No miracle required, just hard work.
Most of the work I get with regards to worship sound comes from referrals. What I would like to talk about this month is how to get yourself into a position where you receive an abundance of referrals. It’s like Jesus with the loaves and fishes (John 6:10). Somebody had to give him the first fish and the first loaf to get the ball rolling. So, maybe I can help you get that first fish.
I really don’t think you have to believe in a God or a Supreme Being to work in the worship sound biz. But it does help, and I’ll tell you why.
My first experience with worship sound came out of my own church right here in Pasadena, California. I got involved with the worship team at the Pasadena Foursquare about 10 years ago as a singer and acoustic guitar player. I knew the sound system sucked, but I really wasn’t interested in taking on any more responsibilities. Especially not the live sound challenges of this church. I was already working my own sound company, playing the casino circuit and writing for another publication at the time. So my work life was very full.
Well, ultimately I got involved with the process of purchasing and installing a new audio system in my church. During that process, I developed a relationship with the owner of the music store where Pasadena Foursquare purchased most of its new gear. Rob Dekarr is his name, and he asked me if I was interested in installing a sound in a Baptist church also in Pasadena. Rob had sold the church a very nice system, but he had no one capable of installing it. I took that job on, and over the next few years, I installed about a dozen worship systems for Dekarr music. It wasn’t an overabundance of work, but it gave me the on-the-job experience I needed to be able to design and install sound systems just about anywhere. I put sound into Methodist churches, Baptist churches, Mormon halls and an occasional Jewish temple. I even had work with the local Masons and Shriners. Every time I would install a system, I would offer to come back, mix services (if I could) and also train the sound guys. Basically, I was reinforcing my personal relationship with the various houses of worship and that ultimately kick-started my referral business. That is the short story of how I got into this business. The longer version will be in my book.
What I am doing currently is quite different.
If I am driving around and I see a church I like, I’ll stop in. I may like the look of the church, I may like the area that it is in or it may be just along the route from my office to my home. I work out of Pasadena, but I live in Sierra Madre, California. Sierra Madre has 10,000 inmates (residents) and eight churches. It is also a modestly affluent community. Every church in town needs some help with its sound. Of course, that is just my opinion, but it happens to be true. What I really want to do is listen to a sermon or the choir or the worship band at these various venues.
Anyway, that can be very difficult considering I work on most Sundays. However, Wednesday is another service day for many churches, and that gives me an opportunity to check out more houses. I have just started with this latest experiment of dropping in on various houses of worship, and I will let you know how it progresses.
OK, for the moment let me go back to the question of belief. Whether you believe in a God or not, if you are attempting to build a reputation, you should be an active member of a church or temple or whatever. And you should be working as a volunteer (or paid) sound tech at that house of worship. Let’s say that you walk into a church that you have never been in, you hand the associate pastor your business card and set up a consultation for the installation of a new sound system. Now, you may have a charismatic personality and make a great first impression. You may be the sharpest tack in the box, have great schooling and know your stuff inside and out. But, at some point, you will need to produce a resume and the appropriate references. There is nothing that will close a deal faster than a rave review from your own pastor, a member of the pastoral staff or the leader of a church you have recently worked at. If anyone from another house of worship calls my church inquiring about my abilities as a sound tech or my character as a businessman, they will get an earful of accolades — everything from my technical abilities, to my honesty, to the fact that I will get the job done in a timely and professional manner with a smile on my face. The point is that a list of references on a resume pales in comparison to a live person giving a glowing report on your abilities.
Now that I think about it, maybe you should believe in some sort of deity. If you are an atheist, you will definitely hate working in this end of the sound business anyway. The fact is, if you intend on mixing praise or gospel music or a beautiful Buddhist chant, if you want every word of the Gospel or Torah or Koran heard perfectly, you will probably have to embrace some sort of religion. When you think about it, checking out different houses of worship, different denominations and religions will probably expand your horizons. You know what I mean? Give you more insight into life and what we are here for and why we want to make everything sound louder. These are deep questions my friends, and ones that only God can answer.
Ask for Jamie’s references at jrio@fohonline.com.
