Eight-year-old Yoyoka Soma’s favorite drummer is John Bonham, so for her entry into the 2018 Hit Like A Girl drum contest, she covered Bonham’s part on Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times.”
The video, which features Soma playing along to the 1969 hit, earned her a spot in the international competition’s final round. She didn’t take home the gold, but she did win our hearts.
She absolutely smashes through the song with three foot pedals and polka dot socks putting in bass work. She’s even got the facials and head banging down. And the dampening of the cymbal is a detail only a tenured drummer like herself could add.
Soma has been playing drums since the tender age of 2. At 4, she started performing at concerts, and now she’s been on over 100 stages. She’s a member of her family band, Kaneaiyoyoka, where she contributes keyboard and vocals in addition to drums. She even composes her own lyrics and music.
“I want to be an artist who can do anything: playing all instruments, recording music, mixing the sound and designing the CD album jackets,” she said in a statement accompanying her entry.
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