Conversations with Derek Sharp

Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Sharp.

Hi Derek, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, let’s briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
As a college kid at Washburn University in Topeka, KS, just nearing graduation with a music teaching degree, the opportunity came up in late 1994 for me to help a friend expand his store. He had a drum store about an hour away in Kansas City and wanted to open a branch. He asked me to manage the new endeavor. With his inventory and dollars and my location and time, we tested the waters by renting 186 sq. feet from a small guitar shop in town. After selling 17 drumsets in 13 weeks in a town with 5 other places that sold them, it seemed like time to look for our place.

I changed my degree to a simple BA without the teaching certificate as I wouldn’t have time to student teach for a semester and run a shop, though the degree was filled with education electives. After a couple of years of 60-80 hour weeks, I asked for a raise to help with insurance for the kids but was denied. So, I got a job with the State inspecting gas pumps for dollars and insurance. A couple of years later, while at that store’s new third location in Lawrence, KS, I heard that the owner wanted to sell the Topeka location. Visits to seven bankers later, I bought the Topeka location in September 1998 — four years after the place had started and at the start of the holiday shopping season.

A year-and-a-half later, a place eight times the size in Downtown Topeka became available for $350/month more than the little place we had been renting. I was moving the endeavor, buying that Lawrence location I mentioned, starting an 11-year stint at the KC Renaissance Festival selling hand drums, and starting a drum manufacturing concern called TreeHouse Custom Drums.

Now we’ve moved on from the Ren Fest, moved the Lawrence location 60′ south to a bigger space, uncovered all the wee hidden rooms in the downtown Topeka location (which I bought a few years after moving), and have shipped TreeHouse drums to every continent except Antarctica.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? There are no major problems; there is just lots of complicated, tenacious work and patience to grow slowly and carefully. This is a high-volume, low-profit industry, so part of the joy comes from the folks around me, serving the customers, solving problems, and not being told by some boss to do unethical things. The most challenging aspect is serving and supporting my staff and employees. If they’re in a good place, the customers get them, and this place’s best. This has been my biggest challenge as a shy introvert who needs to improve people skills. Buying buildings when you’re poor, remodeling, driving across the country for trade shows, dealing with unpleasant customers and suppliers, and navigating Covid restrictions were all a piece of cake compared to my learning curve of empathy and taking time to connect. I’m better than I was, but I still have a ways to go!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In a world where many customers treat their musical instruments as mere commodities, we stand out. We understand that a musical instrument is more than just a product; it’s a part of you. That’s why we emphasize the importance of human-to-human interaction in our repair services. You can’t get your guitar set up or your snare drum wires replaced by putting your instrument through a computer screen. You need to hand it to a person who understands and respects the unique bond you have with your instrument.

Although some customers still enjoy hearing our opinions of what is well made, what would work for their situation, what’s new, what mods could be done to their gear, etc, some customers are self-taught in those areas and don’t want that expertise. However, many beginner to pro players need repairs, adjustments, augmentations, replacements, etc.; we’re good at that. Folks have brought their guitars from many hours away to adjust them; others have mailed their drums from across the country to repair them. On staff are a great guitar tech and some drum builders with decades of experience who can handle maintenance issues on guitars and drums. Also, the “Custom” in TreeHouse Custom Drums is about connecting with customers as much as they want. That is, some buyers buy something sight unseen and never respond to chats like “Thanks! Send a video of your band, and we’ll put it on the site” or even “Who are you?” yet others appreciate the back-n-forth (the record is now 363 emails/texts between the customer and builder to design just the right drumset) of dialing in all the details just right. Unlike the world-famous huge drum companies that have their rigid systems in place, we’re still small enough to engage and modify systems and processes when necessary to manifest the client’s fondest drum dreams!

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
My family is made up of musicians. My dad was a high school band director, my mom plays piano and sings, my siblings were all in band growing up, and cousins, nephews, etc. all had music in their lives. As a shy boy, sawing away at a violin, blatting through a trumpet, or whacking a drum was a great way to, I don’t know, get something fulfilled. Later, things focused on drums, and I’ve been playing them for 42 years and teaching them to others for 36 years. I have a strong sense of right and wrong, holding myself to a high ethical integrity and sharing those passions with staff who exhibit many of those traits.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.supersonicmusic.com
• Instagram: www.treehousedrums.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SupersonicMusicTopeka
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/TreeHouseDrums/