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Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Audio

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Thriving on Chaos – Karen Weigold

 

Karen “Keeks” Weigold grew up in Toronto, Ontario (Canada). She was always passionate about arts and spent the first 18 years of her life as a dancer. When the time came to apply for post-secondary education, her love for the entertainment industry pushed her to attend the Toronto Film School’s Sound Industry Program. While at the college, she met artist & producer Dan Hill. Dan offered her an internship in his home studio, and soon she was skipping classes in favor of recording band demos. It was while working at the studio that she was introduced to some live sound techs. By shadowing these techs, Karen got her taste for live sound. Her first live sound gig was at The Big Bop, a now-defunct venue in Toronto. Karen describes her live sound training as being “the hands-on “sink or swim” method.” She believes in taking chances and trying out new things to figure out what works, and what doesn’t.  She credits Dan with pushing her into the live world, as he recognized that she thrived on the chaos that is often present at shows.

As a touring freelancer, Karen has worked as front of house, monitor engineer, tour manager and production manager. Her first touring gig was mixing monitors for Ian Thornley of Big Wreck. She was offered this job by her friend Sean Palmer (current FOH for The Used) who was Big Wreck’s FOH at the time. After spending two days working with Karen at The Mod Club, he was so impressed with her work ethic that he offered her the monitor engineer position, even though she had no touring or digital board experience.  Never one to be scared of a challenge, Keeks prepared by reading the Avid SC48 manual beforehand. On her first day on the gig, Sean gave her a crash course on the board’s most important functions. She recalls that first show as being stressful but exciting, as she was running five stereo in-ear monitor mixes, five-floor wedges, a drum sub and side fills. The show went well and was a great learning experience. She was welcomed to the crew and proceeded to work with Ian Thornley, as well as with Big Wreck when they reunited, for four years.

During this time, she also worked as FOH/TM for Hollerado, Wildlife and Alyssa Reid before landing a FOH gig mixing The Weeknd. Karen spent a surreal 2.5 years with The Weeknd, mixing all over the world.  From there, she spent a year with Irish band Heathers, mixing in Europe, Canada, the US and even a short stint in Malaysia. Since 2013, she has spent the majority of her time out on the road as FOH/TM of Toronto darlings July Talk. When she’s not travelling the world, Karen can be found working as a house tech for The Mod Club, Danforth Music Hall and the Phoenix Concert Theatre.keeks_julytalk

I first met Karen when she came through Café Dekcuf in Ottawa with Heathers. As I watched her take charge of the stage set-up and flip her MC7L board alone, I thought to myself: “damn, this is a woman I want to know!” I’m happy to say that she’s now a friend, and is always up for giving me some tech or life advice. I asked her a few questions about her experiences as a sound tech before she headed out on a US tour with July Talk.

Karen describes the best part of touring as travelling and “being able to be a part of something special and unique each night. I feel incredibly lucky to be included in some of the magic I’ve been a part of since 2009. The artist trusts you as a sound person to convey to the world what they’ve poured their hearts and souls into! It’s a pretty incredible thing.”

She also thrives on “working in a new venue every day, with different gear and different challenges; sometimes it’s great, and sometimes you need to figure out how to make it great.” She acknowledges that being faced with different set ups every day can be difficult, but that this is what ultimately makes you a better tech. When given the chance, Karen loves to work with Midas Heritage 3000’s and DigiCo Consoles, Waves plug-ins, outboard graphs, TC Electronic D-Two’s, Sennheiser 421’s and Avalon 737’s.

Her biggest dislike of touring is the food: “When you’re not privy to catering it can be pretty awful at times… I try to stay as healthy as I can on the road, but sometimes gas station bananas don’t cut it and you just need to hit the In-&-Out to animal style your night!”

For those looking to get into touring, Karen says some must-have skills are being patient, having a sense of humor, knowing how to Tetris gear, being understanding, open to learning, and knowing how to multi-task.

