Cory: We are from the West Coast. A town called Kamloops, British Columbia. A town of about a hundred thousand people. We’re about three and a half hours north of Vancouver. So, a beautiful part of the country.
This is your first time here at NAMM and you are introducing your product called Cymbal Sox, tell us about your product?
Cymbal Sox, yes, they are individual cymbal covers which I’ve invented myself. We’ve done some prototypes and came up with this great product. It’s for individual cymbal protection. I’m always been very fussy about my cymbals and trying to keep them clean. We’re trying t-shirts and plastic bags and such, it didn’t really work. And I wanted something more permanent with something that was very durable, easy on, easy off you know for drummers because you don’t want to be fumbling. So, we’ve come to this great product. It fits like a shower cap over top and it hangs then underneath there’s a slider clip where you slide it up and it fits nice and tight. And a speed of eighty-twenty blend of nylon spandex. It’s like bathing suit material so it’s very durable. It is machine washable. You just can’t put it in the dryer.
I overheard you talking to some customers and the Cymbal Sox can be customized with their own design?
Yes. Yes.
So, that is always an option?
It is. We’ve just added that not too long ago because we did have a few requests about that. And we felt like why not you know let’s customize guys’ kits because your kit you know it’s your baby and there’s a signature stick sold and a lot of signature stuff. So, we thought, you know, why not. Let’s add it for the guys. And actually, the response so far has been very good.
You’ve mentioned your company is new, two years correct?
Yes. Yes. Approximately two years since you know since the conception of the company. From the idea to kind of a prototype to the final product. Yeah, it’s been about two years.
This is your first NAMM, tell us a little bit about the experience and response you’ve had?
Yes. Well you know what, I got to be honest, we didn’t know what to expect. You hear a lot of people telling you what to expect but until you experience it for yourself. But what was great, you know, about a week before NAMM, I got a phone call from Kelly Paiste, Vice President of Paiste Cymbals, calling to personally thank me for some endorsements that we did for them on our video and offered to help us out. So Paiste Cymbals furnished our booth with Paiste Cymbals and you get here and everybody has been so gracious. They were the first guys that we met when we first walked in. It was like walking into a family. And it was so helpful and once you start meeting everybody else, you’re all here for the same reasons, trying to help each other out. So, in order to answer your question, I mean the response we just felt so at ease, that kind nervousness has gone away as to what to expect. You’re a little nervous on the world stage here. But everybody has made us feel so well and at home and it’s been awesome.
Anything else you would like to add, your endorsee’s?
Well you know, we’ve endorsed some pretty high-end drummers off the bat which has been great, the response back from them. We have Audie Desbrow from Great White and he’s been amazing, Mike Hansen from Hurricane, Athena Bass from Femme Fatale, who is Tommy Lee’s sister. She is an amazing drummer in her own right, Lee Joe Young, drummer for Travis Tritt, Joey Amatangelo from Detroit, Michigan who plays with the Matt Austin band, Mike Melancon from Emerson Drive. Mike has been a friend of mine for years. And when we get these guys, using the product, road testing the product and the response I’m getting back from them and their techs saying we love this. We absolutely love it. Because it cuts down on the cleaning so it makes your tech’s job a little easier. You know, dry buff is a little better than putting chemicals on. And I guess on that sense of it, these are also kind of helping the environment too because you’re not putting the chemical on your cymbals three, four, five, six times a year just to clean them. You clean them once and pretty much after that you just have to dry buff them. Or if you must use some cymbal cleaner you just do kind of spot clean. So environmentally, I am kind of helping a little bit. And I’m also adding to the drumming community. So, it’s not just about building a big business and be successful, being a drummer since I was seven years old, I’m fifty-two now, is a long time. I feel like I’m contributing to my peers in the drumming world and the response from them back has been amazing so I think that’s kind of first and foremost for me is everybody likes it.
The company being in the Sophomore year, what’s the secret on having so many well-known drummers endorse your product?
I had some help. Being from a small town in Canada we don’t have a lot of population. I think it can fit in the state of California here. So, you know, we started off small and I had a couple of friends who had some contacts who knew the guys like Audie. I was friends with Arlo Gilliam who’s the bass player for the Travis Tritt band, he’s been with them for years so right away I mention this to Arlo asked if he could chat with Lee Joe about it, and everybody was so helpful. So, that’s how that happened. And with Mike Hansen, I had a friend who knew Mike and he said I’ll pass on that info for you. I made a connection with Mike. So, word of mouth, yes. You know a lot of local drummers around Kamloops where I’m from is kind of getting down to the Vancouver area but to get to this magnitude, now we’re on the world stage so the word of mouth, yeah. Everybody sees it now. Not just guys that I know anymore. It’s everybody’s seeing it. Throughout these past few days we’ve had people come back say hey I ran into this guy say you got to check all these products so the word of mouth has been contagious.
That’s how I found you, Mike Hansen.
Mike. Yeah, absolutely.
Mike was telling me about the product and brought me over to you. So yes, the word of mouth works.
You know it does. Our partners and myself, we’ve all been very thankful to everybody. Mike Hansen comes by every day, he’s been here two o’clock every day signing autographs. He’s been very helpful with some tips and some hints on kind of how to do things a little bit. I mean, Mike’s played forever, right? He’s been around and so I really appreciate his expertise, his experience and his thoughtfulness to help us out.
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure meeting you and learning about Cymbal Sox. We wish you continuous success.
Thank you so much for having me.
You’re welcome.
Cymbal Sox: www.cymbalsox.com
All photos by Tammy Greene
©2017. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
