For Robert Shen, president of Remo, Inc., the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade is a favorite tradition on many different levels.
For the 44th year, the Valencia-based company, known as the premier manufacturer of drum heads and drum accessories, will sponsor the annual two-day marching band extravaganza called Bandfest.
“It’s the perfect fit,” Shen said of the sponsorship, which includes his company providing some 2,000 specially designed drum heads to the two dozen participating bands, and the tourney as a whole.
But though he’s been with the company for 25 years, Shen’s personal history with Remo dates back decades. His father, Freddie Shen, a native of Taiwan, began with the company in 1977, ultimately becoming its executive vice president before retiring.
“He was essentially Remo’s right-hander or number two,” Shen said of his father, who worked for the company more than 40 years.
So Shen grew up with a close connection to the company and its founder, Remo Belli.
“I grew up calling him Uncle Remo,” said Shen, who remembers running around the office as a kid, ducking in and out of meetings, playing on the floor during the work day, as well as interacting with the founder at his own home and at company gatherings.
“I remember Remo was always just this kind of larger-than-life character,” Shen described, with Belli sometimes hosting company hoedowns at his ranch in Paso Robles.
“Remo was really this intense guy — very, very laser-focused on the business, on creativity, on research and development,” Shen said, and as he got older Remo became more introspective.
Belli started Remo, Inc., in North Hollywood in 1957, conceiving of and later patenting the first synthetic drum head alongside chemist Sam Muchnick — one known as the “WeatherKing” because it wasn’t susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. Other products followed, as did a boom in business.
In 1961 the company made the Guinness Book of World Records after creating the largest bass drum ever, on a request from Disneyland. During that decade, the 10.5-foot-high drum also started appearing in the Tournament of Roses Parade, ultimately linking the business to the annual celebration.
“I have to admit I never experienced the parade from what I would consider the true fan’s perspective,” noted Shen, who remembers early mornings when he and his family would attend.
“I was fortunate enough to have this tie in and affiliation with the tournament,” he said, “so we were able to get some pretty nice seats in the grandstand. … It was still dark when we got into our seats, but the energy and the excitement was palpable in the air because (of) just this really exciting, majestic anticipation.”
Shen also remembers the first time Remo partnered for Bandfest, which he said started out in just a small room at Pasadena City College.
“A band would come through and do a little routine in that small space,” he said. “Now it’s on the field at the PCC and you’ve got the grandstands that can hold … 4,000 people, and there’s a lot of fanfare involved.”
This year’s event takes place in three sessions, on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 2 p.m., then on Monday, Dec. 30 at 10 a.m., and then at 2 p.m., at the Robinson Stadium at 1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
“We are honored to have partnered with Remo for more than 30 years,” said David Eads, CEO for the parade.
“Their innovative percussion instruments play a vital role in enhancing the performances of marching bands in the Rose Parade,” he said, noting that each year the artwork displayed on the drum heads visualize the parade’s theme.
While the Remo brand established an indelible mark on music history through the 1960s, including displaying the familiar crown-shaped logo that appeared above several of The Beatles’ bass drum heads, their multi-colored silkscreened drum heads became available and popular with marching bands starting in 1968.
“Remo had at that point already established itself as pretty much the preeminent drum head in the world. … It was pretty natural fit or collaboration I supposed between Remo and Tournament of Roses,” Shen said.
Eads also noted that along with sponsoring Bandfest, which gives the marching bands an opportunity to feature their full-field show, the Tournament of Roses Parade and Remo have also co-hosted World Music Day in celebration of Make Music Pasadena.
“This annual event includes performances from musicians in the community, as well as breakout sessions for music therapy, music and education, and percussive storytelling,” he said. “Together, Tournament of Roses and Remo celebrate the universal power of music to bring people together and inspire joy.”
Shen said that while the bread and butter of their business remains with the music and entertainment industry, including concerts and live music performances, for about the past 30 years the company has also focused significant attention on health and wellness through music therapy.
“We were one of the first company, probably were the first company in the music industry, especially from the percussion aspect, to fund research into developing a protocol that’s specific to improving health and wellness in the human condition,” he said.
Twenty years ago Remo began HealthRHYTHMS, a research-based group drumming program, as well as currently partnering with Beat the Odds, which focuses on drum circles and counseling.
“That’s what’s so fulfilling about what we do here,” Shen said of this work, which also extends to the happiness music will bring people at the Rose Parade.
“Music is really such a driving force and factor behind the parade,” he said. “Obviously you still have a lot of really cool stuff with the floats and the equestrians and the groups that come down and march down Colorado Boulevard, but it would be so much different without the bands performing.”
“When you see that band marching down the parade route and obviously you hear them … keeping that time, keeping that rhythm, keeping that beat, it’s certainly just a natural fit that Remo is tied to that,” he said.
Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.
