From Its Start as a High School Obsession 20 Years Ago, Pacific West Sound Has Remained Passionate About Audio
[Starting this month, we put a new twist on Regional Slants. This piece will now focus on a different regional soundco every month, giving you an idea of what it's like for the mid-level crew. They'll share their stories, their hard-won wisdom and their plans for the future. Know a regional soundco who's a Hometown Hero we should focus on? Send us a line at hometownheroes@fohonline.com. And never fear, we have a new home all lined up for the frustrations and rants that used to fill this space — stay tuned for news on that. �ed.] Can you remember what you were up to in high school? It's not like the '60s — if you remember them, you weren't really there. Nah, if you were like most high school students, you were trying to figure how to not get caught not doing as much as possible. If you were Brent Milton, though, you had other things on your mind.
While in high school, Milton worked with his electrician father doing side work, saving his money to start Sound Unlimited, a small sound company that provided services to small gigs around his Bakersfield, Calif. hometown. One of Milton's competitors, Pacific West Sound, came up for sale, thanks to a divorce proceeding, and the 19-year-old Milton purchased all of those assets.
Yet Milton wasn't able to jump right into business as Pacific West Sound. "I had to sit on the name for about a year," he says with a laugh. "It was a little hot."
That was more than 20 years ago, and since then Milton has grown the company from a couple of employees to 13, from a handful of gigs in the Bakersfield area to work as far west as San Luis Obispo and south as Long Beach and from a collection of mediocre gear to 160 EAW cabinets, Crown Amplifiers, XTA processing and consoles like the Midas Heritage Series and Yamaha PM5D.
Milton says that he learned a lesson by watching other companies grow too quickly. "I've seen a lot of other companies bite off sound, lighting, design and all these different things. They do all those different things, but they don't do them well or even to an acceptable mark," he reports. "I am very slow and methodical. I'm 40 years old; I've never been married; I don't have kids. I live, eat and breathe this stuff; it's my passion. My mind has always been focused on doing what we do and doing a good job."
That's not to say, though, that PacWest hasn't expanded beyond sound services. Indeed, at the same time Milton was expanding the company's sound business he was out earning a C-10 electrical contracting license. At first the license was another stream of revenue, but eventually Milton got involved in doing service work on sound systems in the different clubs around Bakersfield.
From there, Milton became more and more interested in design/build projects, and he received some coaching from Greg Hockman from GLS Marketing and Loren Robinson, who is now with Crown. His first projects were tune-ups of systems in clubs, and he has since graduated to doing an install for Acoustic Dimensions and another at a local megachurch, Valley Bible Fellowship, that included sound, lighting and video.
PacWest currently provides audio and backline to clients, and is adding video to its menu of services. Milton has avoided added lighting, he admits, because his brother owns and operates a theatrical lighting company in Bakersfield.
"The three dollar trick in a contemporary sound company, I think, is successful diversification while maintaining a high level of quality," Milton reports. "I guess we would say that our priority is having the appropriate staff, supporting them and keeping them. We've done that. We've maintained a very low turnover over the past five years."
The PacWest employees have found themselves at an interesting assortment of shows over the past year, including one of the largest raves in the nation at the L.A. Sports Arena called Monster Massive, the Long Beach Tattoo Convention, all the production events at Six Flags Magic Mountain and the Long Beach Reggae Festival. PacWest also has a sister company in San Luis Obispo called Bill Gaines Audio, so the two handle all the shows in that area as well. All in all, Milton reports the company booked 500 production dates in 2006.
PacWest does three other events for Go Ventures, the promoters who put on the Monster Massive. "For Halloween there were 24,000 people packed into the Sports Arena," he says. "So, we bring in 100-plus boxes of P.A. and giga-tons of stuff. It's fun to load it in; it sucks to hang out. That music beats me up."
The competition "is pretty stiff" in Los Angeles, he says. "I think a lot of the thing that makes us more competitive, like that $3,500 a show kind of thing, is we have good personnel and great hardware. We'll flex to send out the appropriate hardware, and we'll try to do the best possible job. It shows. For years and years as an owner/operator, I was the guy there on the sharp end of the stick. That makes a difference."
In his hometown of Bakersfield, PacWest faces competition from a handful of companies that service the C-level shows that come into town. "Up to about four years ago, we did them all," Milton reports, "but it got to a point where we got a consultant involved and she said we had to let go of some of those things. We still do all of the significant shows." As an example, he points to the Patti LaBelle and Merle Haggard tours that rolled into Bakersfield recently.
Looking back over the past 20 years, Milton can point to a number of factors that have kept him in business. One of the first is making sure the gear is in working order. "I think one of the biggest mistakes that companies make, especially smaller companies like we were a few years ago, is maintenance of gear. You've got to spend the time and money," he says. "This time of year everything is torn apart and being painted and cleaned. Throughout the year we bring in additional people to clean and maintain everything."
And then there's the old idea of service. "We typically bring in higher level equipment than they specify to try to keep them happy," he says. "Outside of that, it's do what you're supposed to do � show up on time, do it with a smile on your face and be knowledgeable. It's not rocket surgery."
Let David know about your Hometown Hero at djfarinella@fohonline.com.
