There’s not much the Drake duo can’t turn their hands to, which explains why the teenage twins from the West Coast are now in business together.
Indy and Jimmy Drake, both 17, have a strong work ethic and impressive skillset inherited from their father, Brent, a longtime joiner.
When Seven Sharp visited the twins to inspect their skill and craftsmanship while working on a property near Westport, Brent described when his sons first picked up the tools of the trade.
“When we were back in Canterbury, I’d go off to work, and they were only little guys, but I’d come back, and all my tools would be missing.
“I tried many times to lock them out of the shed, and they’d always find a way back in.”
Brent explained the kinds of jobs he and the twin brothers typically tackle.
“Jobs that people probably can’t face themselves; they just need a bit of help to get something done, or they can’t find a local builder or someone to do it. Then we turn up, and they say, ‘Hallelujah!'”
Neither Indy nor Jimmy has a full driver’s licence yet, so their mother, Averil, drives them to work.
Saving up
When Seven Sharp caught up with the pair, they were busy mulching and proudly showed off their new mulcher.
“We just got it [the mulcher] a couple of weeks ago,” explained Indy, adding that having the funds to buy the equipment came from “just doing lots of jobs for people, saving up and trying not to get into any debt”.
To understand how DIY got into the brothers’ DNA, you need to travel just south of Westport to a flat, boggy block where the Drakes put down their roots and raised two sets of twins off-grid.
With Brent away working, Averil was a full-time carer and educator of four children, living for four years in a house truck.
Off the grid
“My mother was born in Denniston, and my whole family were coal miners,” she said while conveying a sense that she knew all about living off the grid.
“It came with challenges,” said Averil of those four years living in the house truck.
“It was an amazing experience that I will never regret. It was just such a great thing to give the children. All the challenges were learning experiences and opportunities; it helped push [the children] and make them think outside the box.”
From handling biofuel digesters, constructing tunnel houses, a tree hut they built for their younger siblings, and a knifemaking venture that took them around the country, Jimmy and Indy are no strangers to innovation.
“I think it’s been pretty good just being able to stay home and entertain ourselves without internet or anything,” said Jimmy.
“We’d be building tree houses, doing all the joinery ourselves without help and learning how to do all that sort of stuff.”
A family affair
The twins’ new venture won’t just provide trade qualifications and a future for the pair; their younger brother Ollie, who has type 1 diabetes, will also benefit.
“He’s got a pump, which works like his pancreas. [The pump has] been defunded, so the business is helping to pay for that,” shared Indy.
Ollie also plans to one day follow in his brothers’ footsteps and expand the workforce to three handy lads.
For the Drake family, there’s no shortage of work or willing workers.