Whiz Kid: Drummer Jake Rubenstein

Whiz Kids is a weekly feature in which Patch profiles an outstanding youngster or youth group. This week's Whiz Kid is Jake Rubenstein, who is awesome because he's becoming a musical prodigy.

Whiz Kid: Jake Rubenstein

Age: 8

School: Wallace Elementary School, 3rd Grade

He may not be old enough yet to have to go to work, but eight-year old Jake Rubenstein already wants to bang on drums every day. He's been playing for two years, having started taking lessons at the Garden Street Music school.

“It's the easiest thing, I just like banging on stuff,” he says.

He practices on a set at home for about an hour a day every day of the week. He cites Ringo Starr, Dave Grohl from Nirvana and Neil Peart from Rush as his favorite drummers. His favorite band is the Beatles, and of their albums he likes Abbey Road, the Magical Mystery Tour and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band the most. Jake's favorite Beatle is Paul McCartney, and he got to see him perform recently at Madison Square Garden.

Jake has played drums many times for crowds, including at Maxwell's, the the Elks Lodge and a Montreal music festival. He's also played guest sets with the family friendly Hoboken rock band the Fuzzy Lemons.

He's a natural performer. Jake says he doesn't really get nervous playing in front of people.

“I just try to concentrate on the drums,” he says.

He's even begun writing his own songs. Jake collaborated with his friends on Garden Street Music's school rock band to compose a song called “Carlo's Craze” about the famous Hoboken bakery.

When he's not drumming, Jake attends Wallace Elementary School, where he'll enter the third-grade in the fall. His favorite subjects are math and science.

“I like the really cool science stuff,” he says. He likes learning about plants, the seasons and other life sciences. He says he wants to be a scientist when he gets older, if he doesn't become a famous drummer instead.

Jake happens to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese. His father is an international law attorney, and Jake's family lived in Shanghai for a year and a half.

“It was strange at first, but then I started getting used to stuff,” he says.

Having returned to Hoboken in 2010, Jake continues to take Chinese lessons at the Mandarin Together Fun language school. He's grasping the nuances of the language, which is very different from English.

“Everything is backwards,” he says. “When I speak Chinese I always feel like Yoda.”

Do you know a Whiz Kid, or even a whole group of them? Send any and all nominations to alanskontra@hotmail.com, and check back every Wednesday afternoon to read about some outstanding youngsters in your community.