How YC Drum Company Became Canada's Best Kept Secret

Tim Oxford of the Arkells

This September, Jordan Gauthier’s YC Drum Company celebrates its second birthday, which is two more than he thought his company would ever experience. After flunking out of college, Gauthier started building drums in his parent’s garage, and now he supplies some of the biggest names in Canadian music with tubs to bang on stage. “It was super tough for me to get motivated to go to school every day. I ended up failing my course, which was a huge hit on me at the time,” Gauthier says. “I worked a few dead end jobs after that. It was hard for me at the time to find real purpose of waking up every day. I started building drums then as a hobby. I built a few for friends and the response was really positive.”

Now, as most college-aged people gear up to go back to school, Gauthier is hitting the studio with Juno-nominated PUP to start work on their latest record. I met up with him at Riot Fest in Toronto to talk to him for this article. As we conversed in the muddied fields, his voice competed for attention with Thrice playing behind him and Against Me! on the other end of the grounds, but still well within earshot.

“I love Atom Willard,” Gauthier says as he glances over my shoulder. Along with PUP, Gauthier’s company endorses Danny Miles of July Talk, Tim Oxford of the Arkells and 25 other artists around North America.

“Endorsements are a very touchy thing, I find.” He explains, “I believe that every drummer should have the opportunity to play an instrument that they truly love. Your instrument, that’s your character when you’re playing.”

Jordan Gauthier with his drums

Most of YC’s business comes from its artist relations. After getting burned by bigger companies, Gauthier makes it a point to treat people fairly across the board, whether you are an internationally recognized artist, or a drummer jamming a few local shows a month.

“I think Jordan is amazing at what he does and he is the biggest drum nerd I’ve ever met,” Kyle Fisher of The Dirty Nil says. The Dundas fuzz rockers have an endorsement from YC and they recently announced a deal with Dine Alone Records. “He put so much care and effort into my kit too. You can tell just by looking at it. I’ve never been happier about a set of drums in my life.”

When I first spoke to Gauthier about his business, no more than a month after he had started, he told me that his goal was not to make money but to give drummers the tools they need for success. He confirmed that he was still charging his artists nearly cost and has had to piece together a living through drum teching gigs.

“It’s still very much in the startup phase in the sense of a business,” Gauthier’s days typically run from 7:30 in the morning to 2:30am. “I personally don’t feel that I’m successful. I feel that I’ve had success but how do you even describe successful? It’s so subjective.”

Danny Miles of July Talk

It is a stubborn march towards perfection that keeps the drums rolling off the workbench. “If I couldn’t do it a hundred and twenty percent, I wouldn’t do it at all. And that’s just how I am. I’m like that with everything I do in life. I’m either going to do it or not do it, and YC I’m doing it.”

YC stands for “Young Classics” and is stolen from a Ten Second Epic track. “It made sense because I love vintage and old style drums, love the feel, love the vibe, and love the sound,” he gushes. “But the problem with all those old vintage kits is they can’t hold up to rigorous touring schedules. So I wanted to make something that was durable but had that old school vibe. Here’s a modern product with that old soul feel to it.”

The sole proprietor of his company, Gauthier’s most invaluable companion is Highway 401. Sometimes relentless, other times forgiving and always riddled with construction. A large portion of the company’s business, as well as Gauthier’s side jobs, happens in Toronto. The sensible thing to do would be to pack up and move shop to the GTA, but he says he does not see himself leaving the (613) area code behind anytime soon.

Continued below…

“I love Ottawa. I feel comfortable in Ottawa. Ottawa’s this big city but it’s got a very small city feel,” Gauthier says. “I feel anxious in Toronto.” The late nights and long drives fueled by Tim Horton’s Iced Capps and Pall Mall Bolds are fun for a moment, but after awhile being trapped in a big red van eating endless kilometres can get to a fella.

“The struggle for me is definitely the difference between work life and personal life, trying to find a balance,” he says. “I feel exhausted at times, I feel overwhelmed at times.”

But YC isn’t just about him anymore. “It’s not just a drum company to me, its larger than that it’s a community,” Gautheir says. “I want drummers to feel excited and stoked about their gear like I feel when I find an old 50s or 60s snare drum or when I build a new one. I just want people to feel a part of something.”

After our interview Gauthier immediately turned to the group of musicians who had congregated at bay to talk shop. The next time I saw him he was working to protect the Nil’s guitar amps on stage from the rain. No matter what’s on docket, YC Drum Company gets the job done, and Gauthier will talk your ear off the whole time.

Griffin J. Elliot is a writer living in Ottawa. Follow him on Twitter.