The motto was always “Build it, don’t buy it.” Richard Upchurch heard his dad say this constantly growing up. So when his beloved sixties-era Sony transistor radio broke, a young Upchurch didn’t purchase a new one; instead, he cracked it open and tinkered until it worked again. Decades later, the fifty-year-old Upchurch still has that radio—and it’s still functional. He’s now a professional tinkerer, the Geppetto behind Brand New Noise, a Dallas-based line of wooden musical instrument–toys—or toy-instruments, depending on the customer. He recently sold one of his pieces to a synthesizer enthusiast who planned to use it on a record. But on his way out, the customer added, “My daughter’s gonna love this thing.” She’s nine.Upchurch’s flagship product, Loopy Lou, is essentially a small recording…
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