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Great venue, "difficult'' soundman.

RHA III

RHA III

Supporting Member
Jul 22, 2012
543
1,063
Da U P eh!
#1
We gig 4-5 times a year in the boonies, so we always bring our own PA and sound guy. Played a beautiful outdoor venue last summer and got invited back for this weekend.

Problem is they have a crazy old grumpy ruin your mojo kinda sound dude. Last year we ignored him and just set up our PA right next to his. Guy was not happy that we didn't need his ''services'' and tried to sabotage us a little, even told us we couldn't use the generator. No problem as we brought our own! I went out of my way to be polite, but he still got ruffled.

Fast forward to this year and they asked if we could please use him. To be honest his skills, ear and gear are not the problem, we can/have worked with worse. It's the attitude. Major downer, this guy has a reputation for it. There will be at least two other bands playing and pa guy gets to do a little solo set too.

Any suggestions? Let me have it!
 
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#4
These are exercises in human nature and how to win friends and influence enemies.

Start out being (or at least appearing) grateful to have his help, compliment anything that you like or can at least live with right off the bat and then "ask for his help" in getting changes you want to hear - then immediately praise and positively reinforce any change he makes that provides an effect you were looking for and/or like.

That doesn't always work, but it will likely get you more of what you want than approaching the day as if it is a battle to be won. From the perspective of the audience seats, the sound guy always gets the final word. Help this guy feel like he's your best friend and you're glad he's there...you will have a better gig, maybe not perfect, but better.

Good luck!!
 
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#8
I should have mentioned that it's a rural fire department benefit (no pay).
Al Kraft said:
These are exercises in human nature and how to win friends and influence enemies.

Start out being (or at least appearing) grateful to have his help, compliment anything that you like or can at least live with right off the bat and then "ask for his help" in getting changes you want to hear - then immediately praise and positively reinforce any change he makes that provides an effect you were looking for and/or like.

That doesn't always work, but it will likely get you more of what you want than approaching the day as if it is a battle to be won. From the perspective of the audience seats, the sound guy always gets the final word. Help this guy feel like he's your best friend and you're glad he's there...you will have a better gig, maybe not perfect, but better.

Good luck!!
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Well said, will do, but...
RoadRanger said:
Sounds like you already burned that bridge last year. Just say no - he'd probably crank the "suck" knob on yah anyways...
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This is my fear^^^^

We are going to play, we'll see about the suck knob.
 
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#9
Go in humble and let him be the king..."appeal to ego" tends to place people more "in the moment" with a shorter memory than they would otherwise have. You may have to suck up a bit in order not to suck a lot in the FOH system. I really hope all goes well for you guys!!
 
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#10
So lemme get this straight, the people hiring you would like you to use their sound man and you have no problems with his skills as a tech but you don't want him to mix you because he's grumpy? Is that pretty much it? Well if I was you I'd just roll with it and maybe by next year (if they hire you back) the grumpy old guy will have died of some old guy disease and you'll get a keen fresh-faced young audio technician straight out of Audio Technician School who's so warm and pleasant and welcoming you'll want to buy him a soda hand him a box of condoms and introduce him to your sisters. The guy won't be able to mix paint with a stick and your band will sound like ass but you'll have a new best friend and that's really what it's all about isn't it?
 
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#11
Jeff Bonny said:
So lemme get this straight, the people hiring you would like you to use their sound man and you have no problems with his skills as a tech but you don't want him to mix you because he's grumpy? Is that pretty much it? Well if I was you I'd just roll with it and maybe by next year (if they hire you back) the grumpy old guy will have died of some old guy disease and you'll get a keen fresh-faced young audio technician straight out of Audio Technician School who's so warm and pleasant and welcoming you'll want to buy him a soda hand him a box of condoms and introduce him to your sisters. The guy won't be able to mix paint with a stick and your band will sound like ass but you'll have a new best friend and that's really what it's all about isn't it?
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They are not even being hired since they are playing for free.
 
#16
Frankjohnson said:
I genuinely wonder what people say about me as a sound guy after I read these threads......
I try to mix as well as I can, be as friendly as I can. does that make me a douche?
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From what you describe, I'd say that makes you a professional...what more can anyone ask. I love having a sound tech and not lugging all the PA gear, especially if that person feels like the performance will be as much of a reflection on them as it is on the band.
 
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#18
Frankjohnson said:
I genuinely wonder what people say about me as a sound guy after I read these threads......
I try to mix as well as I can, be as friendly as I can. does that make me a douche?
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No, that makes you a professional. I've never had an issue working with anybody running sound, regardless of expertise, as long as they were friendly and did their best to make it a good show. It's the little tin gods with attitude or an agenda that piss me off. There's at least one sound person I will no longer work with because they've actively tried to sabotage my sound (and rig) on several occasions. I'm pretty level-headed and don't burn many bridges, but I don't try to rebuild them once they've been burned either.
 
#19
red_rhino said:
I've never had an issue working with anybody running sound, regardless of expertise, as long as they were friendly and did their best to make it a good show.
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We did a freebie gig a few years ago. PA was provided by the event organizers. When we got there, the sound guy told us he thought he was just supposed to be running program music off an iPod and set mic levels for persons that were scheduled to speak. Turns out he had never, ever run live sound before and the gear he brought was barely up to the task. (Not his fault, he was working from information provided by the event (dis)organizers). But he was super friendly and willing to give it a shot; we helped him by not overpowering his gear and helping him understand how to mix a live band. He had a great time, learned a lot, and the show ended up sounding pretty darn good.
 
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#20
Frankjohnson said:
I genuinely wonder what people say about me as a sound guy after I read these threads......
I try to mix as well as I can, be as friendly as I can. does that make me a douche?
Click to expand...

No. I means you have to keep your big-boy chops on.

I've run sound professionally for The Four Tops, The Spinners, Ricky Skaggs, Pam Tillis, Travis Tritt, Firefall, and Jerry Reed.

Being friendly, courteous, on point, and good at what you do is all you need to do.
 
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