When I was five years old I used to follow my older brother to his friend's house where I first heard the magical rhythms of percussion. That moment changed me for the rest of my life. I discovered my true love in the drums.
Since that day there haven't been many times that I haven't had drums on the brain. I just love them to death! I mean, who doesn't love the way they make you want to move when someone can really make them sing, and the way they capture everyone's attention even when sitting alone on stage. Admit it, you've caught yourself staring at a drum kit in a store or on a stage somewhere, they're beautiful, it's okay! Everyone loves a well crafted kit and everyone can tell the difference between an imitation and a true work of art.
As I was growing up I became interested in painting and airbrush art. I picked them both up during high school and found that, just like drumming, I was really digging the many things I could create with them. Eventually my talents earned a few scholarships which, of course, I accepted and after attending college for a couple years I decided I wanted to pursue other interests and put art on the back burner for a while. Those other interests were drums and I had decided that then was the time to become a rock star.
Well, obviously that plan didn't work out but it did allow me the opportunity to build some of my own drum kits and snares which I enjoy as much as the actual playing itself. The responses I received from my kits was always great. If it wasn't a drummer asking me where I got them it was a sound engineer following me around telling me how easy they were to mix. Around that time I started thinking about becoming a custom builder, but since my band always came first I knew I didn't have the time I needed to take building seriously. Once the band ended I wanted to get drums and drumming entirely out of my life once and for all, but this proved to be impossible. I'm hooked! Drums are like the air for me and just being around them brings incredible happiness to my life. So after sitting on my drum throne for a few years and staring at some unfinished shells I had laying around from other builds I decided that it was time to put all of my talents together and become a paint star.
Being a perfectionist I knew that I wouldn't be happy building kits like everyone else's out there. I had seen some nice ones before but knew that I could do better . . . much better. I needed some answers to things that I just wasn't happy with on my past experiences. I began searching the internet for the information and found some really great discussion forums full of exactly what I was looking for. After lurking around on those sites for a while I decided to post some pictures of my own work and received incredible responses from some fellow custom builders. Overnight it seems I became the "answer man" for drum finishing and knew right away that I indeed had something special. As fate would have it, it was on Ghostnote.net I met my future partner in drum building bliss, Vaughn, a fine finisher in his own right, and a master of acoustics, edges, and assembly. My perfectionism had met its match! One thing led to another and Salt City Drums was formed, combining all of our skills to bring you the absolute best drums on the market, bar none. If you think our finishes are amazing just wait until you play our drums. There is nothing else like a Salt City Drum kit, I guarantee it. We are absolute custom drums at their finest.
