoenix Stadium, with kickoff at 6:17 p.m.

The song will be the first single released off an upcoming album produced by Jackson, also set to appear on the pregame show. Ryan Seacrest will be a host, and Alicia Keys is scheduled to perform.

Courtesy of Ravi Jakhotia

The deejaying drummer is known for his over-the-top performances and his percussion assortment, including a set of garbage bins that double as kick drums. While attending Chamberlain High School, he played with the band Crimson Glory, signed to Atlantic Records and worked with the popular St. Petersburg conga player Gumbi Ortiz.

"When someone makes it big, they take over and create their own identity, and that's what's pleasing people; he's doing what no one else is," says friend Robin DiMaggio, who drums for Paul Simon and David Bowie. "He's hilarious and definitely a go-getter. Once you meet him you don't not want to be his friend."

When his father, who turns 71 today, said no to the drum set, Jakhotia was told to prove he was serious about the instrument. That meant he needed a job, so he delivered newspapers and did yardwork around the neighborhood.

"He did it, and I was convinced that he was serious; that was a tough assignment," says a laughing Ram, who is a retired IBM senior networking consultant. "I always told him whatever it was he wanted to do, he had to be the best at it. I am very proud of him."

Jakhotia, married with a child, met Abdul while performing at a Los Angeles hot spot a few years ago, and they have been friends since. He also will appear in the single's music video.

"I've worked at this every day since I was 12; it was just the thing in my life," says the Chamberlain and University of South Florida graduate. "My whole life I've always been performing and banging on things ... it's always what I've wanted to do."

Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832 or shoye@tampatrib.com.

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