Modern Drummer – Drum Business June 2013

Look Back and Stepping Forward With New York’s Original Boutique

No fancy robots, no marketing focus groups, no overstated advertising campaigns—just
great-sounding and great-looking drums, handmade by drummers for drummers. That’s been the GMS way since the Long Island natives Rob Mazzella and Tony Gallino began building custom snare drums twenty-six years ago.

Believe it or not, back in 1987 not many drum companies could claim such a fluff-free hands-on approach to doing business. But there was
a clear demand for it, as Rob and Tony soon found out when orders came pouring in after their NAMM Show debut in 1988. From there on out, GMS would be widely regarded as one of the world’s premier custom-shop drum makers.

A lot has changed in the drum market since GMS paved the way for other boutique brands over two decades ago, so we decided to make a trip over to the company’s workshop in Farmingdale, New York, to sit down with Mazzella and talk about how GMS went from a pet project to an internationally recognized brand, and also to get
a feel for how he and Gallino are primed to adapt to today’s ever- evolving music industry.

Read the full article & interview here