In regards to finding the right artists to work for, she adds: “if it feels good, do it. If it doesn’t, it’s not worth it. I’m referring to working with/for people who make you a better person and give you a sense of accomplishment, happiness and respect. I’ve been on tours (and know a lot of people who are/were on tours) that were not great experiences mentally or emotionally. Why put yourself through that? At the end of the day it’s all just rock and roll, we’re all here for the same reason. Touring work needs to be supportive, respectful and professional. If you can’t count on your road family, then you need to find a new one.”

IMG_1928Much like many women in this industry, Karen has experienced sexism, both on the road and while at her house gigs. She believes the industry is slowly changing but still considers sexism to be the biggest obstacle she faces on a regular basis. She has been told by venue techs that she isn’t mixing the show and even been laughed at when she has announced herself as the band’s sound tech. When faced with these situations, Karen’s advice is to tackle them head-on! She explains: “I wouldn’t ever want the women in my life to feel like they don’t have a voice to be heard, so I try to live my life like that when I’m faced with less than ideal situations. Speak up, do your job the best you can and don’t ever let people make you feel like anything but their equal. Being quick thinking and tactful makes it easier to have the upper hand. Let your work speak for itself. Sexism is someone else’s problem, not mine, and I won’t let it be mine. Don’t get me wrong, I do meet more incredible people than not, some of whom have become some of my closest friends, and in the coming years I’m sure whatever is left of [sexism] will be on it’s last legs.”

Karen’s long-term goals are to keep working on her mixing skills and to continue touring with great people. She also notes that she never wants to stop learning, and wants to keep surrounding herself with people who inspire her to do better and to be better – this applies to both her personal and work life. I have no doubt she will accomplish these, as she is one of the most hard-working people I have ever met! I wish Keeks all the best on her future tours and thank her for taking the time to answer my questions.

If you would like to contact Karen, she can be reached at standbygold@gmail.com

 

Daniella Peters-Initiative Creates a Job

Professional Audio encompasses a wide range of jobs from Engineering to Research and Development, Audio technicians, Mixers, and the various positions at companies that provide services and equipment. These include things like; Management, Public Relations, Marketing, and Sales. All of these jobs require diverse skills and knowledge about your product and/or company.

SoundGirls recently talked with Daniella Peters of Rat Sound.

Daniella Peters is the head of the Sales Department and part of the management team at Rat Sound in Camarillo, CA. Having worked for Rat for the past 14 years, she considers the Rat team family. Daniella was no stranger to live events or the stage. Her mother was a performer, so she grew up around the theater. She also spent several years working for an international cosmetics company doing their live events and found working in the concert industry a natural transition.

Like many in the music industry, Daniella essentially created her job.

“I was 23 and I knew Jon Monson, Dave Rat, and Karrie Keyes. I pitched Karrie at the time to come and work for them doing PR. Back then, Rat was a lot smaller, and there wasn’t really a budget but I didn’t care, I just desperately wanted to work there. I would go to shows, takes photos of the crew and gear, and make sure each Rat tour was in the trades. After a year or so, Dave Rat said ‘this is great, but really we need to get you bringing in money in order to keep you.’ So we sat down one day and thought about it. We knew how to send large rock tours out and rent out gear, but we didn’t have a storefront, nor a real web store. Dave suggested selling all of the gear Rat used; microphones, speakers, and so forth. We could give unbiased advice on the best product for the job, and we had access to all these incredible lines that we used anyway. The plan was informal. We picked a product as a test. We chose the Audix OM7 vocal microphone. Both the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam were using it so it was a mic we really could get behind. The goal was to sell five mics. It seemed huge, did I cold call? eBay? Pitch to the bands we were working with? We built a simple web page with a single OM7 and a PayPal button on it, and the sales department was born.”

Two years later Rat hit a million dollars in product box sales.

