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Emily Pearce – From the Marines to Live Sound Engineer

 

Emily Pearce is the Monitor Engineer and RF Tech for independent artist Blue October. Emily is a longtime musician, learning to play piano at age seven, and would play throughout high school. She also learned to play clarinet and taught herself the oboe in middle school, while playing with percussion ensembles and the drumline during high school and college. Emily learned to play the bass guitar while attending The Los Angeles Recording School.

Emily would enroll at Grand Valley State University in the music education program, yet after two semesters Emily joined the Marines and auditioned for the Marine Corps band. Emily didn’t make the cut which Emily believes was a blessing in disguise after learning about her friend’s poor experience with the Marine Corps Band.  Emily would serve a four-year term working in Marine Corps aviation with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron-13 and VMX-1 both out of Yuma Arizona. She received an honorable discharge as a Sergeant.

After being discharged Emily became interested in the technical side of music production and reached out to a few engineers to get a feel for what that might be like.  Emily loved the idea of touring and working live events and used her military benefits to enroll in The Los Angeles Recording School, graduating with an Associate Degree of Science in Recording Arts.

Emily believes the seeds to work in the music industry were planted long before she realized these jobs existed, growing up Emily says she has vivid memories “of Michael Jacksons Thriller, Journey, and Metallica playing in our living room.  Alongside artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles.  I was always borrowing (with or without permission) my older brother’s mp3 player and my older sister’s CD player so I could jam some MCR, Atreyu, and Death Cab for Cutie.  I developed a love for metal and went to my first show at 15 and fell in love.”

Career Start


How did you get your start?

I moved to Los Angeles to attend The Los Angeles Recording School in 2017 to take the opportunity to dip my toes into a major market.  Since the program I attended was primarily studio focused, I took a lot of volunteer opportunities around town and was the person that showed up to a gig to just ask questions.  I shadowed a few people at White Oak Music and Arts in the valley and The Viper Room on the strip in Hollywood.  I attended a SoundGirls class on live sound at the Ventura Theater and was linked up with a summer internship at Schubert Systems.  I worked my butt off and showed I could learn and be a part of a team. I was hired full-time and worked there up until the pandemic.  During that time I learned so much and was afforded a lot of opportunities to network and grow.  None of us were hired as just one specific role which gave me experience in many positions like being a Systems/PA tech, RF tech, stage tech, and mix engineer for notable artists.  I also met people who hired me for my current gig, which may be the best part.

I also worked at a few clubs/theaters around town including The Whiskey, The Federal NOHO, and The Satellite in Silver Lake to name a few.

What did you learn interning or on your early gigs?

Understanding your place in a team is just as important as being the leader of it.  Being teachable and asking questions when you don’t know something will make people trust you more than if you think you know better than everyone else.  And if you are mixing monitors, don’t take it personally.

Career Now:

What is a typical day like?

I am primarily a touring engineer as of right now.  We usually start loading in at 11 am and with a lunch break, we are usually ready for line check with techs at about 2:30-3 pm.  The guys come to the stage to check a few songs and will sometimes use that time to work on adding new songs to the setlist. Depending on how long they want the stage, we are usually done and have a small break from 4-5 pm before the meet and greet.

During our meet and greet, the band plays one song and while the band takes pictures, the techs get the stage peeled for the opener and cover the set.  Dinner break is 6-8 pm.  I use this time to hang out and make sure I’m ready for the set by putting fresh batteries in all my wireless, checking my scenes/setlist for correct order, making sure I’ve saved my file, etc.  We do another line check right before the set starts at 9 pm.  Our show I almost 2 hours so we are usually loaded out and lock the trailer at midnight.  Then we shower and get to the bus before call usually around 2-3 am.

How do you stay organized and focused?

I like to make sure everything goes back in the same place and in the same order just as a general rule.  This applies to our trailer pack and how gear is packed in the cases and how it’s set up/torn down.  Things like mics and labeled looms/cables are all inventoried by me before they go into cases.  I always pack up my personal things like laptops, adapters and my in ears first followed by the band’s molds and wireless.  Making sure you have a routine helps you not misplace gear especially when load out is moving fast.

I have a photographic memory so I’m pretty good at seeing when something is missing, but having a physical list of gear or order of operations for yourself could be a good way to do the same thing.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?

I love the problem-solving and technical aspects of my job.  It’s always fun to figure out a new way to do something or an easier way to get the job done.  I love live events because of the finality of a show and how fast things move.

What do you like least?

RF anxiety on a daily basis.  Our space is shrinking rapidly.

If you tour what do you like best?

I love traveling and working with amazing people while doing what I love.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m really awake.


What do you like least?

I don’t love paying for an apartment back home when I’m hardly in it.


What is your favorite day off activity? 

I love going to get a good meal on days off.  Usually something local or what that place may be famous for.  Second to that would be hiking and mall walking.

What are your long-term goals?

I would love to work on bigger festivals and shows than what I am doing right now, although I’m pretty content with the level of touring I’m at.  I am spoiled and skipped van tours.  I just want to always come to the gig excited to work the show and excited to see the people I work with. Right now I’m so blessed that I have both of those things.

My long-term goals are probably more knowledge/skill oriented than working for a huge artist.  I just want to be the best I can be at my job.

What obstacles or barriers have you faced?

I am lucky that I haven’t faced too many obstacles along the way.  I know that working in a vastly male-dominated world can be daunting to some, but that is something I was used to since I am a former Marine where the numbers are almost identical to live audio.  I have been turned down from gigs because a touring camp didn’t want a woman on the bus, but that is their loss and I wouldn’t want to work with people who don’t want me around for something so trivial.

How have you dealt with them?

I find that walking into a gig or venue with the right attitude makes those around you respect you.  I tend to show up to the gig with a level of confidence that shows I should be respected, not to be confused with arrogance or false confidence.  I’d like to think that’s working for me because I rarely encounter anyone who gives me a hard time.  Plus I know I have 11 brothers with me on the bus that always have my back.

Advice you have for other women and young women who wish to enter the field?

Have confidence.  In my experience, the industry is changing, especially after the pandemic.  A lot of the people who had old ways of thinking have been weeded out.  Trust yourself and know that you belong.

Must have skills?

Wrapping cable and a good attitude will take you a very long way.  Signal flow and having a good grasp of digital gear are a must as well.

Favorite gear?

I love having a Q box with me.  I was generously gifted with one and it’s one of my favorite things to have with me if I need to troubleshoot.  I’m also very grateful for Shure’s wireless workbench software.  It’s essential for coordinating wireless and I use it daily while on tour.

Anything else you want to add or contribute

Never stop asking questions and learning your craft.

And a huge shout out to Mike G from Schubert Systems for giving me an amazing start, to Josh Sarraulte for teaching me and continuing to teach me everything I know, and to Mckenzee Morley for hooking me up with my current gig.

The people you meet and form friendships with along the way are one of the most important things you do!

How I Got Started

 

When I was 13 or 14, I was reading the liner notes of some CD and saw that one track had been written, recorded, produced, and mixed by one of the band members. At the time I only had a loose grasp of what most of those things meant, but I knew one thing: I wanted to be able to do all of that. Someday I would have a liner note like that all to myself. (Ironically, nine years later I have stayed almost exclusively within live sound.)

A local DIY music venue I knew of offered both audio classes and volunteer opportunities. I quickly convinced a friend to take the first class with me: Live Sound 101, a primer on signal flow, miking techniques, and general day-of-show procedures. Live Sound 102: Mixing for Monitors soon followed. Before long, thanks to the open schedule of a high schooler and parents who would pick me up at midnight, I was volunteering at shows multiple times a week. Within six months I had gotten through all of the classes: Small PA Systems, Mixing for Front of House and Troubleshooting. Once I felt comfortable behind the monitor board I moved up to shadowing the front-of-house engineers.

