Francis Mercier and his path into Moperc

By Dave Perlowski

“The Buena Vista Social Club” is an important film. Not only did it win an Oscar for “Best Documentary,” and not only did it revive a worldwide interest for the 50’s music from Cuba, but it preserved the company that manufactures some of the most revered drums in the world from disappearing… Part of MOPERC’s history!

Francis Mercier was a 17 year old cajón player when he discovered the soundtrack of the film produced and directed by Ry Cooder and Juan de Marcos González. He was so impressed by the rich Latin rhythms that he convinced his drummer/brother to begin studying Frank Malabe’s and Bob Weiner’s “Afro-Cuban Rhythms for Drum Set” with him. Francis says: “My Dad and my Mom always encouraged me and my brother to learn and play music. I was born listening to flamenco, rock and all kinds of good music. My Dad and my brother were my first teachers.’’ The two teenagers devoured the lessons of that book, but they knew that the ultimate way to sharpen their skills would be only by full immersion. So, with the money they had saved from working their father’s painting business, they bought plane tickets to Cuba.

Francis and his brother hadn’t been to Cuba before; they had no contacts there, but they were determined to increase their rhythmic vocabularies. “We were like two little white chickens in Havana, man” Francis said. “Fortunately, people are very helpful when they think there is business to be made,” and before long they were introduced to Armando, a batalero in the folkloric tradition who had played with Pello el Afrokán.

Francis remembers: “Armando didn’t have the best conga technique, but he introduced us to a style of drumming we never would have learned in Montreal. He took us to some Santeria things, you know, parties, rituals where I saw real batá drumming for the first time. “I couldn’t even feel the downbeat sometimes and Armando was screaming at me ‘Play the clave!!! Nooo, nooo, you’re out!!!’ We also got to the weekend rumbas at Callejon de Hamel, and the more I learned, the more I wanted.”

When the two returned to Montreal, Francis immediately bought a pair of inexpensive mass-produced congas and some videos by Jose Luis Quintana Changuito and Giovanni Hidalgo, but it wasn’t long before he learned why cheap drums are so inexpensive and he set out to find instruments that sounded like actual congas. That’s when he discovered the “love-at-first-sight” quality of MOPERCs at a Montreal music store. They weren’t within Francis’ financial reach at the time, but they became his immediate goal.

“After the show I met Rolando backstage and he introduced me to Juan de Marcos and all the players. I told him again that I wanted to return to Havana to learn and he told me something that completely surprised me: that I could live with him in his home and he would give me five lessons per week!”

Rolando Salgado Palacio must have had the same reaction nearly everyone has when they play a MOPERC instrument for the first time because he took that drum with him to play on his very next tour. Later, on his next trip to Matanzas, Michel brought Rolando a set of congas and he continued to support the group whenever it came to Canada by providing drums that Juan De Marcos would take back to Cuba to tour with around the world.

Over the following years, Francis and Michel became close friends. Of course, Francis also became an important customer, investing heavily into MOPERC products, but above that, the two conversed, they played music and they made conga drums. Because of the strong ties that had developed with MOPERC and the Afro-Cuban All Stars, Francis accepted an invitation to go on a eastern Canadian tour with the band. Francis says: “I had a lot of fun. It was a unique opportunity to see Juan de Marcos and his band every night for 10 days. I was on the bus tour with them, eating good food, sleeping in good hotels and I’ve learned many things watching sound checks, shows, and the way Juan de Marcos leads the band and treats his musicians. I’ll never forget it’’

Michel had begun a small band called Habana Café that started out playing traditional Cuban music. As the band grew in numbers and its gigs became more frequent, Michel asked whether Francis would be interested in occasionally subbing for him. He did, leading to a full-time two-year seat with the group, and for Francis, it became an opportunity for him to further refine his skills through regular collaboration playing the music he loves.

Francis continued his annual trips to Cuba, learning more and soaking up as much of the culture as he could with each visit. Once, he went with the purpose of creating a series of YouTube videos of the many players he had met. At the time, Michel had little internet exposure, so Francis set out to change that situation. He knew the power of the medium, having spent countless hours watching music videos with his brother. In both Montreal and Havana, he located and videoed, among many others, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Yoruba Andabo, Rumberos de Cuba, Afro-Cuban All Stars, and some of his videos have been watched more than 100,000 times. And with that effort, the MOPERC brand began getting noticed as Francis worked to promote the name through social media, creating a MOPERC page on Facebook, with almost 10,000 followers.