Without a formal background in audio, Daniella gained most of her knowledge by learning on the job. She volunteered at KROQ shows, stints at HHB and Rock FM, and worked on the Coachella main stage audio team for Rat. “I’ve learned by watching and listening. I got lucky because I had other sales and marketing skills, which benefitted Rat at the time I was hired. Now I would say you need to have a strong interest and innate ability in audio to go far. It’s too competitive now otherwise. “

Successfully selling a product requires knowing the product. A good amount of research can be involved. Daniella gets to know the products through attending trade shows like NAMM, LDI, and AES, which she attends regularly and feels are the most relevant and useful for her position in sales. She also attends manufacturer demos and learns from speaking with her customers, clients, and bands about what they like. This gives her a feel for what is hot in the market. “Obviously the rental dept. has strong recommendations and opinions on new gear that comes out, and being a slightly larger company, manufacturers drop in pretty frequently to see us and keep us updated on what is new.”

Attending the trade shows offers more than just product info.

Daniella finds the trade shows a useful tool for relationship building, which that coupled with great service and reliability is what she finds key to making a successful sale. “Sometimes you have people who call in and tell you I just need it to be the lowest price. And you know they have spent 2 hours on the phone calling everywhere to save $5 on a microphone. On the other side of the coin, I must say, either way, a huge part of what I do, is having things get there exactly when they are meant to. Tours spend very little time in one place. If a band has one show a night, in a different city every day, then you need to be precise in getting what they need there exactly on time. Likewise, if they have something break mid-show or heaven forbid someone throws a beer on your console, they can email or call me at any time. I will do everything beyond my power to either advance replace or fix. We’ve sent an Atlas mic stand with someone on a plane one time to a band in Europe because they absolutely needed the MS 12CE and there wasn’t any to be found anywhere on a Sunday in that part of the world. It’s frustrating to get beat up on price although I understand it. It’s the fine balance between covering your costs, and you are paying for service too. I would like to think that my clients know if they have an issue they feel cared for and safe. I feel they are also my friends. When I had to go to travel to the East coast, I stopped in and met up with Welsh Sound for example. I went out with James’s wife and daughter, and we went to see a concert together where James was working which was so super fun. And then being out at Coachella, jobs or trade shows, you get to meet with people whom you’ve only met by phone. I feel like I know what is going on in their lives as they do mine. I’m not sure if that’s typical music touring industry or whether it’s a result of the world’s turn towards social media aiding this. Maybe a mixture of both.”

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Do you find now that most of the sales come to you via the website or do you still have to do a lot of the leg work like cold calling, and pitching to bands?
All of the above. Facebook has been a fun marketing medium for our box sales and gets a lot of interaction. We have loyal repeat clients. I find myself getting referrals now (shout out to Ron Kimball (Bad Religion), Kevin Sanchez, and Jason Bertok who give my name to everyone they meet), some pitching, some bidding. Having a touring side helps, if bands are out on tour, they get shot in my direction from Jon Monson. Getting to work shows like Coachella, I meet new and old faces each year. We have a fairly active web store, Amazon and eBay as well, although it’s constantly a work in progress in developing ways to bring people to the web store.

How important is social marketing in your job?
I update the Rat’s social media, although sometimes I lag depending on how busy we get. It feels like it should be a full-time job. For Rat’s sales division, social marketing has been paramount, for Rat Sound at least.
Daniella doesn’t feel that she has faced much sexism or discrimination being a minority (woman) in the audio industry. “I don’t know that I’ve ever lost a sale or client because of being a woman although I have gained some clients because I am a woman. Yes, women are the minority, and maybe I’m just oblivious but honestly, I’ve found everyone with whom I’ve come into contact with pretty cool and very respectful. I think that’s why I’ve stayed at Rat so long. Dave Rat is pretty clear that we are all a team. And male or female we all have our strengths and weaknesses but, as long as you work hard, it’s the collective that works. In this industry, I’ve found most people really easy to get along with. That being said, I am pretty feminine, I know my limits, what I’m good at and what I’m not good at. It’s that old phrase, better to be right or happy? Quite honestly, I think no matter which industry you work in there are always occasionally those who may be arrogant or ego-driven. That’s life in general. But I have done a lot of work on trying to not take anything too personally – from males or females. You just roll your eyes, keep your head down and move on.” Again, Daniella stresses that good relationships and reliability are keys to success. “It’s building relationships. You gel who you gel with, and you enjoy talking to some more than others. Screw up and you’re going to lose jobs.”

