We are sitting here in this amazing complex that you have built from scratch.
And I want to talk to you in a minute about the way that the business was built.
But just so that our audience knows, some of the great rock, pop, and
country music artists of all time have worked in these spaces, Pearl Jam,
Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, White Stripes, Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen,
Neil Young, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift,
Kings of Leon, it's an extraordinary- >> I'm not sure about Bieber or
Bruce Springsteen, but it's possible.
>> Well look, I got that from your website, so-
>> Okay, well you know what?
If they put it on there, if it's on the Internet, it has to be true.
>> It has to be true.
>> Yes. >> Are there certain projects that you're
particularly proud of that have come out of this studio?
>> Well, it's funny because I love the producers in general.
I'm a big fan of producers.
>> Mm-hm.
>> Phil Ramone did a lot work here.
Jacquire King, Joe Chiccarelli, Dann Huff, Nathan Chapman, a lot of great
local guys and a lot of great producers that work all over the world.
Ethan Johns, and they love coming here because people who love great audio they
end up here because that's what we care about, we love great audio.
>> Yes.
>> And we set the bar high.
>> That is true, and I want to to talk to you more about the engineers and
the gear in a minute.
But one thing that I want to focus on first, maybe,
I love the story of how you began your career in audio.
Can you tell us a little bit about how this all started and
how you got to where you are?
>> Well, I grew up in Wichita, Kansas.
So of course, I had to be in the music business.
>> [LAUGH] >> No question,
I was born in the same hospital as Joe Walsh, which I'm kind of proud of.
[LAUGH] He was born in Wichita, even though I don't, he admits him.
When I first met him, I told him weren't you born in Wichita?
And he goes, yeah, yeah.
And I said, Wesley Hospital?
And he goes, yeah!
I go, well, me too!
And he goes, third floor?
And I go, I'm not sure.
He goes, man, it's been like we've been brothers since the womb.
And I thought, I love you, Joe.
>> Good enough.
>> He's such a good guy.
But most of the greats are good guys, but I grew up in Wichita.
And my dad brought home a Beatles record, and that was it.
I heard that, and I thought man, this is incredible.
And I always say it hit me in the DNA.
>> Mm-hm.
>> And it really did.
I love music.
And so I didn't really believe that I could ever
have a career in music and make a living,
because that's not what happens in Wichita, Kansas.
However, as I got a little older, when I was about 20,
I went to the bank, and I said I want to start a recording studio and
I put together a nice little application and
talked about competition and talked about this and that, and
they laughed at me and said, come back some other time.
It just wasn't going to happen.
>> Right.
>> And thank God, it didn't because if they would have lent me that 75 grand or
whatever I was trying to borrow at the time, it was the 70s, so
that was more money then.
I'd probably still be in Wichita struggling to keep it together, and
now instead, I'm in Nashville struggling to keep it together.
>> [LAUGH] >> So it worked out perfectly.
What I decided to do, since it was such a huge initial investment to
start a studio, I thought, well, if I go the live route,
I'm still working in music, and you meet people, and things happen.
So I went to the Campus Credit Union at Wichita State, and I borrowed 6,000 bucks.
And I bought a pair of speakers and a 12 channel mixing board,
a biamp board, and a couple of mics, a 421 and a 58,
and a snake and a stereo 10-band EQ.
I went around to the burbs in Wichita and put up PA for rent.
And somebody called, John Salem, I think it was.
But anyway, so I started doing live sound, and there were a few music stores
in Wichita, and I didn't have enough gear, but I could go rent from them.
>> Right. >> I'd rent Yamaha 2115 monitors for
5 bucks a night each, and I found a way to make it work.
And even though it was hard work and I was working a full-time job and
doing audio at night and not getting enough sleep,
things kept growing, and every penny I made went back in.
And wherever I lived,
the garage started off as the sound company.
And later, when I actually got a warehouse, I slept there because who could
afford an apartment and a warehouse, so anyway, but it all worked out.
And then in the early 80s, after about four or five years,
I'd gotten to where I had two full club systems and a third monitor system.
And I thought if I could borrow some money,
I could build a PA and be able to do a concert.
And then we might make 500 bucks in a night, and wouldn't that be easier than
killing yourself to make half that working five nights in a club?
And so I talked to the bank, and they said, well,
what you need to do is probably go through the SBA,
the Small Business Administration, and let's see what happens.
So six months later and an application that thick and
I was trying to borrow 75 grand, and they came back,
and they go, we'll make you the loan.
But your parents need to put their house up as collateral, their only main asset,
or their biggest asset.
>> Wow.
>> And our houses at the time was probably worth about 75 grand.
And I went, well, man.
So I went home, and I told my folks, I said, well, they said they'd do it, but
this is crazy because they said, they need the house as collateral.
And my parents said, well you know what, we'll do that.
Now I had two brothers and a sister.
>> My gosh.
>> Well, whenever I tell this story around my kids, I go, don't think I'm as crazy as
your grandparents, because I'm not putting the house.
Anyway, but they did it, and I was able to start doing concerts.
And that's what I did.
You probably played at the Cotillion Ballroom.
>> [LAUGH] Yes.
>> I probably did 400 shows at the Cotillion Ballroom.
Everybody from Metallica and James Brown to Diane Schuur and
David Sanborn and Spirogyra, just all these great shows.
David Allan Coe and BTO, Steppenwolf.
That's the frontman of Steppenwolf, John Kay.
So we Fear is a great motivator also, which I discovered after my,
when you think about your parents being homeless, you will work some overtime.
You know, you won't complain about it.
And, in my opinion, if you're not obsessed with music,
don't be in the music business, because it's tough and it's hard.
But, if it's what you have to do, then that's what you do.
And you know what?
I may live in a box or a cardboard box but, I'm going to do what I love and
that's what I've been able to do most of my life.
And I'm very, very fortunate.
Everyday I wake up and go, thank you God,
that I'm going to make a living today in the music business.
Because it's rare and it's hard and it's gotten harder.
>> Yeah.
>> So, anyway, so we, I start doing these shows and Steppenwolf,
John Kay really loved, I did monitors, and he loved the sound he had on stage.
