In September of 2020, Lou Scalzo began his position as Manufacturing Manager at Noble & Cooley. As an experienced carpenter, Lou began his drum making career here almost 20 years ago. We’re more than excited to have him back as we move into this next chapter of our 160+ year evolution. We asked him a few questions so you can get a better sense of who Lou is and what he has planned for his role here at Noble & Cooley.

N&C: What makes you the most excited to be back building drums at Noble & Cooley?

It’s good to get back to the old school way of building. The quality and integrity of the drums makes them more gratifying to build. You’re building a piece of art. It’s a high quality boutique drum, not something that just gets spit out. There's history behind it. It’s where I started building instruments. It’s a passionate work and it’s something I couldn’t wait to get back to doing.

N&C: What parts of the drum making process do you find the most interesting and satisfying?

The steam bent snare drums are the most fascinating. Every slice of the wood is different. From the rustic start of the process from slicing the tree up, then bending it and putting it into a form. It’s not until you take it out (of the form), glue it up and turn it on the lathe that you see the true characteristics of the wood come out. And since every slice is different, the sound of each drum is slightly unique. Each piece of wood has its own characteristics. The different breeds of wood have their own characteristics. That’s the most interesting part to me - to see a drum completed, hit it, and just listen. It’s just fantastic. Turning the shell on the lathe is probably the most satisfying part. When you see it happen it’s like those “satisfying videos” (referring to ‘ASMR’). When it’s getting turned and you’re just seeing the grain of the drum pop out. That’s the sh!$ right there.

N&C: You’re a drummer. When did you first start playing? Why did you choose to play the drums?

From what my mom said, I was playing drums in a high chair. I would tap my feet and hands while she played guitar and sang. When I was in Elementary school, she started hearing the complaints from teachers that I wouldn’t stop tapping my fingers on the desk. Then in 1977 I got my first drum set. It was a toy drum set from Sears and Roebuck that was actually manufactured by Noble & Cooley. I bashed the sh!$ out of that thing and probably broke the heads within 24 hours. I couldn’t get enough. Taped them up and kept on going ‘til my next N&C kit, which was another toy kit. It was the following year and I think it was the Muppet kit. That one got bashed as well. In middle school I started playing more seriously and taking lessons, and it just went on from there. Joined bands in my teens. Took on guitar, bass, piano and singing after that, and found my way into music that way.

N&C: In addition to your mom, where else did you draw inspiration from?

There was a kid I went to school with. One of my best friends growing up. His name was John Lord. He’s not from THAT band (referring to Jon Lord from Deep Purple). He played drums and he was freakin’ awesome at age 10. This kid was crushing it. And I was like, “Wow! I want to be as good a John Lord.” So he inspired me. He was just a schoolmate and we became really good friends throughout the years up into high school. He went on to do some really bad @$$ shit out in California. He was my first inspiration as a drummer. Being at a young age in the 70’s, I saw KISS for the first time. When I saw KISS, it was like wow… make-up, explosions, the drummer had a 52 piece kit, the drums wrapped around him, gongs and cymbals everywhere. It was just the show of it. Made me think, “I want to be that guy”. As I got older, Neil Peart struck me. Rush was pretty killer and he was a bad @$$ drummer. But then I started getting more into hard rock and 80’s metal. It was all about the show. Then after that, punk rock, and it was more about the speed and the fun.

N&C: What makes Noble & Cooley drums unique?

First of all, History. Where it started. How it turned into the professional music division. The R&D that went into it. That’s killer. The integrity of how they started and the focus on designing the drums to sound best. That’s what they had in mind the entire time. They made their lugs low mass and solid because it sounds better. They’re not hollow with gaskets on them. The shell design - they thought about the ply configuration, they had their own way of making edges and the hardware being solid brass. Everything about the builds was for the sound and the integrity of the drum. And it shows in the build. You see a completed drum. You look at it and think it’s a piece of work. It’s got jewelry on top of it and they sound fantastic due to the nature of the build and the design.

N&C: So, what’s it like working in the factory?

This is a funny question.

N&C: As if we don’t know!

Working in the factory, it’s cool. One of the cool things is again, the history. You walk in the building and it smells like history. It’s an antique. You’re walking into the past. When I was gone for 15 years and came back, I walked in the door for the first time and that smell hit me again. I’m like, “Oh my god, I’m back at Noble & Cooley.” From making my way around the factory, up and down the flights of stairs. Remembering how much space is here, and THIS building and THAT building. THAT floor and THIS floor. There's so much stuff to see here. Getting back into the vibe, not much has changed over the years. There’s been improvements, obviously. But the integrity of the drums is still the same. We don’t let anything out the door that isn’t perfect and there’s a gratifying feel when you see the completed drum going into the box. It’s great.

N&C: Tell us about the ‘River Drum’.

The River Drum was something I wanted to do as soon as epoxy resin started making a huge hit on social media, These guys were making these live edge tables. They’re beautiful. And I thought to myself, “Man, if I could just do that on a drum. Make something round with epoxy in there, It would be an incredible piece of artwork if it worked.” So I tried it, and it worked! It’s not actual live edge. It’s hand-carved and burned and scraped to look like live edge because I wanted to have a stable piece of wood to work with. But it was just something I had a vision in my head for and went for it, and it worked and it came out beautiful. It’s a one-of-a-kind (as of now) and I hope maybe we can bend live edge here and take it a step further.

N&C: What can we expect from Noble & Cooley in 2021?

I wanna work on some cool new finishes. Some of the stuff I’ve gotten accustomed to doing over the years is crazy finishes. Not that I want to make Noble & Cooley look crazy, but I would like to add some flavor to some of the finishes and give the customers a little bit more options. Find out what they like and incorporate it. New shell designs too. Because we’re trying so many different breeds (of wood) for the snare drums. Maybe we combine breeds. Maybe we can do different ply configurations. I definitely want to try different shell configurations and bring that to the customer, the studio, the stage and go from there. 

N&C: What do you like best about the Noble & Cooley community?

They’re die-hards, man. They’re faithful. When you buy a Noble & Cooley drum, I don’t think there’s many guys or girls that just buy Noble & Cooley because they heard it’s a good drum. I think they know of the company. They know of the history and they know that it’s a quality instrument. They’re not buying Noble & Cooley on a whim. They know of it and they want it. Any customer that buys it knows what they’re going to get and is expecting the best and they’re gonna get it. That’s why they’re so faithful to us. 

N&C: Any closing remarks?

I’m happy to be back. Coming back has been great... (gets phone call). Can’t wait to show people what I’m bringing to the table. And I hope they accept me (chuckles) as one of the builders here and enjoy some of the stuff I’m going to post on social media. And yea, there you go. Just happy to be back!