I think I started having anxiety about the idea of being a parent when I was 16.

This is Joe Wong.

Welcome to the Trap Set, where each week we explore the lives of drummers.

I want to play something for you.

... You're hearing Illuminant by QuickSand featuring my guest Alan Cage on drums.

Formed in 1990 in New York City, Quicksand drew inspiration from the energy of their native hardcore scene and introduced an element of complexity, ushering in an influential

new strain of heavy music.

Alan's dexterous groove imbued the band's angular compositions with a massive sense of gravity.

Quicksand ended its initial run in 1995 and reformed in 2012. In the intervening years, Alan performed with bands such as seaweed and worked as a labor

organizer.

I spoke to him in downtown Los Angeles.

And now my conversation with Alan Cage.

My father installed floors, like, like, you can be a beautiful one. My father installed floors, like carpet and tile and stuff.

My mother was a nurse.

My mom's a nurse, too.

Yeah?

I think that they're very special people.

She was an ER nurse for most of the time that I was growing up yeah and now she

works in an urgent care what about your mom she worked I mean she started like she was a I guess

a nurse's aid initially and then went school to get become a LPN or and she worked at a nursing

home like with like people with dementia like I'm like the hardest job I think yeah my dad lives in a nursing home. Like with like people with dementia, I'm like the hardest job, I think.

Yeah, my dad lives in a nursing home and, you know, he had a stroke years ago.

...