0:00 Welcome to the Show
00:36 Meet Andrew Ecker
02:03 Ancestry and Roots
03:49 Life Assignment and Loss
04:58 Gritty Healing Work
06:46 Host Tribute and Sacred Seven
09:05 Opening Prayer
13:19 Relational Spirituality Defined
14:00 From Religion to Red Road
18:22 Trauma Addiction and Liberation
27:15 Energy and Emotional Density
28:56 Drumming in Memory Care
33:00 Displacement and Manifestation
35:29 Trauma Informed Sound Medicine
39:06 Spirituality Over Substances
39:35 Turning Pain Into Practice
40:40 Healthcare Pushback And Support
42:15 Scaling Drum Circle Impact
43:27 Energy Work With Clinicians
45:38 Gong Moment Breakthrough
47:31 Why Research Lags
50:34 Funding A Drumming Study
51:35 Connection Replaces Addiction
53:30 March Retreat Details
54:35 Congo Square And Inclusion
57:22 Transformation Story And Invite
01:00:23 Sacred Seven And Grounding
01:01:49 Blessing And Closing Prayer

The Other Side of Things Podcast

A Soulversation with Andrew Ecker
Recovery • Sacred 7 • Drumming Sounds • Rhythm as Medicine • Living a Prayed Life

In this deeply personal and powerful conversation, I sit down with healer, recovery guide, and founder of Drumming Sounds, Andrew Ecker.

Andrew shares his journey through addiction and recovery, revealing the deeper spiritual hunger beneath substance use and the sacred discipline that reshaped his life. We explore sobriety not as abstinence alone, but as initiation — as an ordeal that strips away illusion and invites us into prayer, service, and presence.

We also dive into Andrew’s Sacred 7 practice, a relational prayer rooted in the seven directions, and how rhythm and intentional drumming restore connection to ancestors, land, body, and spirit.

Andrew introduces his ancestry and lived experience with generational incarceration, substance use disorder, and family loss, and describes bringing drumming into memory care, psychiatric units, prisons, and treatment centers as an evidence-based, trauma-informed practice that emphasizes permission, empathy, and connection. The conversation focuses on “relational spirituality,” learning intimacy and boundaries with mental health experiences, and using drumming, breathwork, guided imagery, and sound medicine to displace “energies of sickness” and support healing. Andrew calls for more research funding for group drumming, shares outcomes from clinical and bereavement contexts, and promotes a March 13–16 retreat-style drumming training in Scottsdale plus his book Sacred Seven and coaching.

Andrew closes our conversation with a spoken prayer — a reminder that healing is not something we do alone, but something we remember together.

If this conversation moves you, consider subscribing and sharing it with someone who may need to hear it.

Andrew's Resources and Links:

Drumming Sounds
https://drummingsounds.com

Sacred 7 Community & Training
https://thesacredseven.com/

Andrew’s Book – The Sacred 7: A Path to Finding the Wholeness of Self-Identity
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-path-finding-wholeness-self-identity/dp/1090133642?ref_=ast_author_dp

The Sacred 7 explores relational spirituality, identity, and healing rooted in earth-based traditions and community practice.

Michael's resources and links: 

Official Website
https://michaelbrantdemaria.com

Books
https://michaeldemaria.com/books/

Music & Albums
https://michaelbrantdemaria.com/music

Films
https://michaeldemaria.com/ontos-films/

YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelBrantDeMaria