 Although working as a manufacturer or rep is certainly a busy job, many in our industry love the music business so much they somehow find time to take on a night job. But they don’t moonlight for a big paycheck. They do it for the love of music. That moonlighting position is their participation in bands and we present you with some of their stories this month. Gigging in bands also serves another purpose. It helps our participants do their jobs even better.
Scott Robertson, NAMM’s director of marketing and communications, plays in an Orange County, Calif., cover band named Feeding Joey. Robertson plays bass and sings vocals. The band plays dance music, rock and roll, alternative, and more. He also plays in Staff Infection, the NAMM band. You can check them out playing at the pre-show party at The Hang in Nashville next month. The only requirements, other than being a NAMM employee (or board member perhaps), “are that you have a good attitude and want to play music,” said Robertson. “We have [NAMM President and CEO] Joe Lamond on the drums. And other players are from every level of the organization who want to participate. We also gig now and then. There was a retirement party for a long-time employee at the Anaheim Convention Center. She wanted to hear the NAMM staff band play, so we drove up there and did just that. It’s a great stress reliever. And when you work in the music products industry, it’s good to ‘eat what you cook,’ as Joe Lamond would say.”
NAMM’s Staff Infection |
At Shure, a whole host of employees get into the gigging act. We spoke to four of them: Mark Brunner, senior director of public relations; Matt Engstrom, category manager for listening products; Jim MacGregor, associate manager for global brand communications; and Daniel Durrett, product specialist in wired microphones. Engstrom plays keyboard, guitar, and bass in the band Infrasonics. Durrett plays guitar, mandolin, digital computer effects, and is a vocalist in Heavier Than Heaven. MacGregor plays bass in Century Rocket Building, and Brunner began a studio called ReelSoundsChicago. “Shure has the luxury to have focus groups without ever leaving the building,” said Brunner. “Most companies have to find a bunch of people who they’re going to try to sell their product to. We get a bunch of feedback before they ever have to leave the building. We always know if we’re on the right track or not.”
Durrett looked at the topic the opposite way, pointing out his job helps him be a better live musician. “I’ve learned a lot of things in the past two years I probably wouldn’t have learned if I weren’t working here,” he said. “It makes me better at performing and recording.”
“More often than not, you’ll find someone who has firsthand experience within the application you’re targeting a new product for or a new target line for,” said MacGregor. “We also have great resources when we determine how we want to present our products and technologies to the greater market.”
Ben Escobedo, Sennheiser |
Aaron Jackson, artist relations liaison at Zildjian, plays in a whole host of bands including reggae band Shango Axe, country artitst Duncan Walters, and his own jazz band named The Aaron Jackson Quartet. In addition, he appeared on the “Tyra Banks Show,” as he was a member of the first band comprised on YouTube. “We met on the show for the first time and played our song live,” he said. “Beforehand, we wrote our music and rehearsed completely by sending videos to one another.”
Said Jackson in reference to his Zildjian job: “It’s a huge advantage playing in bands. We make over 650 kinds of cymbals. With my position, I’m responsible for special-selecting cymbals and helping artists find the right cymbal for their particular gig. By playing the cymbals live, I can tell them the best cymbal for a given situation and what they can expect.”
Roy White, product manager for Musicorp/MBT Lighting, is part of a musical comedy duo in Charleston, S.C., called Tuba Jim & Roy. “The entire show is made up of spoofs, parodies, silly/comedy songs (some with suggestive/adult-only references),” said White. “Tuba Jim plays the tuba, electric bass, and sings. I play acoustic guitar and sing. We take standard, popular songs and change the lyrics to fit a funny story or topical news item. Or sometimes it’s just goofy (we do Devo’s ‘Whip It’ straight.....with a tuba).”
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