Can you tell us about one of your favorite long-term projects?
We did do one for the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center. We won the bid for their brand new L-Acoustics sound system for their two theaters, which was exciting for everyone here. They are such a landmark venue that it was a real privilege to be trusted with their project and build that relationship with them – especially being in such close proximity.

I think every project “takes a village”. While yes, I was the project manager, I worked with our general manager on this one. He has different strengths to the ones I have so we worked together.

A funny story; one of the first days we were on site, I met one of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center team that two years earlier, turns out he had contacted Rat and we had actually met. It was late on a Friday, and he had needed a part, last minute for a show and he was stuck and calling round. It was small but important to him, and I had gestured “just take it, I don’t want any payment. But don’t forget to bring it back Monday otherwise I’ll hunt you down!” He had remembered. I think there was something Karmic in that gesture even though it wasn’t on purpose at the time.

Mail AttachmentFor anyone thinking about getting into audio sales or any career in general Daniella has some good advice: “Go for it. It does not cross my mind that you shouldn’t truly go for anything you want to do in life, and while you are doing that, you may find your life takes a direction you could never have even dreamed! Quite honestly, I didn’t have a fixed plan starting out. I started in the beauty industry, but over time realized I was gravitating towards music.

Get as much experience as possible. When I was younger, I sought out as many experiences as I possibly could and said yes, to any opportunity, no matter what. I had no ego attached to doing even the most mundane of tasks to gain experience. I built up experience and relationships until I stumbled into the role where I felt was meant to be.

Pay your dues, watch and listen, work hard, get creative!”

Must have skills include: Being organized and accurate. Be good with people. Be great with numbers. Don’t be a diva. Know your place in the food chain.

What gets you excited about your job?
Working with open-minded people. That goes for both clients and co-workers.
Also, new friends, I get to meet. I have met a couple of my best friends through NAMM, and the SoundGirls NAMM dinner last year was extremely fun.

Finally when you close a big sale that you’ve worked very hard on it must feel somewhat like finishing a successful show?
Yes, especially if you didn’t think you were going to get the job. Some can last over a year, quoting, re-quoting. The fact that someone trusts you enough to go with you, rather than elsewhere feels really great.

We’d like to thank Daniella for taking the time to talk to us about her position as head of sales for Rat Sound.
Daniella will be doing periodic gear reviews for SoundGirls.Org, you can find them here.

Learning on a Day to Day Basis

 

It’s been close to five months since I’ve moved to Toronto to work as a monitor tech. From at least partially conquering my fear of digital boards to working on my people skills, here are some of the more important lessons I’ve learned. (more…)

Suzy Mucciarone on FOH and System Teching

What goes into being a great tech that engineers request or want to work with? The first in a series of articles on system techs and their advice on what it takes to be a great tech.

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Suzy Mucciarone started out as a stage tech and now is well respected system and Engineer and FOH Tech. (more…)

Darryn de la Soul- Passing it on to the next generation

downloadCreator of Soulsound Agency and the Soulsound.co.uk website and resource centre, Darry de la Soul, has been an engineer and educator. She is passionate about taking the knowledge she and other engineers have gained through experience and passing it on and helping qualified people find work.

Darryn found herself getting into the world of audio for the same reason many have, because of her love of music. While managing a London nightclub for much of her late 20s, she was more interested in the DJ equipment than tallying the nightly bar take. This prompted her to attend a specialist audio engineering college where she studied studio sound (live sound was not available as an option). Darryn recalls the course was “a revelation in fabulousness and wonder, and I had the time of my life whilst studying.”

