We had the good fortune of connecting with Bill McFadden and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bill, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Starting a business is different for everyone. While I have been an manufacturing executive working in corporate America for most of my career, I have always carried with me a strong entrepreneurial drive. A book I read, 15 years years ago, had a major impact on the type of business I wanted to own one day – “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss. Owning a business can be daunting, overwhelming and slowly extract your life force. I wanted a business that I can run from anywhere – Freedom. I wanted a business that fits into what I enjoy in life – Design, Manufacturing and Music. Lastly, for a business to be successful, you must have a unique or competitive service or product that provides value to a defined audience. No Nuts Percussion combines all of these things for me.

No Nuts Endorser, Maurits de Vries, Netherlands Sessions Drummer at the House of Rock.
No Nuts Endorser and Bill’s High School Friend and Bandmate, Todd Lange.
(LtoR) Rodney Pino and Bill McFadden excited about endorsement by Steve Fydik, Internationally acclaimed Jazz Drummer.
The No Nuts Cymbal Sleeve and CymRings off multiple set-ups with one system.
Co-Inventor of the No Nuts Cymbal Sleeve and Touring Musician, Rodney Pino.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My friend Rodney owns a rehearsal facility, Grooveworks Studios in Gardena, CA and is a full-time career drummer/musician in three tribute bands. He was struggling with lost cymbal mounting parts and unending set-up and tear downs of his kit. Messing with a number of ideas, he reached out to me as a specialist in materials, molding and manufacturing. My experience designing and developing hundreds of medical and industrial components throughout my career, I was able to see a unique patentable solution to the problem. While the idea for this application would have never crossed my mind, once in it, I was hooked. Fast forward 4 years, the patent I wrote was issued on the first pass, the material selection process and evaluations finally met standards, the production molding issues had been resolved, a brand and full production was launched – No Nuts ® Cymbal Sleeves. It took perseverance every step of the way to see it through to this point and little did I know that the real work was about to begin. Breaking into music equipment industry has been a learning curve all its own. But with all of the effort required, the success of the product has been so rewarding. We’re just a couple of musicians that set out to develop a product to improve the lives of other musicians. The positive feedback and support from the drummers that have joined the No Nuts family of Artists has been so rewarding for me. We now have 4 products in our portfolio now and launching 10 more SKU’s in the first quarter 2021.

The No Nuts Cymbal Mounting System launched at NAMM2020 where the CymRing was introduced.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We live in South Redondo Beach almost at the very end of the Strand near Palos Verdes (PV). When my friends come to visit, it is hard not to get out the bikes and hit the Strand in the SouthBay. The Semi-Private beach atmosphere is like being on vacation without the hassle of travel. Hiking on the backside of PV, surfing at Burn-Out or Lunada Bay, biking all the way to Santa Monica along the beach. Want great food with great views – Redondo Pier (Kincaid’s Fish, Chop & Steakhouse and Charthouse), Hermosa Beach (The view at Hennessey’s is awesome), Manhattan Beach (The Strand House).

(LtoR) Bill McFadden and Danny Seraphine, drummer and founding member of the rock band Chicago.
No Nuts Percussion Owner, Bill McFadden, at NAMM2020 demonstrating product. To the Left is Sammy The Cymbal Sleeve in Red.
Jarah Jane – Canadian Drummer and No Nuts Endorser.
The No Nuts SizzleNut launched at NAMM2020

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a ShoutOut to my wife Lauren McFadden. Her support and encouragement for any dream I have chosen to follow in my career is something to be cherished. Life isn’t always easy and at times we are faced with challenges that can put us back on our heels. Having a special someone next to you, to share with and work through the toughest of times, is the key to most successful people in business today. Lauren is also a fabulous hair stylist with a career of her own, Hair by Lauren. Love you honey!!

Website: www.nonutspercussion.com
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/nonutscymbalsleeves
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/19127141/
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/nonutssleeves
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoNutsSleeves/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2j7TMLfTJwRGGbmzbUSU4A

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.