Mount Maunganui man Cole Ebling practices drumming every day but has taken his set to unorthodox locations to ensure his neighbours, who have just had a baby, get some respite. Here he plays on Harbour Drive, Otumoetai, near AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's home.
The mystery man who played the drums while sitting on the summit of the Kaimai Range has been identified and has since played again, outside AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's Tauranga home.
Footage of Cole Ebling playing drums at the lookout on the range was shared by hundreds of people online after it was published by the Bay of Plenty Times this week.
A passerby shot footage of Mr Ebling but did not get his name, prompting Mr Ebling to become known as a "mystery man'' until online response to the story named him. The video sparked a flurry of positive feedback.
Mr Ebling, 21, said he was overwhelmed and surprised. The night before he had just had his car broken into, losing his backpack, laptop and a set of headphone to the thieves.
"Then all of this started going off. I thought 'this is crazy stuff', 'this is out of the gate'."
Mr Ebling is studying a Bachelor of Primary Teaching but was home in Mount Maunganui for summer.
"I would give it all up if I could do drumming professionally," he said.
Mr Ebling said although he was not in a band, he practised every day but was now doing so away from his Mount Maunganui home because his neighbours had just had a baby.
"They're really cool people and if I had a kid like that and my neighbour was a drummer, I'd probably be a bit worried."
Mr Ebling described his Kaimai Range experience as "rad".
"It was incredible. There were some sick views. There were heaps of people there and at least six kids jumped on me and played as well. I taught them some beats up there," he said.
"I knew I was going to go there. I was going to go to that spot even though my dad reckoned it was a bad idea because there's heaps of tourists so I'd probably have heaps of complaints. But I thought it's such a sick view and it'd be so dumb to pass up the opportunity."
When Mr Ebling spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend, he was picking up a friend before heading to Otumoetai's Harbour Drive for another unorthodox practice session outside AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd's home.
Mr Ebling has been playing since he was 13. He said although he was not in a band, he pretended he was when he played.
Mr Ebling's neighbour Stephanie Harper, mother of newborn Mahla, said she was surprised when she heard Mr Ebling had been drumming on top of the Kaimai Range, but it was not completely unexpected as he and his family were "such nice people".
Stephanie Harper, mother of newborn Mahla, said she was surprised when she heard Mr Ebling had been drumming on top of the Kaimai Range.
"It's just so thoughtful. Not many people would go to that extra mile to make sure a new-born doesn't wake up. It's just so awesome," Ms Harper said.
Mahla's grandmother Karen Harper said they had not asked Mr Ebling to move his drumming elsewhere, but it was a lovely thought.
"And he's obviously a very good drummer," she said.
