Along with my writing efforts for FOH, I work with a variety of houses of worship. I guess that is more than obvious, since I am the guy who writes Sound Sanctuary. Well, I also own and operate a secular (nonreligious) regional sound company that designs and installs residential and commercial sound systems.
Generally speaking, I will hire anywhere from one to six techs for my secular or worship gigs. They are actually independent contractors. But rather than get into the legal qualifications of my employees, I will tell you what I need in terms of technical skill and physical attributes. Qualifying as a Rio Deluxe (my company) tech is pretty easy. You need to understand live audio setup (lift speakers and plug in the right wires), signal flow, EQ, compression, etc., and be strong enough to handle the big stuff, but smart enough to position the small stuff. Shower regularly and wear the company shirt. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?
However, in the worship end of this business, the rules and requirements are a little tighter. Appearance can be right up there with technical ability. If I have one of my boys mixing a Sunday service, they have to know what they are doing and dress for the occasion. Let me give you my dress code for church gigs (indoors or out).
First: Wear a clean, collared shirt (solid colors preferred).
Second: Bathe, comb your hair and shave (if you have a beard, trim it).
Third: Brush your teeth, use mouthwash and Visine (if you smoke and were out working late the night before).
Fourth: It is imperative that you never let a foul word exit your mouth. I don’t care what the circumstance, a pure vocabulary is a must. Appearance is not as important for install gigs, but a clean vocabulary is vital.
Now, is this not the absolute antithesis of your average sound guy? If you are working on the road, you most likely are mixing in your favorite or lucky T-shirt. You probably haven’t had a shower in three days, you lost your toothbrush, your eyes are as red as stop lights and you really don’t give a f*#k if you ever shave.
It doesn’t take much to see the difference between the secular and the spiritual mixing worlds. It’s not that church sound guys are pussies, we just show the more refined side of live sound mixing. I live and mix in both worlds, and it has taken me some time to adjust to the changes between the two.
My biggest challenge was getting my language under control. There is nothing worse than letting the f-word or s-word slip when selling the pastor on a new sound system. “I’ll tell you pastor, this new system will rock the f#*k out of your congregation.” That just isn’t going to fly with most religious folks. So, the real question is: How do you find a tech who will go out there and represent your company with grace, style and a reverence for the Lord.
I think that your primary test is finding an employee who believes in some sort of God and respects that belief in others. You don’t have to hire a Jew to mix at the temple or a Catholic to mix in the Catholic church, but you need to hire a tech who understands the depth and the seriousness of most religious groups’ beliefs.
Once you have found someone who can and will conform to house of worship work and mixing needs, you need to introduce him to the church elders or pastors or the powers that be. And the folks who run that church need to like the guy and feel confident. I took one of my boys to a very spiritual, mostly black church in L.A. I love the energy of this church, but I wasn’t sure if my guy was going to be a good fit for this particular house of worship. It turned out that my tech and the pastor hit it off beautifully. I spent one Sunday with my tech at this church, and I haven’t been back for six months.
I took the same guy to a church in La Cañada (an L.A. suburb) and introduced him to the staff. They just didn’t click. He never even had a chance at mixing even one church event or service. I doubt that they will ever use him. I really don’t understand the decision-making process of a lot of houses of worship. Whether they prayed about my tech or just went on first impressions, I’ll never know. I only know he didn’t get the gig.
Of course, bringing in a crew for an install is another story. I basically make sure they look decent and wear the company polo shirt. But I am always reminding them of the importance of good language, especially in the sanctuary.
When doing install work, you also have to make everyone conscious of their surroundings. Religious buildings can be full of spiritual icons (especially Catholic churches), and these icons are almost always valuable. You really don’t want to drop your drill on the statue of the Virgin Mary from 16 feet up. Or knock over the Star of David with your ladder. Just train your crew to be extra careful.
I also have no problem praying with the pastor or rabbi or whomever before a service, and none of my guys do either. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t have to hold the same beliefs as my clients, I just have to respect them. And, besides, praying never hurt anyone (it probably helps).
I think that is about all I have to say about this subject. Oh, maybe one more thing. Go slow. Choose your church tech wisely. If they shine for your company, then you look good and will get more referral work. If they can’t handle the pressure of spiritual mixing, they can send your biz straight to hell.
