From Drummer To Innovator: How To Pitch a Perfect Product

A great idea without follow-through will only remain an idea, but with enough motivation, patience and discipline you could have a revolution on your hands. Like anyone, Wes Keely ran into a problem and wished there was a simple solution for it. Unlike most people, he decided to take action and fix it for everyone’s sake. This is the perfect example of the wide array of markets a musician can venture into. This is the journey from drummer to inventor to the owner of a business. Working in a music store I can attest that new products may not change the world, but innovation happens one baby step at a time. This is the story of KBrakes.

It Starts Somewhere

Wes was in the process of getting a degree in marketing from Eastern Michigan University when he dropped out to start touring with his band Earthmover. On the way home from their first European tour in 1998 the guys decided to start Walls Of Jericho, who immediately garnered hefty load of national attention. After he left them in 2001, he became a drummer for hire for a lot of heavy hitters like Throwdown, Remembering Never and Most Precious Blood. The list goes on with about a dozen other acts. Regardless of the limited time with each group he was developing his technique and the refined touring musician mentality. All of us in the business have it to an extent. When you’re traveling for months on end you want gear that’s easy to load, sounds good and lasts a long time. After years of offering his drumming duties to several bands, he returned to school at Kendall University for a degree in industrial design. The pieces were falling into place, but the puzzle couldn’t be completed without one final push in the right direction.

Give The People What They Want

Even though his band at the time, The Riot Before, was opening for established bands like Dead To Me, Off With Their Heads and Bomb The Music Industry, every drummer on that tour in 2010 still asked to use his drum rug night after night. He obliged, but not without the annoyance of having to wait the rest of the show to finish loading out for that one stupid piece of gear. The Crash Pad rug he was using was made specifically for drummers due to an extension at the front that stopped the kick drum from sliding as you played. It was in the middle of the tour in Michigan when the creative fuel surfaced. Wes' fiancé (now wife) was ready to head home after their set, but he was stuck at the venue again waiting for the last band to finish using his rug. Putting some strain on something as simple as driving an hour to finally be home, he was forced into some heavy thinking. There had to be an easier way to get drummers to prevent their drums from sliding without having to lug around a big rug on tour. Something everyone could have instead of mooching off of each other. The solution was usually primitive like a cinder block, a road case or any heavy low-profile item to put in front of the kick drum. Another popular product on the market tied the throne to the kick. Wes wanted something attached to his drums, something low-profile and effective that didn't need to be disassembled when packing up at the end of the night. His solution was simple. KBrakes was born.

Put A Ring On It

Unfortunately creating a product and making it into a serious business requires a lot of money, hard work and paper work. The KBrakes system wasn’t finalized overnight. There have been fifteen prototypes until the latest incarnation that Wes has been promoting. Creating your first prototype of a product is already expensive due to the lack of mass manufacturing pricing. You have to get that sucker patented before someone can steal your intellectual property. People can make empires from other innovators’ ideas without having to think twice. To get started, you should look into a Provisional Patent which is $500 and lasts a year. This buys you some time while you develop your idea and in a less professional way, “call dibs.” Wes did this after his fourth prototype with the intention to contact something called Start Garden. Start Garden is a program that helps raise awareness and eventually money for new ideas. Legitimate patents usually cost around $5,000-$10,000. They may be pricey, but they’re incredibly important. Through Start Garden, KBrakes ended up winning $5,000 to see if it could stand alone as a viable business and some earned much needed hype.

Get Dirty

With his startup money, Wes had something to prove and it was time to get to work. The first KBrakes prototypes were created using 3D printing, which may not be the best way to do any product but made for an easy start. Using the DIY mentality of touring, he packed up his things and hit the road to stores around the Midwest and East Coast pushing his new product. Usually the guys in drum shops are ready to nerd out over gear, and when someone walks in with a brand new item, it’ll get some serious attention. Wes wasn’t trying to sell these, but get some real insight on the product. Would people use it? Was his price point too expensive? Do they look cool? He wanted real feedback from the people who would most likely be using them. Constructive criticism is the only way to have a universally loved product. So far things were looking good. Everyone was asking if they could buy KBrakes and saying they’d been waiting years for something so simple. Wes wasn’t able to sell anything because the few prototypes he had were out with touring drummers for some serious road-testing. The market research direct from the mouth of a drummer is exactly what he needed to perfect his craft.

Reap The Rewards

After a lot of positive feedback from touring drummers, drum shop workers and close friends it was time to get some real publicity. The best shock was when the newest issue of Modern Drummer featured KBrakes in the “New and Notable” section. Being featured in the world’s biggest drum magazine meant he was able to mention it every time he promotes his product. Using this to his advantage, Wes entered talks with some major distributors and began the process of launching on the mass market. Right now Wes is in search of an investor to make this idea into a full time job. The next step is getting his product in every music store around the country and eventually the world.

We all look at technology like the wheel and it feels like it’s been around forever. Believe it or not, someone had to have that light bulb pop up over their head. They were also the ones who pulled the string and made a dull idea into something illuminating all of us. Maybe Wes didn’t reinvent the wheel, but he sure as hell helped us put the brakes on bad ideas from the past. All of us can take the next step into making our ideas a reality, we just need to do the leg work to get there. Now, it’s up to the big shots in suits to give the green light and the consumers to give their final approval.

Jonathan Diener says "get out there and start innovating, dummy." He's on Twitter - @jonodiener