Mpls.-Based 'Drumlite' To Light Up Super Bowl Drum Kits
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An idea born inside a University of St. Thomas dorm room will be front and center during this year's Super Bowl half time show.
Minneapolis-based Drumlite was recruited to light up the drum set of the show's feature performers -- Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Drummers by trade, Joey Nesbitt and Jeff Sevaldson came up with an idea that would change the way the world looks at the person behind the drum kit.
"Drummers are always in the background so why not bring something flashy to the stage," said Joey Nesbitt.
It's was Jeff who challenged his roommate Joey to put lights in a drum.
"I never really thought about it and I was pretty handy so I went ahead and did it while he was in class and I think I texted you a picture of it and it just blew up from there," Nesbitt said.
A $500 investment and a website lead to this, their lighted drums seen by 100 million viewers, center stage during halftime of the big game.
The setup is simple.
'This is the led that sticks right inside of your bass drum it has foam back double sided adhesive. You have your remote and you can change colors and there are some flashing and fading modes as well," Jeff Sevaldson said.
Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are not the first big acts to use Drumlite on stage.
"Def Leopard, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Kelly Clarkson, some of the late night shows, I think Arsenio Hall, their band got our stuff in there, too," Nesbitt said.
These young businessmen say their creation was meant to make playing drums fun.
"We're not saying were going to make you sound better were going to make you play better it doesn't matter but you are going to feel like a rock star, " Nesbitt said.
Can you believe these guys are only 25 years old? They are already thinking beyond the half time show.
They've created a way for the lights to blink by vibration from the drum. It's so cutting edge, one of the two companies they compete against now, will soon become a part of Drumlite.
