The drama kicked off Aug. 27, when a post titled “Piestewa sunrise drummer: nobody likes you” was appeared on r/Phoenix. User soyouaintgot2 laid into an unnamed local percussionist who was turning the mountain into his personal venue and “forcing everyone to hear your noise.”
The original poster has since deleted their account (we’re guessing it was a burner), and deleted the text from the post, which was locked by r/Phoenix’s mods. Comments from other Reddit users over the issue remain from both sides of the issue.
Many Redditors joined in on pounding the unnamed drummer over the morning performances disturbing. One called it “Musical public masturbation,” while another asked, “Should I lug my JBL boom box up there and play baby shark next to him?”
Hikers walk along the trail inside the Phoenix Mountain Preserve nearby the Piestewa Peak Recreation Area.
Katya Schwenk
Some Reddit users speculated the public percussionist is Ken Koshio, the Japanese-born taiko drummer and singer-songwriter who has reportedly performed daily sunrise sessions atop Piestewa Peak for years.
Koshio told Phoenix New Times he’d heard about the Reddit post from fans but hadn’t read it himself. He’s curious who had the gripe as he hasn’t had any negative encounters at Piestewa since beginning sunrise performances there in March 2020.
“My reaction, to be honest, is I’m so sorry to hear that,” Koshio says. “In general, I don’t have any such kind of big problems with anybody.”
The only pushback to his sunrise sessions he recalls came in 2021, after a Camelback Mountain session when nearby residents complained to Phoenix Police. With development creeping closer to Piestewa Peak in recent years, Koshio says he’s since toned things down.
“That’s the reason why I thought maybe my sound was going too far (and) bothering someone,” he says. “So I’ve been trying to be a little quieter because I didn’t want to bother people.”
Koshio says he’s actually gotten more kudos from Piestewa hikers since the Reddit post.
“After that article, more than 10 people, 20 people have (told me), ‘Thanks for what you’ve been doing.’ I was wondering why they were saying that to me. So maybe that encouraged them to tell me.”
Koshio also got shoutouts in the comments of social media posts by New Times regarding the story, which generated at total 361 comments, 47 shares and 420 reactions on Facebook.
Said comments were not as divisive over the matter as on Reddit. Some were downright hilarious.
Robert felt like the percussionist should take his drum home:
At sunrise 530 am ... go beat your drum in the garage like a normal personJoe provided some elegaic support for the drummer:
If I’m out early hiking near there, I love to hear his drumming echoing off the cliffs announcing the sunrise. Impressive that someone hikes up there to the top every morning. He only drums for about a minute, so I think folks should be able to deal with that.Daniel thinks the haters should zip it:
I hope he never stops. go change your diapers if you don’t like it.JB was of a similar mindset and also took a shot at the NIMBY hiking crowd:
I'm a hiker and can say first hand, in general, hikers are overly pretentious, emotional, and straight up Karens. They hate everything that isn't exactly the way they want it.William apparently thinks the drummer is in a local metal band:
I choose to imagine that it's a guy who carries a full drum kit up the mountain and busts out a sick drum solo every morning.TJ said it could be worse:
Be careful what you wish for. He might decide bagpipes are easier to lug up and down the mountain.Norm thought it’s an opportunity for a jam session.
Bring up your harmonica and learn to play beside him. He’ll love it!Chase has his own ideas:
If you cover a song by Ministry you can stayTiffany kept things short and sweet in her defense of the drummer.
let the man playEditor's note: This story has been updated since its original publication with quotes from Ken Koshio.
