RSR 561 - Kortney Grinwis - From Viral Drum Videos to Full-Time Musician Touring The World
Recording Studio Rockstars
Lij Shaw
4.8 • 543 Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2026
⏱️ 121 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when your drumming videos blow up online… and suddenly you’re touring the world behind your own band?
Hi Rockstars, it’s your host Lij Shaw.
In this episode, I sat down with Nashville drummer and creator Kortney Grinwis, one half of the alt-pop duo Chapel, to talk about her journey from posting drum videos on the internet to building a full-time career on the road. Kortney shared how she developed her sound, her creative identity, and the instincts that guide her as both a drummer and artist.
We talked about what it’s really like coming up in music today - navigating the industry, learning to trust yourself, and creating your own opportunities even when the traditional path doesn’t fit. Kortney opened up about the challenges she’s faced as a woman in the business, how she shaped her role in Chapel, and how embracing creativity (instead of chasing perfection) helped her evolve her drumming technique and overall artistic voice.
We also got deep into the collaborative side of making records and touring. Kortney broke down how she approaches drum parts that actually serve the song, how Chapel works together to build grooves and arrangements, and why staying playful and experimental keeps the whole process fun. From life on the road to finding confidence behind the kit, Kortney’s story is a reminder that success comes from following the spark, trusting your instincts, and building the community around your music.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of RSR is brought to you by Isotope, Native Instruments, S-A-E-Institute, Spectra-1964, and Grace Design. |
| 0:12.3 | These are tools that I use every day in my studio from the Spectra-1964, STX-600-100-100 100D, and native instruments complete 26. |
| 0:24.3 | To isotope ozone and RX and the central hub for my studio, the Grace Design M701 audio interface. |
| 0:34.1 | Follow the sponsor links in the show notes. |
| 0:36.7 | Grab my free mixing course at |
| 0:38.7 | Mixmasterbundle.com, and remember to like this video and subscribe on YouTube because it's a |
| 0:45.0 | great way to help support this show. Now, get ready to rock. I think the biggest thing with me |
| 0:52.3 | and drums that's always been there, |
| 0:55.0 | I don't know why this is, but I've always wanted drums to be fun to me. |
| 0:59.4 | I never wanted to like force myself to like study it and learn everything about it and become obsessed with it. |
| 1:05.4 | Like I probably, you know, should. That's how the greats become greats. |
| 1:09.2 | But I don't know, I just always wanted it to be a fun passion, a fun hobby, |
| 1:13.7 | just something that I could like sit down and just not think. |
| 1:17.1 | Yeah, and I feel like that's really evident watching you play, |
| 1:20.5 | especially in the videos and stuff where you can see what you're playing, |
| 1:25.0 | which is a cool aspect of what you do. You know, you actually make it |
| 1:29.9 | look so fun that my, that I'm like, if I was watching the show, I'd be like, I'd probably |
| 1:35.1 | be watching the drummer, you know. |
| 1:49.3 | Welcome to Recording Studio Rockstars. |
| 1:57.1 | I'm Lid Shaw, and this is the podcast created to help you become a rock star of the recording studio. |
| 2:09.6 | The new Isotope RX-12 is here, bringing powerful new AI tools to help you repair and improve your audio faster than ever. |
| 2:11.6 | RX-12 introduces scene rebalance for separating dialogue, music, and sound effects, plus stems view for visually |
... |
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