Tyler Joseph Stewart is the drummer for the Canadian music group Barenaked Ladies.
Role in Barenaked Ladies
Stewart met Steven Page, Ed Robertson, and Jim Creeggan at the Waterloo Busker Carnival in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in the summer of 1990, and soon fulfilled the trio's desire for a real kit drummer. When Andy Creeggan returned from a trip to South America to find Stewart on drums, he felt somewhat displaced. Creeggan eventually switched to playing mostly keyboards. Stewart has been with the band ever since. He also adds numerous percussive and melodic elements, including piano on Born on a Pirate Ship. Stewart utilizes an electronic sampler pad for live performances. During acoustic or smaller shows, he sometimes plays other percussive elements live, including shakers, bongo drums, and drumming on unusual objects, such as an instrument case. Stewart is the only band member who has not actively written songs for the group's albums nor does he write for a side project. He has received a writing credit on only three songs in the band's catalogue: "Grade 9" from Gordon, "Why Say Anything Nice?" from Barenaked Ladies Are Men, and "Allergies" from Snacktime!. Up until the 2009 acrimonious departure of lead singer Steven Page, Stewart had sung lead on only two recorded songs. Stewart sings lead on "Allergies" and a cover of "Holly Jolly Christmas" which was cut from Barenaked for the Holidays. Stewart also sings lead on a version of "Feliz Navidad" which the band has performed live for holiday shows since 2004. The song has also been played on other occasions with the word "navidad" replaced by lyrics relevant to the event. Stewart assumed some of Page's vocal responsibilities for live performances, including "Alcohol" from Stunt. Stewart also sings the chorus on the song "Four Seconds" from All in Good Time.
Early life
Stewart was born in Toronto, but was raised in Newmarket, Ontario. He is the son of Sandra Stewart and stepson of Robert Stewart. Stewart's biological father, Leonard Hawkins, is black, a fact which Stewart learned when he was about 12 years old. His stepfather sang in a Scarborough rock band named "The Wizards of Id", formed at Woburn Collegiate Institute where both Steven Page and Ed Robertson would later attend. He credits his parents' relative youth with exposing him to interesting music which was frequently played around the house when he was young. He has claimed that his unique eyebrows are the result of his shaving them off when he was eight years old. Stewart is a graduate of Huron Heights Secondary School. He received a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in 1989, making him the only member of Barenaked Ladies to have earned a degree. Stewart was a member of The AmbassadorsDrum and Bugle Corps, playing bongos and pit percussion from 1979–1980, and tri-drums from 1980 to 1982. He was the drummer for cowpunk/rockabilly band Pogo Rodeo and later 3 Day Bender in the late 1980s. When he met the Barenaked Ladies, at a buskers' festival, he was drumming for the Would Be Goods, a Guelph acoustic duo featuring stage actor Christine Brubaker, and singer Chris Reynolds.
Stewart currently plays Sonor drums and Sabian cymbals. He uses Vic Firth drumsticks. Previously, He had his own signature sticks made by Regal Tip from 2004–2015 which he designed with his drum tech, Rob "Tiny" Menegoni. The sticks were called Ty-phoons. He also uses a Roland SPD-S sampling multi-trigger pad and Roland Electronic Drums and pads. Stewart uses Aquarian Drumheads. Prior to his switch to SONOR in early 2015, Tyler played Pearl Drums from mid-2006. Stewart used custom Ayotte drums from at least 1994, and prior to that, Canwood drums.
