Wayne Blanchard has been a member of the SABIAN marketing team for fifteen years. A drummer who also enjoys playing guitar, he has lived in Germany, England, Scotland, and, of course, Canada, which is where SABIAN is located. SABAN is the choice of cymbal for Emergenza. Coming from nowhere, quickly become the choice of cymbals for drummers with such leading bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, Disturbed, and Pantera, as well as Phil Collins, Jack DeJohnette, Jojo Mayer, Virgil Donati and other great players. The company built its reputation and award-winning status with a range of cymbals that includes everything from its traditional Hand Hammered range to such innovative sounds as HHX, AAX and Sonix. New sounds like AA Metal-X and XS20 point to the reason SABIAN has won many awards and has been voted ‘Most Innovative Cymbal Company’ by readers of Modern Drummer magazine What is the secret of this success? “At Sabian we ‘re always listening,” says Wayne. Listening for…? “We are particularly interested in what musicians want, and not just in terms of cymbals. What do they want to read in our NewsBeat magazine? What do they want to ask to the drummers of our artist program? And, of course, what cymbals do they need to make their music?” It is very clear that Sabian wants to give drummers the sounds they need to express themselves and their personality. That’s why they created The Zone, a part of the Sabian Website that you ought to visit if you are a drummer (www.sabian.com). There you can talk with your colleagues, express yourself through message boards and a bulletin board, or find your next band member. It’s also a place where you can ‘speak’ to SABIAN. Wayne emphasizes this: “I don’t like to talk about ‘product’ or ‘customer’. We’re all drummers and we should enjoy a special relationship that is all about being musicians making music.” It’s interesting that such a major company - SABIAN is distributed to 120 countries - has its base in a very small and quiet hamlet in rural eastern Canada. This location is one reason why Wayne stays in touch with music at a number of different levels: magazines, videos, and friends in the industry, drumming festivals, and occasional live concerts. “Today music is everywhere. It’s an important part of the social fabric”. His personal musical interests range from the 1960s up to today. The most interesting part of his job? “Having the opportunity include SABIAN artist in our NewsBeat magazine and in ads, and to be a part of the team that makes SABIAN look and sound good.” Talking about today, Wayne expresses his concern about blatant materialism, especially as it relates to musicians. “Today virtually anybody can make music. If you want to do it you can do it! But I feel the happiness with making music should come from the opportunity to share an experience with an audience, and not be about making money. I’m not saying music - especially Rock & Roll - and money can’t be partners. It’s just that Rock is about rebellion, regardless of how small or personal… about change that is hopefully for the better. If musicians are more interested in making money to buy bigger cars, they’re neglecting their ability to make positive change… they won’t be changing anything.” Speaking about the partnership between Emergenza and Sabian, Wayne becomes very enthusiastic. “I saw Emergenza in action in Montreal, and it was incredible. All the bands and the audience had an unbelievably good time. I think that even though someone wins the #1 prize, everyone is a winner. Emergenza is big in Europe, but now I believe this competition will bring a lot of excitement to the Canadian music scene. SABIAN and Emergenza are like brothers doing the same thing in different areas: Emergenza for bands, Sabian for drummers. We both want to make music exciting for the players. Together we can also excite the music industry, so it will become more involved with the festival and the musicians who are co