FI V E M INUTE S W ITH
DAVID DUANE President and CEO,
McMillan Music Co. LLC By Brian Berk In his first-ever magazine interview, David Duane, president and CEO of New Britain, Pa.-based McMillan Music Co. LLC, talks about the origin of his company, manufacturing products for the band and orchestra (B&O) market, why he is optimistic about the future, and more.
The Music & Sound Retailer: Can you tell us about the origin of McMillan Music and how you became involved? David Duane: The business started with my uncle in 1955. My grandfather played the coronet. Starting the business was basically a way to keep my uncle out of trouble. He wasn’t the best student but was very innovative and very driven. My grandfather and my uncle came up with the idea to make oil for the valves on the trumpet, grease for clarinets and grease for saxophone corks. It was a small family business that started out in the basement of their house outside of Philadelphia. I remember my uncle telling me stories that he needed to wait to go to work until dinner was done, because he needed to cook the grease on the stove late at night. He had to cook upstairs, take the grease downstairs and start filling it. It was a great way to keep him out of trouble, and the business slowly grew over the years. We are a small family business. As far as I know, we are the only ones [doing what we do] in the United States — everything from start to finish. All of the materials are manufactured here in the U.S. I was born into the business because Don, McMillan Music’s founder, is my mom’s oldest brother. My mom always worked for Don. She still works for the company after all these years. I started working for the company during summers and breaks [from school]. I took over as president and CEO in 2017. I have been trying to cultivate growth for the business throughout the mom-andpop stores and whoever else might need our products throughout the world. The Retailer: Can you tell us more about the business regarding ever ything 36
you provide today? Duane: We manufacture valve oils, slide oils, cork grease, slide grease, key oil, bore oil, rotor oil, brass mouthpiece brushes, reed mouthpiece brushes, valve casing brushes for the valves on the trumpet, trumpet snakes and trombone snakes. Our biggest seller right now is care kits. In the future, we will have a specialty care kit coming out for deep cleaning of musical instruments. I cannot say any more about it legally right now, but it will be coming out very soon, and I see it being a great addition to our product line.
The Retailer: A deep cleaning product is likely in high demand during a pandemic. But on the other hand, making products for the band and orchestra industr y might have been difficult recently. Can you tell us about that? Also, it looks like schools may have a more “normal” opening in the fall. If so, are you more optimistic about your business? Duane: During the pandemic, we basically saw all schools close, which took away band and orchestra rentals. Recently though, we have seen a spike in sales for B&O, rental supplies and accessories. So, we are really optimistic. We are in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Delaware area where we have seen a lot of [COVID-19] regulations recently get revoked as far as mask wearing is concerned. I drove by my local high school, and [there was] some marching band stuff finally coming out of the trailers. People are getting ready for the next season. So, I am really excited about what is going to happen for the future. I am extremely optimistic with where things are going. Also, NAMM has been really great at keeping businesses like ours up to date on
what is going on with the government, what we can look forward to, and helping B&O retailers and schools deal with the pandemic. Overall, things look good for our business.
The Retailer: When did you start to see the pickup in sales? Can you pinpoint an exact time? Duane: April was when things started to open up. Orders are not what they used to be during many periods of the last 50 years, but sales are really starting to pick up. People are starting to see there is a need for our products again this year. The Retailer: We should mention that if we get to a post-pandemic period, that not only means students playing B&O products, but live gigs taking place again. Is that another reason for optimism? Duane: Absolutely. I have a friend of mine who called me and said, “Can you send me product out to California?” There is a sheriff’s band that is a non-profit [organization comprising] a bunch of sheriffs in the Los Angeles area. We sent products out to them that they were having trouble getting. [My friend] told me they wanted to start playing again and asked if I could help them out. So, it is not just schools that are starting to open up. I am seeing more concerts going on. For us, [that includes] the Philadelphia Orchestra. The Retailer: Let’s shift to your philosophy with MI retailers. You mentioned your interest in independent retailers. Can you tell us more about that and your desire to work with them? Duane: We have always been a momand-pop/independent retailer company. The most important thing for retailers to know when working with us at McMillan’s is you JULY 2021
