The Drumstick Collector
Dave Iozzia collected his first drumstick in 1977 when a drummer from a band named Be-Bop Deluxe tossed his cracked stick into the crowd and Iozzia snatched it away from a sea of hands. Since then, Iozzia estimates he’s snatched and snared more than 3,200 drumsticks. Why? Because he can. Some people collect coins. Others collect cards. Dave stockpiles sticks. You might say he marches to the beat of his own drum.
I first read about Dave’s story in my local newspaper in the summer of 2016. Being a storyteller, I thought he’d be a pretty interesting person to interview. After all, how many people do know who collect thousands of drumsticks, yet alone one? So I reached out to Dave on Facebook and he invited me over to his house and showed me his extensive collection.
To my surprise, the sticks weren’t displayed like trophies in a glass case. Instead, Dave randomly stores his drumsticks in plastic bins and open containers, tucked away in various corners of the house.
Each stick is signed by the drummer and numbered by Dave. From one to three thousand plus. He proudly showed me one stick from Bun E. Carlos, the drummer from Cheap Trick. He then pulled out another from Stewart Copeland from The Police. It was signed stick number 1,000. Blondie’s drummer Clem Burke, signed number 1,700. And stick number 2,000 was signed by none other than the legendary Ringo Starr. It happened to arrive in the mail that day, and I was the first person to see them. Pretty cool!
Of course I wasn’t going to say goodbye to Dave before I saw the master himself, in action. So I tagged along to a local concert hall in Sayreville, NJ, called The Starland Ballroom. The joint has played host to a “who’s who” of rock n rollers like Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, The Doobie Brothers, Metallica, Stone Temple Pilots and many more.
To watch Dave work his magic was inspiring. I followed Dave with my camera as he met up with a couple of drummers from local bands prior to their gigs, in the parking lot. It’s not like Dave ambushed them like some stalking groupie. Rather, Dave respectfully contacted the drummers ahead of time, to introduce himself and ask their permission for a signed stick. Each drummer was more than happy to sign a stick and hand it over to Dave, because as one of them said, “Nobody does that. Nobody does that. I think it’s pretty phenomenal actually.”
I agree. You might say Dave is quite the phenom, with a phenomenal collection of signed drumsticks. So as long as drummers are drumming, the beat will go on for Dave.
“There’s no goal to end it right now. It’s just one day at a time, like my lifestyle. Just keep on going and keep on adding to it.”
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