Of all the local bands in Tucson, Stands with Fists has managed to stand out from the pack for several reasons. A metal group which prominently features a violin player, they also put on a unique stage

show that may include some band members walking through the audience on stilts. And Nick Racine, the drummer of the band, uses Rotek drums. He has one of the few Rotek sets in existence.

The RotekDrums Tuning System was invented by David Spinazzola. His idea was to make drum tuning significantly easier, and to allow for more accurate tuning. Spinazzola began development of this product in 2004, and continued to make improvements to it over the next several years. Finally, version 4 was created in 2007. This new version had half the mass of version 3. Due to the myriad of changes made, Spinazzola had to file a second patent application for version 4 (he had originally filed for a patent after designing version 2).

Racine, who is the Director of Artist Relations for Rotek, met Spinazzola approximately three years ago and became involved in the business. At the time of their meeting, Racine was already quite impressed by the RotekDrums Tuning System.

“Rotek has definitely made me a better drummer. Having perfectly tuned drums has really helped my playing, because now I don’t have to worry about how my drums sound,” Racine explained. “Having great sounding drums inspires you to be more creative while still having fun using a drum set that no one else in the world has.”

Many artists have lined up to purchase Rotek systems once manufacturing has started. Currently, Racine and musician Jovan J. Dawkins of Tacoma, Washington, are using Rotek sets.