Ok, so maybe the title is in slightly poor taste given the passing of Ed McMahon last week, but I think far worse jokes could be made. Now for the business: my name is Andy Gulbrandson and I’m a drummer. There, I said it. What is perhaps of more interest to you, the reader, the DC Portsmouth (or is it Drum Center NH) clientele, and loyal percussion afficionado, is that I am Shane’s partner in crime.

In late May as I was packing my bags for a three month stint in Bangkok (doing research for grad school, I swear), Shane pinged me on Facebook or email or some other damned thing and said “hey, do you want rock?” to which I immediately replied “ROCK!” If Shane is the Yin of the bricks-and-mortar professional drum shop industry, I guess it makes me the Yang of e-commerce percussion retailing. If you really want to stalk me, Google “Andy @ Massmusic” to find out more about how I spent a big chunk of my time between 2002 and 2008, otherwise read below.

The Upper Midwest (1983-2001)

I was born and raised in the Twin Ports of Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota, former industrial powerhouses now relegated to providing for summer tourists. I heard many rumours growing up that Superior has more bars per capita than any other city in the USA. While I have never taken the time to verify this claim, I do not doubt its authenticity.

I spent most of my adolescence / high school years either on the golf course or in the bowling alley, depending on if the temperature was above freezing or not. During high school, I joined the school concert, jazz and marching bands and learned the ropes of all things percussion (or at least what they teach at that level). Sadly, the marching scene up north is nothing like other places around the US, so I got my kicks playing as many drums simultaneously (quints) as I could, instead of playing one really well (snare). Likewise in jazz band, I was never really inspired enough to be any better than I needed to be (which was not very good). Towards the end of my senior year, I found some inspiration and people that shared it. Myself and a group of friends formed an impromptu band which performed various Beatles, Jackson 5, and Metallica songs (among others) at band concerts and other related events. Then I went to college.

The Arizona Years (2001-2008)

I moved to Tempe, Arizona in the summer of 2001 to pursue undergraduate studies at the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. I always tell people that my first two years were spent roaming between astronomy, physics, and business classes (which is true), but only insofar as those were the only classes I liked… academically I was directionless and dropped out in 2003.

It was however in the fall of 2001 that I met the guys who would become the members in my first “real” band. By spring 2002, I had my gear shipped out to Tempe and by April 2002 we played our first show. Then I moved back home for the summer (D’oh!). We picked back up again in the fall and kept on rolling until late 2003. If you want to hear the evolution of our music, our home recording (hey, it was 2002-2003 and GarageBand was years away), and me (re) learning how to play, click here and here

Also in 2002 I started working for a then-little known (and still lesser-known?) company called Massmusic Inc. At the time (October 2002), I was hosting at IHOP (a great place for late night games of RISK and unlimited beverages, BTW) and looking for a small ZIL BEL. Since Guitar Center was far away, and I had already developed a disdain for it, I hit upon Zildjian’s website for the nearest other dealers. This is the first place I stopped and by the time I had walked out… I had a new ZIL BEL and a new job.

The years past, I helped build the company (and its reputation for service along with Reade Roehrich, PJ Coleman, Andre Alekseyev and Russ Martin). In 2004, two of the members of my first band recruited two new members, to form the band that I am most proud of (in terms of music) — Citizen Insane. In 2006, I went back to school and in December 2007 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies. During my second go-round at ASU, I got in with a professor who does a lot of international (consulting) work in the field of urban planning / development. To make a long story short, he influenced my decision to apply to grad school and gave me good reasons to start working internationally (namely a contract with the World Bank).

2008 – Present

I am writing this post from my flat in Bangkok (it is now my fourth visit to the Land of Smiles)  doing research on transportation infrastructure finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For those of you into the whole brevity thing, MIT is fine too.

I am working ad-hoc with some old musician friends. Our outdated blog/project is known as the The Nomenclature

I put together this nifty little blog/site for the shop. If you have questions, comments or otherwise about it, please send me an email – andy[at]drumcenternh[dot]com

Please also feel free to add me on Facebook