Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And now it is time for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. And for this mornings Flashback, we are going to role back to 2006 when John and I interviewed Herb Brochstein, the founder of ProMark. We enter the discussion where we ask Herb to tell us about ProMark.

Herb: Pro-Mark is a manufacturer of drumsticks, mallets, anything for a drummer to, I would say, make noise, but I would rather say make music, including accessories, you know, for stick bags, wire brushes, just really several hundred items that drummers around the world are interested in and need in their performances.

Russ: The company was founded in 1957 and is one of the two largest drumstick manufactures in the world, selling 3 to 4 million pairs per year. A bit later, John asked Herb what triggered him to get into the business.

Herb: Well, that was the biggest accident in the world, for which I'm very grateful. But I played professionally for almost 40 years.

John: And what kind of band? Was it a band you played -

Herb: Yeah, like a 16, 18 piece band, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, that kind -

John: So you played with those guys or -

Herb: No, I didn't play with them, I admired them.

John: Okay. All right.

Herb: But anyway, one night I was called to fill in with an 18 piece band and at the time I was very pleased with the sound of my drums and in particular my cymbals because most of the recording drummers were looking for a high pitched clear pingy sound on the cymbal, something that didn't vibrate excessively. And anyway, these sticks that I had purchased from a traveling salesman that were made in Japan really fit the bill. I didn't know what kind of wood they were, I didn't really know anything about them other than they sounded great, better than a domestic production that was available in the U.S. at that time.

John: Now what year was this again?

Herb: That was probably '55 or '56.

John: Okay.

Herb: Pro-Mark wasn't formed formally into 1957. Anyway, I'm playing this gig and a well-known drummer, I think it was Woody Herman's drummer, was passing through town and he knew some of the guys in this band that I was playing with that night, and he was invited to sit in and play. And I went out front because I wanted to hear how good my drums sounded. Well, low and behold the cymbals sounded like they were muffled, like a little towel or a handkerchief was on top of the cymbal before the stick ever hit it, and it was somewhat dead, frankly. And I was crushed, couldn't believe it. Anyway, I go back at the end of the set and I'm readjusting the drums and I pick up the sticks and I hit the cymbal and it was dead, it was just soft. And I looked at the sticks and I see that the drummer had picked up a pair of sticks from my utility or my trap case, it was right behind the drums, and he had put down those Japanese oak sticks. So I immediately picked up the oak sticks and I hit the cymbal and I got that bright pingy sound and I was just thrilled. I didn't know what kind of wood it was, but I knew that I had to get some of my sticks for my students and some for my friends. Anyway, I wrote to the Japanese Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all kinds of sources looking for a source of supply in Japan. After a couple of months, no good news, there's not a drumstick factor in all of Japan is what I was told. I knew that wasn't accurate but I had to keep going. So low and behold about a month - no, I take it back, maybe two or three months later I get a solicitation from a company in Japan offering me ukuleles and guitars. I wrote this guy and I said, "I'm not interested in ukes or guitars, I want drumsticks, and I bought some from a traveling salesman but I forgot the name of the company and I don't know where to get them." So the guy says, "Send me a sample." I sent a sample, low and behold, again, he not only found a source, he found the factory that made those sticks.

John: Oh, wow.

Herb: And I ordered the 1200 pair, and within a couple months time I was getting a call from New York, Chicago, L.A., and it just had really taken off. I still didn't intend, I didn't have any thought of going into the drumstick business, because I just wanted sticks for my students and my fellow drummers. So anyway, the sticks came in, and one thing led to another and we ended up creating the name Pro-Mark.

Russ: That lead to Herb to start manufacturing them back in 1981. And another cool little chapter to his story involves the one and only Elvis Presley. Check this out.

Herb: I was visiting a friend of mine in another music store one day and he told me about this fellow that was singing around Pasadena, driving the girls crazy. I said, "'Well, who is that?" He said, "His name is Elvis Presley." Well, that didn't really mean anything to me because this is before he hit it big.

Russ: So this must have been in the '50s, right around -

Herb: That's right. Yeah, and he said, "He's a singer and a guitar player." And I thought, "Well, I'm really not a hillbilly type drummer." So that wasn't much interest to me. He says, "Yeah, this guy drives around in a pink Cadillac." Anyway, one day a few months later I'm in my drum shop looking out the window and there comes a pink Cadillac. And I thought, "That must be the guy that my buddy told me about." He came in with D.J. Fontana, the drummer, and Bill Black, the bass player and they were looking for a set of drums. And they didn't like five or six sets that I had, but he said, "Let me see your set." So I said, "Okay." I took it out of the case and his eyes got real big because the front of my bass drum, the front bass drum head was an unshaven calfskin head, brown and white in color, and the fur hadn't been shaved yet.

Russ: Oh, my goodness.

Herb: Elvis says, "Can I buy your set?" "Yeah." So -

Russ: So you sold it to him?

Herb: He peeled five $100.00 bills. I got an idea that D.J. Fontana probably had to pay 25 bucks a week until the $500.00 was paid off to the leader of the band.

Russ: Wow. That wraps up our discussion with Herb and that concludes this weeks Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. Stay tuned in for our featured guest segment with the one and only Whurley. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.