| |
Joe Lamond, NAMM
|
White’s act is certainly different. Another unique performer is Ken Haas, rep for Reverend. He plays in Polka Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute band and polka rock band. “We’ve done a few shows with Unknown Hinson...he’s quite a character. It seems like such an odd pairing but the shows seem to go very well,” said Haas. “We traveled up to Minneapolis last fall and Tom Bentz of Brickhouse Music brought his band out and warmed us up. We had a blast! I try to get our dealers to get me artwork for flyers etc., any way to get everyone involved if I can.
“I visit indie retailers when I’m on the road in cities where Reverend doesn’t have any presence and we do shows with endorsers,” added Haas. “It seems like a great way to promote the line and local stores at the same time.”
Richard Bellando, Community Professional Loudspeakers’ senior inside sales associate, plays in the well-named The Nameless Few. The band performs cover versions of Top 40 hits. “Playing in a band is invaluable for me in this industry,” said Bellando. “Being out there in the real world, using the gear, and knowing how to sell it to customers, and what works and what doesn’t is very important. Also, when we play in a huge room, we can also compare our speakers to competitors’ equipment.”
Ben Escobedo, associate product manager for MI products at Sennheiser, plays in Fat Betty, which is a Connecticut band that plays classic and alternative rock. “It helps me stay familiar with our higher-end wireless products,” he said. “Also, it makes me more familiar with the features, such as our inner-monitor systems, to better explain it to our customers. In addition, since we bring our own Sennhesier microphones [on gigs], we tend to win over sound guys and other musicians who hear them and want to use them too.”
In Indianapolis, SHS International’s Jimmie Bruhn rocks out in the band Punch Judy. The band has been around for 15 years and plays at bars, clubs, weddings, and fraternity parties.
Ken Haas, Reverend Guitars
|
Jason Lamb, marketing manager for Digitech Guitar products, plays in a surf/punk band named the Swamp Donkeys. “The playing experience helps in many ways to know the product when you are a core user,” said Lamb. “…Setting up and tearing down gear lets me know what is acceptable and what is not in the process. Playing with the gear under lights and performing gives me a whole new level of understanding as to what is easy to use on stage. I know why guitar players use the same old gear: They can count on it; it’s easy to use.”
Glenn Caruba, Pearl’s percussion marketing and product manager, is a session percussionist in Nashville, but has also released several instructional books and videos distributed by Hal Leonard. “As a product manager for Pearl Percussion, trying out new prototypes live or in the studio gives me instant feedback on specs, sound, and user-friendliness,” Caruba said.
Also at Pearl, Raymond Massey has played for the past 14 years in a Nashville band named the Wooten Brothers. He said playing helps him serve as the company’s marketing events manager in several ways. “Since I’m an end user, I get to use many of our products in real live situations, which gives me insight into the pros and cons,” said Massey. “It also helps me tune our products at tradeshows and for testing in addition to coming up with setups for our tradeshow displays.”
Michael Bradley, VOX and Toneworks product manager, plays in the Matt Zeiner band, a five-piece band fronted by—you guessed it—Matt Zeiner. “I live and work on Long Island, N.Y., and my band rehearses in Hartford, so I put a lot of miles on my car. But it’s worth the extra effort,” said Bradley. “…I’ve also found that I’m more creative and effective on a day-to-day level when I’m gigging a lot, because it keeps me connected to the very passion that got me into MI in the first place. We were all at one time or another inspired by a guitar hero or by an incredible piece of gear.”
Pat Brown, director of sales and marketing at Pro-Mark, plays in the Charles Crane Blues Band, which plays “deep cut, straight-ahead blues.” “We play about once a month or so,” said Brown. “We play in local clubs around [Houston]. But we actually have a gig on Sixth Street in Austin [this month] at B.D. Kelly’s.”
Matt Zeiner Band |
Brown has also played with Jeff Carlise of 38 Special fame and Liberty DeVitto, long-time drummer for Billy Joel. “I play drums for fun and bass for money,” joked Brown. “There’s nothing like being on the stage and seeing our products being used. It’s also a great testing ground for our products. And when I talk to drummers, I can talk with realities of the gigging musician. We can talk the same language with credibility. That’s huge.”
Bryan Wickmann, art and media director for Schecter Guitar Research, is a guitarist in the band More Than Never. “Being able to play out with the same gear that I give my endorsees is great,” said Wickmann. “Not only does it help me with the information when they ask me how an instrument sounds, but I can give them a complete road-tested analysis of the gear. Believe me when I say I put my Schecters through hell. By the time our show is done the guitars have been violently abused and covered in sweat and ‘stage blood’ without ever having a problem to date. Everyone at Schecter is a player, which helps out tremendously with design and getting the bugs out of a new product before it hits the streets.”
Over at Grover Percussion, tons of employees play drums. That includes president/CEO Neil Grover, who has played with the Boston Pops for 28 years. Other percussionists at the company are: Rob Wu, who works as an artist manager and in graphic design; Jeff Harrington, artist relations; David Share, inside sales coordinator; Libor Hadrava, production manager; Lee Caron, production/inside marching coordinator; Patrick Sanders, accounting; Don Holm, purchasing coordinator; Jim Simonian, director of sales; Evan Gianoulis, production/drum builder; and Frank Kumiega, shipping.
( continued, next page >> )
[ pages: 1 - 2 - 3]
|
you can download this entire issue here >>
