A big sound is emerging from an unassuming little building in an Oak Creek industrial area. That's where local drummer turned drum maker Paul Milkovich builds Rat Rod Drums, a small company that's beginning to make a name for itself in the music world.
Milkovich – whose dad was a Summerfest stage manager for decades and is now a member of the festival board – is working to build an international name for Rat Rod, looking at a German assembly arm to fuel some European sales and working to create synergies in the American drum world, too.
He's currently talking the Steve Maxwell about building for the respected dealer in vintage and custom drums.
But Milkovich has got no plans to abandon Milwaukee.
"I want to help local drummers," he says. "The Milwaukee and Wisconsin connection is important to me."
Milkovich's wife teaches in Oak Creek and his 11-year-old son helps him in the drum shop, too, drilling holes and doing other work.
Though he can build drums from traditional woods like maple, what is turning heads in the industry are Milkovich's bamboo drums, made from wood sourced from Illinois' Lamboo.
Milkovich says, in addition to being greener (he also uses water-based stains and finishes), the bamboo drums – which have a gorgeous grain – are warmer and louder than drums made from other woods.
Though other companies have dabbled in bamboo, Rat Rod is staking its future on the wood.
At the moment, Rat Rod only builds drums for custom special orders, and there's a waiting list nearly a year long. But Milkovich is eying expansion to try and move into the retail market.
"I think custom drum companies take about 6 percent of the drum market right now," he says.
"There are some great builders out there doing a lot of great things and we all learn from each other and act as resources. This company's growing really quick and I'm trying to get that all in place now."
Any expansion, says Milkovich, will be careful. He doesn't want to barter quality for growth.
"I don't want to become a cookie cutter drum company," he says. "I want to keep the hands-on, the high quality, the high standards. That's really important to me."
We stopped in recently to get a tour of the tiny factory and to let Milkovich show you around and tell you more about what goes into making bamboo drums in Oak Creek.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
