Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan & Abby Savell.
Hi Dan & Abby, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We are a husband and wife-team of professional percussionists who met online in 2002. We found out that we had many strange coincidences between us like the same band played at both of our parents’ weddings in Dayton, Ohio!
Personality-wise, we both had a very similar sense of humor, creative drive, and purpose for being in the arts. Dan was alumni of CalArts, and when they met, Abby had already auditioned for CalArts and been accepted. Upon getting married, we had a small collection of instruments together.
We were also on the road a ton, with steel drums and other performances from San Diego to the Central Coast and out to the desert. It was exhausting and became less fulfilling with time; we thought that with all of this time on the road, we could work on something closer to home that would be better for us and less dangerous, to boot. We started buying instruments online not only to use as musicians but also to rent. We were just trying to make some side income to take the pressure off. Well, unbeknownst to us at the time, we had actually started what is now our massive, worldwide-renowned collection called L.A. Percussion Rentals.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course not! Much of the challenge has been within.
– Engineering a different type of business in a creative industry (one which isn’t just a rental company but helps creatively and with production needs as well – this took many years to make this realization and put systems into place to support it. We’re still very much working on that part, actually.)
– Learning how to set boundaries in our own time, because we could work 20 hours per day, no problem!
– Learning when it’s time to get more help, which is challenging when you are a capable person who COULD… but SHOULD you?
– Knowing when to make decisions like hiring when the work can ebb and really flow.
– Learning how to look for talent – but the type that we need with certain skill sets, and people who are versatile enough to rotate between different roles… this does not fit into your typical hiring box
– Not just following through with orders, but having to evaluate, re-evaluate, and engineer systems within the company. This can make it hard to rest.
– Doing all of this but making sure that you are not burning out.
– Being able to juggle the small business life while having kids and a spouse who have their own needs outside of the business.
– Financially, we’ve mostly bootstrapped (re-invested our own proceeds), so no investors, which means that progress can be more slow at times. (This is the hardest for Abby to deal with.)
– Being in our business means a lot of irregularity, so it’s hard to budget – time and money.
– Interpersonal relationships, being a married team. Being able to switch gears between business and personal can be challenging. Setting things up so we aren’t pitted against each other in a “checks and balances” manner too much, or when it is, it’s in good faith and limited scope.
– It’s messy at times, but we are in a creative business so it’s part of the art of it all!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about L.A. Percussion & Backline Rentals?
L.A. Percussion Rentals is a vibrant small business started by husband and wife musicians Abby and Dan Savell. In 18 years, we have built a gigantic collection of instruments, including world, orchestral, and eclectic genres. Within this, we house the renowned Emil Richards Collection, a group of about 70 instruments that we used in countless movie scores and other recordings, such as Back to the Future, Star Trek, Lost, Moana, Frozen, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible, The Bourne Supremacy, The Matrix, Beetlejuice, and many more.
L.A. Percussion Rentals is known in the music community for providing exceptional, personalized service to live music, recordings, props, and tours.
We are ambassadors in percussion but don’t see this egotistically; it’s more that we always have our eyes open, love finding new artistic pathways, enjoy sharing connections with other musicians and artists while maintaining approachability and a sense of humor. It makes the process that much more enjoyable and is the core of what’s kept us ticking. (We love being part of LA and its rich history and colorful future.) Logistically, we enjoy helping production staff interpret and fulfill their musical needs, which are often not straightforward. Creatively, we work with composers, helping them find and explore new sounds for their scores using a wide variety of techniques; because we are experienced musicians who love the artistic process, we are able to dive deeply and push the envelope with acoustic percussion.
In the last 12 months, some examples of who have worked and collaborated with: Danny Elfman, Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, The Eagles, Zedd, Wild Up, Avatar 2, The President’s Own Marine Band, Ojai Music Festival, 20th Century Fox, Hulu, Netflix, Sao Paulo Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, UCLA Royce Hall, Colburn School, USC, LA Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, and many film, TV, and game composers.
In July, we launched All the Percs, a channel with a more immersive, sometimes wacky character, hosted by Abby. One of these experiences involved playing an instrument used in the Delorean reveal of Back to the Future at the original filming location, Puente Hills Mall (aka, the Twin Pines Mall).
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Our view has always to think about the long game. Is the risk more of a drop in the bucket in the end? Or a total bust if it doesn’t work? What’s the worst that can happen? And is it reversible (or mostly reversible)?
The biggest question is: what’s the risk in NOT taking the risk?
Moving into our warehouse was a risk – signed a commercial lease. Went from zero cost (house) to thousands every month. But the risk of not moving was lost time, frustration, and stagnation. This was in 2010. It’s helped so much that we’ve had each other! It wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. We both bring our own thought, experience, and skills to it all. So important.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lapercussionrentals.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lapercrentals/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lapercussionrentals
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtaF6OOEGwf8_M4tWAXxWpg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-percussion-and-backline-rentals-santa-clarita?osq=la+percussion
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lapercrentals
