Video Damien Schmitt: Montreal Drumfest 2012

Damien Schmitt performs at the 2012 Montreal Drumfest! This year was the drumfest's 20th anniversary!

Born into a musical family, Damien learned drums with his father (Daniel Schmitt) and was exposed to music as a profession at the age of four. His mother was a piano teacher and singer in the family orchestra. Damien took an early interest to singing and later learned several instruments including bass and guitar.

At the age of 16 he formed the group Yossoma for which he composed and wrote his first songs. He released two albums: Le scatstyle des rastyles (1996) and FM Francophone Revolution (1998). The group performed all over France and was a finalist at the Printemps de Bourges Springboard in 2000. At same time, Damien performed in several bands in different genres of music ranging from funk to hip hop, metal, jazz (trio, quartet and big band), jazz fusion and even the batucada.