We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bill Detamore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bill, thanks for joining us today. Along with taking care of clients, taking care of our team is one of the most important things we can do as leaders. Looking back on your journey, did you have a boss that was really great? Maybe you can tell us about that boss and what made them a wonderful person to work for?

When I was 17 or 18 years old I worked from a small fastener distribution company in Chatsworth. I was a delivery driver. The boss Dale would ask me to sit with him when I would go in to empty his trash can. He would ask how things were going in school or with the band. He would also hand me a $20.00 dollar bill now and again and tell me to enjoy myself.

His genuine interest in my life made me feel needed and wanted in his business. I told myself that if I ever owned my own business I would do the same thing. When we have people come through and pay cash for a small job, I just give that cash to the guys. Always have and always will.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started playing drums when I was about 16 years old. My folks would not buy me a drum set as I had been in and out of hobbies. They said if I wanted to play drums I had to figure it out. A guy I went through school with had this giant drum set. I asked how he could afford such a large kit. He showed me that all of the pieces were from different companies but he took them apart and put the same colored vinyl on the outside to make them look the same. That is what I did. That is where it started. I then started to buy used drums from the Recycler, (an acoustic version of Craigs List) refurbish them and resell.

Fast forward a few years. In the back of Modern Drummer magazine there was an add from a company that sold the pieces or a kit to build your own snare drum. I bought one. Sold it. Then I bought two. Then another and another. To date I have made well over 100,000 wooden drums.

We make drums by hand. My philosophy is that the more we touch it the better it is. I have always told my customers that my drums sound the way they sound because we give the drum a soul.

I have been in business for 38 years this year. I have not one time advertised. My business is 100% word of mouth and that is word of mouth worldwide. Social media make this simpler but I do not advertise what I do. I let me work do the work.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Honesty. You cannot get away from being honest to your customers. I have never lied to a customer about a delay or even when there was a delivery of parts problem, a problem with supply or an issue of my crew being out sick. You have to not lie to make yourself look better and when you screw up you tell people you made a mistake. In my 38 years of making drums I have never had a customer complaint. Not a single one. I stand up to what I do and accept my failures for what they are and move on. I expect the same from my employees.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

I have always been lucky to have revenue streams. I have always worked with bands getting ready for tours. This could be a custom finish, helping with sound enhancements and stage presence. My client list includes Lenny Kravitz, ZZ Top. Van Halen, Lucinda Williams, Rage Against the Machine, Poison, Toto, and many others.

I work constantly for other drums companies as a consultant with finishing and construction.

I am minority owner of a company called Gruv-X. I make a snare add on product called the X-Click designed by myself and Russ Miller. We manufacture thousands of the products per year and we are ever expanding our offerings.      

Contact Info:

• Website: porkpiedrums.com
• Instagram: porkpiepercussion
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.detamore, https://www.facebook.com/porkpiepercussion
• Linkedin: Bill Detamore
• Twitter: none

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