Drummer Mike Smirnoff is a first-call drummer on the local rock scene. His first solo effort, Photovoltaic, is a percussion album that came out earlier this year. DCist interviewed Smirnoff about his project.

There’s a fascinating video floating around Twitter these days, recently reposted by Rainn Wilson of The Office. The video, by Nate Harrison, is actually at least several years old, but it artfully explains how a 6-second drum beat (or break) from 1969 called the “Amen break” by D.C. funk and soul group The Winstons became almost ubiquitous. The break is one of the most sampled pieces of music of all time, has been in countless…