In September of 2020, we brought on Luke Garro to be our General Manager. This is a newly created position to help drive the business side of what we do. Luke brings 20 years of marketing experience to the table as well as 25+ years of drumming. We’re very enthusiastic about having him on our team and are very optimistic about what the future holds here at Noble & Cooley. We posed a few questions to him so you can get a better sense of who he is and his vision for where Noble & Cooley is going next.

N&C: What makes you excited to work at Noble & Cooley?

In a serendipitous way, It feels as though this opportunity was tailor made for me. I’ve been an entrepreneur basically my whole adult life. I got my start being in bands throughout high school and college – making our own recordings, duplicating our own cassette demos and pressing our own 7 inches, screen printing t-shirts in our basements, networking to book shows, marketing through word-of-mouth and photocopied zines, you name it. There were so many practices we did at a young age that didn’t feel like it was a business, but in hindsight we were developing early DIY skills that honed our ability to think differently and just focus on getting things done.

Towards the end of college (Northeastern University, Boston) I got heavily into street team marketing, working for various agencies and record labels. Everything from getting record stores to organize listening parties to wheat-pasting posters on construction sites. Basically, whatever we could come up with to market directly to people through non-traditional channels. That led to me co-founding my own marketing agency in 2000 that focused on guerrilla marketing. Fast forward to 2009 when I co-founded my next agency iteration, which specialized in social media and experiential marketing. Throughout that whole time period and beyond, I never stopped being a touring and recording musician with Piebald, the band I still play in today. Somehow, I miraculously made it all work without skipping a beat (see what I did there?!).

Now here we are. As things were shifting in the world this spring and summer, the content studio I had created was decidedly moving from Western Mass to another location. It was at that time that the offer was made for me to become the General Manager at Noble & Cooley. The decision was a clear no-brainer. For me to take two decades worth of being an entrepreneur and merge it with my passion for drumming seemed like a godsend. That's what makes me the most excited. To take all my business experience and combine it with my passion for the drums, especially for a company with such a rich history and amazing product.

N&C: When you think of Noble & Cooley, what are the main things that come to mind?

There’s really three things that I see as the pillars of what makes the company truly unique. The first being their heritage. Noble & Cooley is the oldest operating drum manufacturer in North America and is still pulling inspiration from products made throughout their 150+ year history. They were making drums during the Civil War era for crying out loud. You can’t make this kind of story up and that rich history is interwoven throughout everything the company does. Next would be the craftsmanship. Seven generations of drum builders who have passed down their techniques. It’s amazing to watch them in action and I’m in awe watching the meticulous care and detail that is put into making each drum. And the third would be the overall quality of the drums made here. Every material that goes into them is specifically selected for its premium quality. It’s all about producing the best sound and the team here goes to great lengths to make sure that journey for each drum starts with the best materials.

N&C: How long have you been playing and why did you choose to play the drums?

I started playing my freshman year of high school in 1993. My two best friends and I were taken to what was referred to as an “underground music” show in New Britain, CT, and were blown away by the scene we witnessed there. 200 sweaty kids going off for bands we had never heard of. We decided that night we were going to start a band. Within days, they had both bought guitars and started taking lessons. That left me with a clear opening to be the drummer, which is what I had my mind set on anyways. Luckily, I have some great parents that were willing to raise a drummer and let us rehearse in their basement well ahead of us having any true musicianship (thanks mom and dad!).

N&C: In the spectrum of musicians, what makes drummers unique?

We hold things together. Not just on the stage, but in life as well. Drummers tend to be great organizers. A skill I credit for always needing to keep so many pieces of equipment together and neatly arranged. The constant setting up, taking down and tinkering with different arrangements and configurations. While not a universal trait, within a lot of the bands I’ve toured with over the years there was often a drummer that managed the business side of things and maintained status as the reliable one. Again, not universal, but something I’ve witnessed enough to give drummers that credit.

N&C: How long have you been playing Noble & Cooley and what are your “go to” drums?

I’ve been playing Noble & Cooley for over 5 years now and my favorite type of kit to play is the CD Maples. They have a big sound with the right warmth and sustain for the type of upbeat rock I love to play. I prefer a 6x14 Alloy Classic when I play live, but honestly, put any SS Classic in front of me and you’ll see me smile. That being said, the Union Series is quickly becoming my new favorite, so don’t be surprised when you see me playing those next.

N&C: What does the future hold for Noble & Cooley?

Besides continuing to make high-quality drums for all the great drummers out there, I see us putting time and energy into continuing our history of innovation. We’ll always have our core line of kits and snares, but we always want to be introducing something new or a variation of something that exists but with a twist. We’re all about producing great sound, and there’s so many different variations we can do just with all the different woods types we use alone. Our goal is to always be trying different things and then keep bringing the best sounding developments to our players. In addition, we’ll continue to focus on more collaborations, whether it’s with other brands, our dealers, or our artists. We have a strong family-vibe within the company, and this extends beyond the immediate family to all the other entities out there that help make us successful.

N&C: What is the biggest challenge Noble & Cooley faces?

Honestly, I don’t really see anything we have to face as a challenge. I see it all as opportunity, and we just need to choose how we spend our time, energy and resources wisely in order to best meet those opportunities. But if I had to put my finger on one thing that could be considered a “challenge”, that would be the overall awareness of the company. I’m finding that there are still a lot of drummers out there that are not familiar with Noble & Cooley. It’s become a crowded market and there’s a lot of great companies vying for people’s attention. With limited resources, we can only do so much to blast our message out there. That’s why we prefer to stay focused on the long game of converting drummers into lifelong Noble & Cooley players. We don’t do gimmicks and we’re not looking to be the flavor of the month. For us, it’s all about building relationships and keeping people happy for the long haul.

N&C: Any closing remarks?

Sure. I love interacting directly with people. Everyone’s got a story to tell and sometimes even learning the smallest details can have a big influence on what comes next. If you’ve got something to share, don’t hesitate to reach out at any point. We’re here to create a very inclusive environment, listen to people,  and ultimately have drummers fall in love with what we do.