Every entrepreneur knows that the “highs” of owning a business are incredibly high, just as the “lows” are remarkably so. Francis and Michel talked with each other regularly and during one of those conversations Michel expressed concern that his business was not doing better. He told Francis “It’s going pretty slow, man, and I don’t know, I don’t know if I’m gonna keep it open. I don’t even know if I want to do this anymore.” But, as it often happens for many who threaten to close their businesses, the orders began coming in, largely because of Francis’ heavy promotion of the MOPERC brand to percussionists worldwide on FaceBook.

However, the shine of new growth eventually wore off and Michel again expressed his fatigue with the trade stating he was ready to call it quits. This time, he really meant it, that is until word got out among the percussion community that he was leaving. Once again, orders for new instruments began rolling in from in-the-know players wanting one last opportunity to purchase their dream drums. He filled those orders but with the resolve that he would close the shop within a year.

Earlier, Francis had finished his studies in sound production. He learned how to record, mix and edit sound, with a good understanding of the acoustical properties of musical instruments. He had a job as a sound editor in Montreal. Francis says: “At the beginning it was pretty exciting. My first job was to edit half of the DVD ‘LUZIA’ from Cirque du Soleil, a 200 track show. However, I got a bit mad when I realized my name wasn’t listed in the credits of any project I would work on.” Call it divine intervention, or fate, or just dumb luck, but Francis lost that job, and as hard as he tried to find similar work, it just wasn’t going to happen.

Michel still had many orders to work on, so he called Francis to see whether he’d be interested in coming to work with him a few days a week since several of his employees had recently moved. Francis drove to the shop right away and after his first day of work, the two were “relaxing” and began dreaming aloud about the possibility of Francis taking over the business. That was the easy part. Because Francis had recently married Laritza, her buy-in for any new venture was critical.

“Laritza was born in Santiago and spent most of her time in Havana” Francis says. “When she moved to Canada, she chose Montreal for its rich city life. The MOPERC shop was in St-Adrien, three hours away and in the countryside, which held no appeal for Laritza!”

The more Francis worked with Michel, though, the more impassioned he became about continuing to make hand drums under the MOPERC name. Already, the business was growing due to Francis’ marketing efforts; he just needed to come up with a way to make it all work. He certainly couldn’t spend 6 hours a day commuting, yet to move the entire operation to Montreal was financially prohibitive. Michel wanted to sell his house and shop to be closer to his girlfriend in Danville, but that prospect, too, was beyond Francis’ reach, plus, there were still Laritza’s considerations, though she was beginning to warm up to the thought of moving.

Then, the idea came to Francis that he would see whether he might rent the house and shop while Michel moved to Danville with his girl. Michel thought that it was a great idea. He moved out and Francis took over the MOPERC business in February 2018.

Francis doubled the previous year’s sales in just his first year with the company and the business continues to grow largely because of a growing international interest in high quality, hand-crafted drums, but moreover, the business has grown because of Francis’ reputation for being an honest, friendly and fair businessman, musician and human being.

Anyone who has ever seen a MOPERC drum can’t help but comment on its perfect paint finish. However, applying that paint without the benefit of a proper spray booth is tricky and time consuming. So, the first change Francis made after the move was to install an industrial booth in the vacant area while leaving room for a high-end audio-visual recording studio and sleeping quarters for guest musicians

As every successful business owner will avow, reinvesting into your own business is critically important, and Francis heeds that advice closely. Since moving the MOPERC shop, Francis has purchased a high-speed lathe and an industrial precision table saw which will accelerate production as well as improve quality. With those additions, MOPERC is the only hand-crafted drum company with the ability to deliver custom products within 5 weeks of order placement.

Additionally, the revamped MOPERC.com website has an online store where customers can order ready-made drums and receive them within days!

With all these changes in a relatively short period, Francis’ number 1 goal is always toward customer satisfaction by making the best drums in the world and by delivering excellent service. Currently, MOPERC drums are being played in 25 countries as more congueros discover and appreciate the unmatched quality, tone, wood and color variety and ease of ordering custom, hand-made drums. With Francis’ mind set upon continual improvement, the future of MOPERC shines brightly.