It’s going to be tricky for any Alaska musician to claim they’ve played for a bigger audience than Erik Braund. The Anchorage born drummer accompanied a 75-piece symphony orchestra and Jay-Z in a ramped-up version of "Run This Town," recorded and used to open this year’s Super Bowl.

Jewel, Alaska’s most famous pop export, sang the national anthem for a TV audience of 90 million at 1998’s Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego, but even she can’t touch the record-breaking 106.5 million viewers who tuned in this year. Click here to watch the clip featuring Braund on YouTube (Look for him around the 1:45 mark).

We caught up with Braund via e-mail last week for this Q&A.

Erik Braund: Photo by Megan Stalder

Play Magazine: How did you get linked up with the people doing the shoot?

Erik Braund: “Friend of a friend of a friend . . . an only-in-New-York type of situation. My friend Bennett Jackson’s (a classmate) father went to high school with a guy who knows one of the two guys in the duo that remixed the song for CBS. They are called E.S. Posthumus (Helmut and Franz VonLichten).”

“A few days before the taping, they reached out to Bennett and he only knew one drummer for the job. I mean, I am pretty hip-hop. Ha ha.”

PM: How long did you shoot? It was in NYC, right?

EB: “11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Shot in NYC at Capitale in the Lower East Side. Very swanky place – an old bank.”

PM: Did you get to talk to Jay-Z at all?

EB: “Nope, he was in a bubble. He was maybe there for two hours. He wasn't a diva or anything; it was just a tight production.”

PM: Any interesting stories about the shoot?

EB: “High budget. Roughly 40 crewmembers. LOTS OF PYRO. I was the closest person to the pyro. We did a "test run" with 1/6 the amount of pyro for the real shoot when Hova [One of Jay-Z’s nicknames] arrived and that was a lot of pyro. I could feel the heat, as it was six feet behind me. We were instructed not to react / look at it, but it was nearly impossible.”

“When we did two takes of the full pyro, I could see sparks bouncing off the backs of Bennett and Franz, and feel them on me. We were assured a fire-safety professional would be there right behind us ... but he wasn't. It was like the biggest sparker you've ever imagined, raining down on you. Needless to say, it was pretty great.”

“Jay Z's presence was immediately felt when he entered the room - ominous. He turned to conduct the band a few times - pretty epic. I thought back to playing drums for JEB in Anchorage only a few short years ago, then said “[Expletive] Jay Z just conducted me to drum my heart out for his Super Bowl promo" and it lit my soul on fire. Life is good.”

“I was able to get Ludwig (drums) and Zildjian (cymbals) to loan me gear for the day, pretty great, because I don't have any of my drum kits in NYC. Hah!”

“Between Conan on NBC, Super Bowl on CBS, I have one major network left to cameo on - ABC. I better start working on my Jimmy Kimmel impression. I guess I need to bulk up.”

PM: Besides Super Bowl shoots, what else are you up to?

EB: “BUSY. Launching my record label in June. It is part of my larger company, Braund Media. BM is a New York based entertainment company with a focus on Alaskan Music. I am signing / have signed a few Alaskan artists and will be working to get them exposure on the national stage, and in turn, get our state some exposure. I have some pretty cool things in the works. I want to put our state on the map for something other then Sarah [expletive] Palin.”

“I am finishing my last semester at NYU's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music in the Tisch School of the Arts - Bachelors of Fine Art. I have applied to graduate school at NYU's ITP program - a haven of computer nerds and artists.”

“In recent months, I have mixed albums for Jared Woods, Kill Tango, Jr. Dommek (of The Whipsaws), and Delmag, and a few others. I just started working with a band here in NY called The Madison Square Gardeners. Also, Delmag is working on a new EP.”

“In November I went to Stavanger, Norway, to produce a band called The List. Being very Norwegian, it was a great trip. I am going back again this year to work with more bands.”

“In March I am going to Argentina to co-produce a Web series based on local music and food. Think "No Reservations" but from a young person's view with more music and less food.”

Erik on Facebook, Twitter and Myspace.

-- Spencer Shroyer

"That's a good write-up. The only thing I take issue with is: 'We were assured a fire-safety professional would be there right behind us ... but he wasn't'

"That's patently false. Yes, the head pyro technician who debriefed the orchestra was not back there, he was out front with the director so that he could hit the cue. There were, in fact, three certified pyro technicians and one NYFD pyro specialist behind the pyro line. Being the trained professionals that they are, they stayed out of the shot, so Erik probably either didn't notice them, or didn't realise they were part of the pyro te." [Sic]

"We NEVER cut corners when working with pyro."

"It would be nice if the ADN ran a correction. I'm sure the pyro company would be fuming (no pun intended) if they were to read this."

Braund, however, is sticking to his story.

"Hey, what can I say - they said three times someone would be right behind us, and they were not. Something Bennet, Franz, and I all joked about while up there. Yes there were safety people out front."