Apparantly Christmas is coming really soon. We are now running our Christmas packages at the studio. These are some special rates we have put together for those of you that would like to put together a nice gift. I actually already have one booked for this coming week! It will be 4 hours of Christmas hell. Not really. But, after listening to Christmas carols being played on a piano for a few hours, I think I'll be all set until December.
That's my logo in the upper right hand corner of my blog. My good friend Diego designed it for me. My initials M and S, and the A.E. is for Audio Engineer. I think it is pretty professional and clean looking. All the little lines are supposed to vaguely represent the meters and faders on a mixing console. What do you think?
Last night I had a "business dinner" with Corey, his wife Lindsey and Nichole. It was to feel out where both I and Corey stand with the future. To make a long story short: Corey works for a church and is the Technical Director for one of the satellite campuses. Basically it is a church that has a main site in one location and then has a bunch of little satellite sites for people to congregate at that might be closer to them than the main site. Every Sunday they meet and have a live band and/or singers and have mass. Anyway's, Corey is being offered the job of Technical Director for the whole church! A big job. He will therefore need someone to replace him at the satellite (me) as well as he will need someone to be at the studio more often since he will be gone longer. I am already on board with the church thing. I will become the Technical Director for the satellite location. I will be in charge of audio, video and lighting. I am also on board for the studio. After discussing last night, the plan is this: If he takes the job promotion, which he most likely will, I will take over running service on Sundays and working 15 hours a week, making pretty good money. There is more to it but the big portion is running the service. I will then also be working 2-3 days a week at the studio all day long. I'll be in charged of whatever is scheduled on those days. This will end up being between 16 and 24 hours a week. Both those jobs combined will cover me pretty good financially. But, I will most likely take over a part time position at the cell phone place for extra bread or I have some other ideas lying around. One is The Hard Rock Casino is hiring A/V Techs. So, I have to go out there and check that out. I figured between the three (church, studio and a 3rd job) I'll be all set. Plus, we still have all the live concert gigs booked that I am in charge of. Tomorrow is the moment of truth. Once Corey knows what's going on, I'll know what's going on and we will set everything in motion. I'm pretty psyched about all this. Oh, and I forgot to mention some of the perks. Working for the church, I get a Macbook and they also book trips such as one coming up where we would go to Chicago for a convention, all expenses paid!
Since Corey is out of town, I have been running all the sessions on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Today, I have probably the most boring thing I will ever work on. We have a voiceover project coming in. For those who do not know, voiceover work is when a talent comes in and they are recording for something like a tv or radio commercial or they might be laying down words over a prerecorded video for things such as seminars or corporate events. Today we will be recording someone speaking for a video commercial. I don't even get to see the video. It's basically one of those gigs where you sit down, press record and say "go". Easy money, but so boring.
Although it was unbearably hot, very long, very smelly and at times just over the top crazy, it was a success. We were setting up gear Friday morning at 7:30. The show started at noon and lasted into the night. The second day also started at noon and we did not leave the event until 1:30 AM, putting me in bed at around 4 AM! I was so tired. Out of all the bands that were there, only about half had any real talent. The other half were more often than not just a group of kids up on stage making noise. Although, the whole event was heavy/hard rock screamo. Every band played heavy rock with a "screamer" that screamed so loud, it would distort all the sound and you could not understand a word of it. Thank God for the earplugs Nichole bought me. There were a lot of people there which just added to the poorly ventilated atmosphere. I don't think I have ever been that hot or sweated that much. Except for our damaged gear (two mics, 1 mic stand and some cables) it was a great show with a great turn out. Hope to do it again next year.
I'm really wondering if this Significant Fest show we are doing this Friday and Saturday is going to be hell on Earth. Why you might ask. It is a two day skating/music festival held within a huge, non-air conditioned warehouse. There will be tons of kids and 20 somethings skateboarding and possibly roller blading inside this park. At the same time we will be running sound for 15 or so bands a day! I have not heard anything about any support staff being available either. I know Corey and I will be there running the show, but I have no idea who will be in charge of the bands and getting them ready to get up on the stage and perform. So, I'm excited but a little uncertain about this event. Hopefully everything will rock and gel together smoothly. I know with Corey and I running the show it will be the best it can be.
Last night was the Spinlight Letter CD Release Party with The Ataris. It was a great show. Although the theater had some pretty crappy air conditioning and the owner wouldn't turn it on until the doors opened. Loading in and setting up the gear really sucked. I think it was hotter inside than it was outside. Next time we do a show there, we will be creating a contracting stipulating air conditioning is to be on the whole time we are present. There were not too many people there and there were a lot of kids. That would be because the Spinlight Letter is a bunch of kids. The Ataris also played a great set. It was pretty cool meeting them and running sound for them. All in all, it was a great show. Up next is Significant Fest, next weekend.
Saturday the 23rd is the The Ataris with The Spinlight Letter show at The Royalty Theater in downtown Clearwater. Full Wave Sound will be running the sound for the event.
In an earlier post I was talking about my career moves. I went up to the location where Corey does the church thing yesterday. It's a pretty cool and simple rig. One of the best live boards to work on, wireless mics and all that good stuff. I'm hoping I take over that location and he moves to the new site, since it is close to my house. I'm really excited about this opportunity because it is going to be fun, and it's a quick and easy gig. Just on Sundays and only one service. There is also the load in and load out, but the way the rig is built, it's all quick connect and disconnect and then you are done. Plus, it's a paid gig.
It is time to get out of this mall. Since I have a degree in audio engineering, it is time to put it to good use. As some of you know, I currently work at Full Wave Sound Studios when I'm not stuck working at the mall. That sure doesn't give me enough time there though. Plus, I make some decent money at the mall gig, and the studio wouldn't be able to pay me and get enough work for me that I need. But, some new developments. We are currently putting together a live concert rig. We already have the front of house gear which is the mixing board, cables and fx units we need. All we need are some speaker cabs and amps. We have a couple of shows booked, and hopefully with some hard work we are going to be booking live shows all the time. Now, I get paid pretty good for doing these shows, not enough to live off of though. So, I will be looking for another job on top of this one. Hopefully I can find some other work in the field. I'm also going to sit down and talk with Corey about taking over the church gig he does every Sunday, that's if he moves on to the new facility. So, we will see what happens. It's just time to move on and get things started.
