Hey All,

Hope all of you are well. We have been organizing the shipments to all the distributors of The KickPort which is time consuming but a lot of fun. I have learned a lot about shipping overseas via air and sea. How the pallet sizes are different for air and sea, how the weight and carton sizes are calculated and much more. Just so you know: we use a 13″ x 13″ box in which we pack 12 KickPorts for both are domestic and international orders. Also, we use bio degradable bubble wrap… yes, that’s right, even though it costs more. Just can’t bear to see more plastic going into that crazy size of Texas vortex in the sea. Did you see that documentary?

And what else, oh yeah… i am up later at night and earlier in the morning because I talk to distributors and dealers/store owners on the East Coast in the early morning, then communicate with European associates late at night or early morning, Asian and South Pacific folks in the evening as well. THE KICKPORT NEVER SLEEPS… IT’S A WILD ANIMAL NOW ON THE LOOSE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD!! :)

Every day something is happening. Today we starting talking seriously with a Australian Distributor who wants to break the KickPort there. I also talked to a major rock star drummer in Australia who I hope wants to endorse the KickPort. I will let you know about him and the distributor later.

I think we may also have distribution for the KickPort in Brazil after the gi-normous Music Expo exhibit in Sao Paulo last week. We are working on that as well.

And Bennie Rodgers II, Mariah Carey’s drummer said that he wants to endorse the KickPort officially! So that is pretty cool as he is a really nice guy and wonderful talent.

And the KickPort has sold out in a bunch of stores which is a great sign too.

Ultimately, you never really know when you launch a business based on one product. Facts being facts, a high percentage of businesses fail in the first six months. I think it’s 90% of new businesses fail within the first year mostly due to underfunding. And this economy is truly sucking, so money is WAY tight… i can tell because many of my socks have holes…

And we certainly are not close to “over funded” if you know what I mean. However, if you start from “the street” (or is the gutter?) as we have, and that first product is a “hit,” then it hopefully becomes a sweeter success. So that’s what I hear anyway… and am all for it!!

So anyway…all of us at KickPort are sure hoping and planning for the best. And so far, we are seeing some wonderful signs even when people trash the product who have never seen it or heard it.

Hmm… now let’s see…. it doesn’t really work but all these major high profile drummers and engineers are using the KickPort live and in the studio. And oh yeah, Pearl Drums, the largest drum company in the world, is distributing the KickPort in Europe and Japan. The true challenge is that many people do not have a clear understanding of the KickPort because it is brand new. And that’s OK, except I would hope that people who hold themselves out as professionals and review products have at least some kind of obligation to be a “reporter” and “scientific investigator” which means that s/he takes in as much information as is available to him/her in the world. And there are a LOT of people using the KickPort by now with lots of great success. Lots of information out there…

I suggest to everybody go check out a KickPort yourself or call us to set up a demonstration for you at a local store or via one of our artists. Or check out the various testimonials we have from pro live and studio engineers and drummers from all walks of life and music around the world. DO YOU OWN ANALYSIS…. TRUST NOBODY EXCEPT YOUR OWN EARS!! :)

So through all of this, our faith in the KickPort does not waver. We laugh at ourselves all the time because much of this is new to us and we make mistakes like the rest of our fellow humans. However, despite the comic relief, it is ultra serious for us as we know what a great sound is. And Sam Millender’s attention to creating great sounding stuff via his brilliant and creative mind, ears and heart does not waver for a minute. Thus, as we believe in each other, and we believe in the KickPort without hesitation. We know it has a place in every kick drum that’s made. And to the best of our ability, we aim to show the world that simple fact.

I am rambling and need to go to bed. I just got a message and responded to a guy in Japan who has a KickPort, played a gig and had everybody freaking out about this new kick drum sound. And I have a new friend in The Netherlands who says his bass player was blown away at their rehearsal, and the FOH guy at the gig loved the kick sound and all the low end. OK cool…that is good… a good way to end the night and get to sleep.

night night

best,

Jesse Bradman