Darryn considers herself a bit of an all-rounder, not specializing in FOH or Monitors, Studio or Live. Her very first engineering job was as a full-time assistant in the London venue- 93 Feet East. It was unusual in two ways; one- to start out in an assistant position and Two- that the venue had two full-time engineers. Her job was as assistant to engineer Paul Epworth of Adele fame, whom Darryn has called ‘a total genius.’ She credits Paul as helping her manage the crossover from studio to live sound with only a few ‘deeply embarrassing’ mishaps. She landed the job after assisting Paul on a Royksopp gig during which she managed to fix their sampler.

The venue had a capacity of around 200 and had a Funktion One system installed. Darryn quickly became a devoted fan of the purple boxes.

“After I went freelance, I spent a lot of time working in nightclubs and with one particular promoter who did a lot of obscure electronics, and fabulous electronics/classical crossover events. My secret name for these was “Spawn of the Aphex Twin,” and I had enormous amounts of fun making things go with low budgets, in odd spaces, and with spectacularly odd humans.”

Darryn faced many of the same obstacles that we all do starting out like; “earning enough money to pay the rent (even the assistant’s job paid so badly I was paying my utility bills on credit cards), spiraling debt, and once I’d started freelancing, having no-one but my own mistakes to learn from.”

“I think this is the most difficult thing for people starting in this career.  Most entry-level work is solo, so your knowledge base easily stagnates without the influence of more experienced people.  Most other jobs in the world are team-based in one way or another, so there is always someone more advanced to learn from. When you fight your battles completely alone, it’s easy to fall into bad habits that stem from ignorance rather than purpose.”

She has never thought that being a woman in a man’s world has held her back. Darryn has also felt that bands liked having her around because “women tend to be more amenable to being that extra bit helpful beyond the call of duty – when it comes for looking out for people (and their feelings), being a bit motherly and so on.  I also think having a woman on the bus also reduces the amount of porn being watched in the lounge, which probably suits some men very well too:-). “ Darryn doesn’t believe that men and women differ when it comes to technical skills, “when it comes to mixing, I don’t think there’s a lot of difference. Good or bad hearing is not gender-specific.”

Making the transition from Live Sound to TeachingDarryn at PLASA

“In 2009 my old college asked me if I would help set up a Live Sound course and teach maybe three days a week.  A couple of months into the set-up process and it was clear that it would be a full-time position, as someone needed to do it! So I ended up being “mommy” of the course with people like Marcel van Limbeek and Justin Grealy regularly lecturing, and Jon Burton putting in the occasional guest appearance. All three are now mainstays in Soulsound.”

“At first I tried to keep a few gigs going on the weekends, but running a college course is pretty full-on, and I couldn’t keep up the pace of living in the daytime during the week and at night on weekends.  So sadly, I had to wind down the gigs. In the end, though, it was the right decision for me as I feel like I have now found my niche.”

After four years of teaching at Alchemea, Darryn started Soulsound Agency. The idea came as the result of the college course being so successful at creating highly employable, entry-level engineers. Darryn had been using her extensive connections in the industry to find work experience for students and paid work for graduates. During a conversation with one of the graduates she had placed, she learned that the graduate was making more money (through all of the work Darryn had found for him) than she was earning. She realized that all of her time and effort in procuring work for the students was worth something and Soulsound Agency was born.  Darryn continued helping graduates find work and slowly built up enough business to be able to quit her job. “I was never very good at working for other people,” she says.

That was in 2012, and the business has grown so much that in 2014 Soulsound kept about 70 engineers in all or some of their income, a fact that Darryn is very proud of.

Along with finding work for qualified engineers, Soulsound.co.uk has an extensive Resource Centre, which is a lifelong learning resource for sound engineers that Darryn along with Justin, Marcel, and Jon developed.  Soulsound’s goal is to plug the real-life gaps in formal education and support engineers throughout their careers.  Soulsound does this with stand-alone masterclasses, tutorials, interviews, insights, career development and ‘whatever else takes our fancy,’ says Darryn.   The great thing about not being restricted to a course curriculum is that we can delve into subjects not often dealt with in classrooms (like bathroom etiquette on a tour bus).  We can also take advantage of opportunities, like following Jon Burton around with a camera (or four) while he was working in Brixton Academy (London’s most famous venue) with Bombay Bicycle Club.”

