Paul Francis left Zildjian?

[varatrodder]

I follow him on Instagram, and he's been posting some good stuff. I can't wait to hear some of his cymbals.

 

[jptrickster]

Paul's doing just fine. He is super talented has a huge following and is such a loveable dude!

 

[BenjiDrums]

Where do people get the blanks from!? I’d love to buy some for hammering!

 

[logogogue]

“Equally important, John’s previous management and leadership experience with leading brands such as Gillette, Ocean Spray, and IdeaPaint,
together with his interpersonal style have allowed him to quickly assimilate into our unique culture and the music industry.”

Interesting background.

Yeah. Nothing to do with music or drumming. Which isn’t always necessarily a bad thing but it usually means a very dry corp approach and implanting changes that alienate the core user base. A company like Gillette operate very differently and their messaging tends to be over the top corporate. If zildjian is in financial problems, which it could be, this guy could bring operational efficiencies and discipline to cut costs, streamline, etc. and that’s all good. Assuming he steps away once that work is done to bring back the soul of what makes zildjian a brand drummers identify with.

 

[BenjiDrums]

Update to my own question: I googled "blank cymbals for sale" and found a bunch of them... bought a ride for $130. Will try to hammer it see what happens!

 

[bassanddrum84]

Be crazy if he started his own company

 

[flatwins]

I just listened to this podcast and really enjoyed it.

 

[mtarrani]

Be crazy if he started his own company

Ask and ye shall receive:

 

[CC Cirillo]

I just listened to this podcast and really enjoyed it.

That was an excellent podcast.

 

[Demonslayer]

That’s a pretty high profile and ‘hard to replace’ position to just cut loose... coupled with the other high level A&R trimmings, it seems a pretty big restructuring is either in effect, or about to be

Curious what that means for future offerings/general company direction

This is somewhat surprising, since I found some of Z's latest offering interesting and it felt to me (IMO, please don't shoot) like they were finally getting ready to reclaim that leadership position they'd lost so long ago.

I saw the Vic Firth and Zildjian Live series and was very excited to finally see them throwing their (considerable) corporate muscle around in a constructive, exciting way.

Looks like the distraction worked, at least in my case...

 

[Soulfinger]

"Curious what that means for future offerings/general company direction"

So far... this:

Ahem.

 

[mtarrani]

 

[NedPotterDrums]

So glad he's doing this! Went to a Drum Hang on Zoom with him (just before Zildjian and he parted company; there's no way he had any inkling that was coming at the time I'd say) and he was so enthusiastic and down to earth, passionate, told great stories.

Also, I don't know how old he is but unless he started working at Zildjian when he was a sperm he looks at LEAST a decade younger than his actual age!

 

[hsosdrum]

... Also, I don't know how old he is but unless he started working at Zildjian when he was a sperm he looks at LEAST a decade younger than his actual age!

 

[44Ronin]

So good that he is an artist and not a corporate simp

 

[BenjiDrums]

"Curious what that means for future offerings/general company direction"

So far... this:

Ahem.

I still dont understand what this is

 

[hsosdrum]

I still dont understand what this is

Marketing tie-in with a skateboard company.

 

[BenjiDrums]

Marketing tie-in with a skateboard company.

Thanks! I guess that’s how I know I’m old

 

[hsosdrum]

Thanks! I guess that’s how I know I’m old

I'm 70, but my former stepson was a skater and the company I used to work for did lots of cross-promotions like that.

 

[markkarj]

Thanks! I guess that’s how I know I’m old

So with this cross promotion, does Zildjian change its slogan to "The only serious-ish choice"?