Morning Metal – YC Drum Company Interview
My name is Jordan! Some people call me “Jordo”, or “Gordy”, but my given name is Jordan. You’re welcome to call me what you want! Haha. I’ve been playing drums for over 10 years (that’s more than half my life, believe it or not!), and have been in and out of bands for the last 7. I’ve been on the road, played many different styles, and have experienced many different drums along the way. I got into drumming from watching Much Music on TV when I was a little kid, despite not listening to my parents and still watching it. It was all down hill when they took me to the record store up the street and bought me a copy of Sum 41’s “All Killer, No Filler”. I still remember my Dad asking the guy at the store “Is this ok for my 6 year old son to listen to?” and throwing it into my sony walkman in the car right after. There was no anti shock sadly, but it was one of the best moments of my life! A few years later came my first snare drum, followed by a full drum kit a year later. I guess my parents were tired of hearing me bang on the recycling they put out every week with branches!
YC stands for “Young Classics”. This is actually a question I get asked a lot. I guess I shouldn’t have been lazy and just made it the full name when I named the company, but eh, it’s a good conversation starter! I got the name simply from what inspires me to make drums. The thought of making drums that sound and look like the past, but with the quality of materials and craftsmanship that we can offer today. 
It started out simply from my love of drums. I’ve owned so many drums and I’m constantly buying new gear, it just made sense to start building some for myself. After a bit of research, and my experience with wood shop in the past (at least in high school) and constantly fixing my own drums, I decided “Why not?”. I guess I just wanted to build some stuff that I wanted without having someone else build it for me, like I did in the past!
I guess the idea of making it into a company and doing it full time came after I made a few for myself, and then some drumming friends of mine asked me to build them some! Snow ball effect and a bunch of drums later, here I am!
I’m flattered that you call the drums I make “great”. I take compliments like that with a lot of heart, and really do appreciate the support of friends and fellow drummers! It’s a lot of fun, and doesn’t really seem like “work” most of the time. It’s nice to build something for someone, to the exact specs they want, and hear “That’s exactly what I wanted! Sounds and looks exactly as I imagined it in my head!”
Pro: I get to build whatever I want, when I want (Have I mentioned I really like drum gear yet?!). I also get the chance to work with so many great drummers, a lot whom I look up to a lot! It’s also really nice and rewarding getting to meet new people, and more than anything, make some new friends! Con: Sometimes it’s hard competing against the “big guy”. I don’t like to look at it as competing though, but more so “Hey, this is what we offer. If you like it, great! If not, that’s totally ok!”. I say “competing” as more so, winning people over, in a sense!
Some hands, some tools, some thought, and some love. 
I’m extremely thankful and slightly overwhelmed! Don’t get me wrong, it’s super cool being known by some people as “Jordan from YC Drums”, but I guess it hasn’t really hit me like that yet. I still feel like I’m that drum nerd kid from Nepean who keeps buying more gear and trying new things!
“Best” is a very vague word. I have some favourites, which is pretty much 95% percent of what I build. It’s hard to give a snare to someone once it’s done. I usually hit it a few times and go “Man, I love this!”. Usually results in me building something similar! Haha.
My buddy Yan ordered a 14×5.5 natural satin stained maple snare from me once he caught word I was building some drums! I remember delivering it to his show and him giving me a gigantic hug and freaking out, saying it was exactly what he wanted. No celebration after it was delivered, but Yan’s bought me a beer or two and is a stand up guy, so I’ll take that as “celebration”!
Just to keep building! And building, and building, and building…..
You do a lot of drum-teching for local drummers – has YC caused a lot of musicians to reach out to you for your tech support?
I really like drum teching! It allows me to fiddle with drums for hours and hours, studio or live! I guess the word is finally getting around, which rules! I just really like creating new sounds and fiddling with drums. I wish I got to go on the road more doing it though. Being on the road is the best!
What’s YC’s next step?
I don’t really think there’s a next step. At least, Im not sure what it is. I’m not very good at looking that far ahead. I just want to keep building and keep meeting new drummers, and hopefully get to work with some of them as well! 
YC Drum Company – https://www.facebook.com/ycdrums for all the information! James Rockso – CKCU 93.1 FM – Morning Metal https://www.facebook.com/pages/Morning-Metal/286205571505773