“We are very flexible and so are very good at grabbing opportunities when they are in front of us.  We also make an effort to interact personally with our members, and present live seminars whenever we can, particularly at PLASA and other trade shows.”

Darryn is passionate about Soulsound. “I really love what we are doing – which is largely emptying the brains of brilliant engineers onto video, encouraging the pursuit of excellence, and showing people how good they can be!”

What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned through your career?

One thing I learned early on is that you should do the gigs you don’t feel like doing. The days you really, really don’t feel like getting out of bed – those are the days it’s essential that you do.  Those are the gigs you will either learn something amazing, meet someone who will have an influence on your career or find your next band to tour with.

Every gig you ever do will have an influence on your skills and career.  No gig too small, I say!  Just get out there and do everything that comes your way – don’t be a gig snob… You might not like the genre or the venue or whatever but do it anyway.

What advice would you offer to someone interested in a career in Live Sound?

Do it!  It’s one of the best ways to earn a living imaginable. But be prepared for long hours, dirty hands and probably a bit of a struggle when you start out. It’s not an easy choice, but it is a very rewarding one.

And keep learning.  If you’re fresh out of college, you’re just at the beginning of your journey. You can never know too much about this game. Learn online, from books, from manufacturer-led training, from each other.  Go to as many gigs as you can and watch the engineer – learn from their mistakes, as well as your own.

Meet as many other engineers as you possibly can – being friends with people is a very good way of getting more work, and learning from their experiences.

It’s also worth keeping your eyes open for the many paths that cross with live sound, which may be a better fit for you – consider tour managing, production managing, booking, artist liaison, etc.  There are many career opportunities in the live sector that are not directly mixing.

If you’d like more advice on finding (and keeping) work, download Darryn’s free ebook “Getting a Foot In the Door” and check out Soulsound.co.uk

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Profiles of Women in Audio

 

 

 

 

 

Contribute to The Girls Guide to Doing Sound

970158_533413986723306_327024156_nWe are putting together The Girls Guide to Doing Sound, for our summer camp program. We are taking submissions to be included in the guide of tips for mixing live sound. We are looking for the unusual tips, that you only learn as you experience them. Everyone that contributes their tips will be entered into a contest to win some cool prizes. We are looking for fun tips like:

When mixing Mariachi Bands, watch out – They probably will not sound check in their costumes or with their sombreros.  Note: Sombreros will aggravate feedback problems during the show. This applies to hats with brims, glasses, teeth, etc.

Equipment typically does not like liquid poured into them and can cease to work properly.

Vocal Sound – deteriorates during the show – Swap out the vocal mic. It may be filled with sweat and spit.

For each tip you contribute you will be entered into the contest. Tips can include survival techniques as well. Contest deadline is May 31, 2015. Send your tips to soundgirls.org@gmail.com

Some of the cool prizes include:

Hardcover copy of WELCOME TO GROOVE HOUSE, by Jill Meniketti

SoundGirls.Org T-Shirt and Stickers

Sennheiser Baseball Hat

Rat Sound Systems T-Shirt

Pearl Jam T-Shirt

Hooked on Live Sound

166987_10150410032628951_68888674_nChez is an independent sound engineer based out of Los Angeles that enjoys work surrounding FOH, including mixing, teching, and designing sound systems. She is currently touring with the artist, LP (iamLP.com) as her Tour Manager and FOH Engineer. (more…)

What does it take to be a great FOH or Monitor Tech?

These positions are often called babysitting gigs, as in you are babysitting the FOH or Monitor Engineer. But every engineer knows how important it is to have a great tech and all have had experiences with less than helpful techs.  (more…)

Part Eight: How I have Changed?

By: Malle Kaas

Did the ten years I was away from the industry change me?

Well, of course, I have changed in the last ten years, things in my life also changed.  I started working as a nurse, but becoming a nurse was not really a dream of mine. At the time though, I wanted a career that I could work anywhere and becoming a nurse filled that desire.  (more…)

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