Like a lot of people, my first gig was unplanned. Around a year and a half, after I first started volunteering, I found myself sitting in rush hour traffic on I-5 with another volunteer friend, worrying about whether we’d make our 5 PM call time. Before leaving my house, we had noticed that there still wasn’t anyone listed as the sound engineer that night, and we spent the drive speculating about who (if anyone) would be there when we showed up. Suddenly my phone rang – the venue was calling me. I picked up, and a voice on the other end told me that they still hadn’t found anyone to come in, but it was okay because I could just run sound, right? The interns were busy, but one could come after doors if we felt like we needed him. Surprised, and feeling nervous, I agreed.

That was that –  suddenly, I was the sound engineer, and my friend who was signed up to shadow the sound engineer was now shadowing me. The show itself is a blur, and I don’t remember much, but I know that once I got over the initial anxiousness and we got to work, things went pretty smoothly. It was a hardcore show, and a few of the bands contained audio students I recognized from a local community college. I went in and filled out the hiring paperwork a few days later, and it was official. I had my first job as a sound engineer.

 

Rising Star – Carolyn Slothour Live Sound Engineer

Carolyn Slothour is an up-and-coming independent FOH and Monitor engineer, who has been working in the industry for just over five years. She works as an A1 and A2 at a few production companies based in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, including a company called Zero Fossil which is a clean energy/solar-powered production company. She is the house engineer at a local venue called Brillobox and fills in at several other local venues while not on the road. The past year she has been touring as FOH, tour manager, and playing flute with a variety of artists including Mija, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Alison Sudol, & a rock theatre group called Squonk Opera. She has several tours planned for 2020 as well.

Carolyn has always been passionate about playing & performing music and decided to move from New Jersey to Pittsburgh to attend college at the California University of PA to follow her love of music, while not really knowing what path she would ultimately take within the industry. The Music Technology Bachelor’s degree she received covered a wide range of things, including music performance & theory, music business, and recording & live sound technology. During her time in college, she interned at a recording studio and production company. While interning, Carolyn discovered she was most passionate about live sound. Having attended and performed in live concerts throughout her life, she says “I realized it made sense for me to work in an environment I’ve always loved and felt at home in from the start.” From there she started picking up freelance sound gigs and has been building her diverse resume of audio work since.

Her current goals are to mix at more large-scale festivals and continue to grow in many different ways. “I have always loved to attend festivals, and working them has become some of the best times of my life, despite the usual “throw-and-go,” high-stakes style mixing at them tends to be. I enjoy the rush and the feeling of accomplishment when it all comes together. I also hope to continue to grow in several different areas of the music industry – including live sound, performance, studio engineering, sound design, composition, and production. I love to learn and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

Can you tell us about a tour or show that you’re proud of? A challenge that you pulled off?

My last FOH tour with !!! (Chk Chk Chk) was one that I’m very proud of because I was able to combine my two passions – mixing FOH & playing the flute. When I first met the band, they asked if I would be interested in playing flute with them on a couple of songs of theirs. I was absolutely interested and ended up playing flute on 2-3 songs every night from FOH. It could be a little challenging at times to take my focus away from mixing and put it on performing, but playing the flute is like second nature to me and it felt great to play in front of large audiences with such a great group of musicians. I’m a huge fan of their music, so it was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had at work. I also recently mixed FOH for Mija at Corona Capital Music Festival in Mexico City, along with some extremely talented musicians & engineers. The festival brings in around 146,000 people, so that was a pretty special gig for me as well.

Can you tell us about failure and what you learned from it?

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a failure, but one mistake I made recently was creating a show file at a venue while on tour within someone else’s show structure. It all worked fine until I loaded it up at the next venue with that same console, & there was a lot of basic setup that did not work for the new venue. The house engineer and I spent a while trying to figure out why a variety of things did not work correctly and I ended up finding that certain settings were set very strangely when the show file was initially created. After all that trouble, the show ended up sounding great and it was a good night. But I definitely learned the hard way to only travel with show files that I personally created from the start.

