CHICAGO — A teenage drummer from Germany who goes by the name Sina has become a favorite on YouTube with her covers of classic rock songs, including a 1971 hit from the band Chicago.
The song, "25 Or 6 To 4," is "my tribute to Danny Seraphine, original drummer and founding member of Chicago," she writes.
Seraphine, who grew up in the Dunning neighborhood and attended both St. Patrick's and Steinmetz high schools, calls Sina's performance "awesome."
Now 17, Sina began playing drums at age 10, she says at her web site girls-got-groove.com. The daughter of a musician, at 14 she started a YouTube channel showcasing her drumming covers. The channel, sina-drums, has about 85,000 subscribers.
Her cover of "25 Or 6 To 4" — in which she plays the drum part over an original recording by the band — has been seen by 70,000 viewers since she posted it in late January. Over 1.1 million have seen her version of the AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie."
Other covers include tunes by Kansas, Boston, Rush and Van Halen as well as tutorials where she describes, in her German-accented English, how to play classic rock staples.
"I don't appreciate modern mainstream music," Sina writes on Facebook.
"I'm aware that the kind of classic rock music I love and play is mainly appreciated by people born in the 50s, 60s and 70s," adds Sina, who lives "in the middle of nowhere" near Krefeld in western Germany.
She says she doesn't make money on YouTube because the original composers get the royalties. She did, however, create an album of originals that features young amateur artists recording and contributing parts from around the world.
Among her fans is Seraphine, who said on Facebook, "I love your feel and interpretation on my drum part."
"I hope someday we can meet and you can give me a lesson," said the former Chicago drummer.
Below, she shows how to play drums on AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie."
Below is an original by Sina.
