Guitar man’s ‘Wall of Fame’

By Jane Gardner

The little town of Gordon has recently welcomed a big name in the music world – Croatian-born Drago Trojkovic, who’s put his signed guitars on display.

Mr Trojkovic began his music career as a keyboard player in the 1970s Geelong-based band, ‘Samantha’, and he recently made a tree change to Gordon with his wife Mary-Louise.

As a boy, Drago emigrated from Croatia to Australia with his parents and two brothers. A few years after arriving, his father tragically died of meningitis, leaving the young boys to support the family.

During his years playing music in and around Geelong and Melbourne (at the same time working in accounting), Drago developed a keen interest in the music industry and began building and repairing sound systems. Eventually, as Drago’s hobby grew, as well as his knowledge of sound and lighting, he and his brothers decided to open a store, ‘Troy House of Music.’

That grew to become four stores across Geelong and Greater Melbourne, where the brothers offered equipment rental, teaching, and sales. Eventually, the brothers expanded their talents to develop a new division called ‘Troy Balance’, which evolved into a major supplier to national and international acts.

This included the hiring out of concert production equipment and sound systems to acts such as the Little River Band, John Farnham, Cindy Lauper, Joe Cocker, and Paul Simon. Troy Music became the second largest sound production company in Australia.

One thing led to another, and before they knew it, Drago and his brothers had branched out into three separate businesses: retail, wholesale, and concert production. In Drago’s words, “Troy Music in South Yarra became the watering hole for international artists.”

The likes of John Fogerty, Santana, The Eagles, and Billy Joel all came through their doors. By this time, Drago was also travelling the world sourcing vintage guitars to help fill a niche market back in Australia.

During his travels to the USA, Drago began attending trade shows where he became a popular and highly respected distributor for guitar brands such as Fender, ESP, JBL and Adamson.

He was twice interviewed by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM, USA) and was one of the first in the music industry to work with the Chinese to develop his own guitar label, Monterey.

Drago’s wholesale business – CMI Music & Audio – became one of the largest distributors in Australia.

The good news for Moorabool residents, is that having recently sold his business and retired, Drago needed a local space to display his impressive guitar collection – many personally signed by music A-Listers such as Metallica, Joe Walsh from The Eagles, and Dave Mustaine from Megadeth. Drago approached Gordons at Gordon Café, where an empty wall was soon converted into a music wall of fame.

If you’re lucky enough to cross paths with Drago, or happen to see him sitting in the café alongside his ‘guitar wall’, he’d no doubt happily stop for a chat and a reminisce about his extraordinary life, travelling the world making guitars, and rubbing shoulders with the best of the best. He is the ultimate Guitar Man.