What do you like best about touring? 

My favorite thing about touring is that every day is never exactly the same as the last. There are always different challenges & different people, in a different place, so it’s never boring. It’s taught me to take life one day at a time – not only in my career but in all aspects of my life. It can be a stressful job, but it also takes a certain amount of ‘letting go’ and just going with the flow. And I feel really lucky that my career enables me to travel around the globe and see places that many people only dream of.

What do you like least? 

My least favorite part about touring is being away from my cat, & not being able to focus on playing music & my other interests as much as I’d like. I try to make time for my hobbies on the road as much as possible though.

What is your favorite day off activity? 

My favorite day off activities is finding crystal shops & beautiful nature spots where I can relax and spin poi or play the flute. I also enjoy searching for good vegan restaurants in whatever city I’m in.

What, if any, obstacles and barriers have you faced? 

Freelance audio is a competitive industry, and every engineer has to prove themselves in order to build a reputation. Sometimes it’s a little harder to prove myself to those who may not have faith in women to do a great job, but it’s to be expected when less than 5% of audio engineers are not men. Women tend to be held to a higher standard, but that is a blessing in many ways. We work harder and better in order to make it. If you’re truly passionate about your job & have a solid work ethic, you won’t have trouble finding gigs.

How have you dealt with them? 

I’ve grown a thicker skin since I started freelancing. As in any job, there are people who are unpleasant to work with or don’t believe you will do well. The key is to focus on your own work & put in 100% effort so that they have nothing negative to say after seeing/hearing you do your job well. It’s important not to compare yourself to other engineers because everyone is on a different path and will come across opportunities at different points. Having a positive attitude helps immensely.

The advice you have for other women who wish to enter the field? 

Take the time to learn the basics and do prep work – read manuals, ask questions, & have the initiative to figure things out on your own. Then when you’re put in front of a new console, or any new piece of hardware or software, you’ll have some base knowledge to figure out how it works quickly. Never be discouraged by your lack of knowledge. Most of the learning you’ll do will be on the job, so try not to worry too much about what you do & do not know. No engineer knows EVERYTHING. It’s also very important to not have an ego about your knowledge and experience because it will keep you from learning and is generally just a bad attitude to have. There’s always something to be learned from a situation, as well as from fellow engineers. Plus, the more knowledge you have, the more you’ll realize how much more there is to learn. As long as you keep the drive to learn & adapt, you will go far.

Must have skills? 

Communication & social skills are a must – those were honestly the hardest ones for me starting out because I was always a fairly withdrawn & antisocial child. But it’s the key to getting a lot of gigs. You must be friendly, understanding, easy to get along with, and able to stay calm in stressful situations and never place blame. Generally, people will hire someone they like before someone they don’t, even if they’re a little less competent. Adaptability is also a very important skill – when you work with different people & different sound systems every day, you have to be able to work with many types of personalities and limitations.

Favorite gear? 

I’m a huge fan of analog consoles and gear in general because it tends to sound really great right off the bat. I always enjoy mixing on the classic Midas H3000, and I’m a sucker for good outboard compressors. As for digital consoles, my favorite brand is DiGiCo because they have the power to do pretty much anything I want. I’m a firm believer that if something sounds bad through a sound system while completely flat, you should change the mic first – so great mics are very important to me. I’m currently in the process of building my personal mic closet, so I enjoy testing out different mics that venues have in-house. My favorite combination of microphones varies from artist to artist depending on the sound I’m going for, but it’s usually a mixture of Sennheiser & Audix microphones. My favorite kick drum mic combination is a Shure Beta 91a inside, and an Audix D6 outside.

The SoundGirls Podcast – Carolyn Slothour: FOH Engineer and Flutist

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