ABOUT

The purpose of Anchor Drums is simple:  We love music, we love drums, and we love God. When we sat down to pull together our ideas for this company, one thing was solid and obvious.  We wanted to use our talents and love of music to create something others could use to further their career.

Those of us here at AD come from a strong christian background and want that to come through in our ideas and creativity.  But, just because we are christians, please don’t let that put you off. We are not here to push anything on anyone. We are here to create kits for anyone and everyone regardless of your style or belief. We feel God loves everyone and so do we! We just happen to come from that particular background and we want that to come out in what we do. We are here to help, bring hope, and push you along in all you do. We want to be a family here at AD and we would love for you to be a part of it! We love every style of music from cheese pop to blistering metal. Ultimately, we just love drums and we want to build something you can use to further your career.

A SMALL HISTORY :

My first memory of the drums was watching my father pound away on an old 60′s Apollo kit, in orange sparkle, at a camp talent show sometime around 1984. One set of hi-hats, a small crash, and a big ride all of which were tarnished and bent. I can’t remember the beat, nor the song, but I will never forget the joy in his face as he rolled around the drums. That memory has been the driving force in my love of drums for years. I miss seeing him play. He always wore the same blue & red hawaiian shirt when he played. When I got older, I asked him if I could have it. The first time I ever played a show was in front of about 1000 people….and yes, I wore Dad’s old Hawaiian shirt.

I have started this venture to build something that I love…..drums. I love all the tiny little aspects that make up the “sound” of a drum. I love the visual look and everything that goes into giving a drum it’s “soul”.  I began taking drums apart and trying to understand every little aspect of them while I was in college, roughly around 1995.  I began re-wrapping my kit all the time, mainly because I became bored looking at the same kit.  I always wanted to create a new look and feel.  I tried everything from shelf paper to outdoor turf.  (Yes, I had a kit wrapped in blue astro turf….hey, I thought it was neat at the time.)  Eventually, I started to dislike the deep toms of the time period.  So, I began buying junk drums and trying to make them look and sound ten times better.  Cutting them down, re-designing, wrapping, staining, new lugs, etc.  Even at one point, during some down time from a tour I was on, stripping the finish off a Pearl Masters Kit, because I didn’t like the color….yep a $4000 kit.  I’m crazy, what can I say.  But, the new finish came out great and I think looked a bit more classy than the candy apple red it began as.  

We want to build beautiful drums that have a distinctive look and feel to them. No, we are not here to re-create drums. We are not here to be better than any other company. There are some fantastic companies out there doing some amazing things with drums! We are here because we love drums. We want to create beautiful pieces of art that are also, as we call them, “beefy cannons”. Sort of flows with our vibe and theme. We love the nautical/pirate aspect and hope to continue to make that an ongoing part of what we do! 

Ultimately, we love God, which is why we are here and it is the undeniable basis for why this company was started. I truly feel he has given us this dream and I hope we can use it to glorify Him. 

We have a lot of great designs ahead and many things we can’t wait to get rolling! So stick with us!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope we hear from you! Even if you are not a drummer, give us a shout! We would love to talk with you. That is our purpose, to be one big happy family and make everyone feel a part of what we are doing. Thanks and God Bless.

Shawn Skipper
Owner-Designer-Builder