How We Got Loud

Before digital consoles, prediction software, analyzers, plugins, and virtual soundcheck, there were engineers like Ken Newman figuring it all out in real time.

Ken’s career spans more than four decades and includes artists such as Barry Manilow, Paul Anka, Shirley MacLaine, Anita Baker, Liza Minnelli, Chris Isaak, Julio Iglesias, and many more. But what makes his story fascinating is not just the list of artists. It’s the path he took to get there.

Growing up around electronics and ham radio through his family’s business, Ken started building recording rigs and modifying mixers while still in high school. Long before live sound had established rules or standardized systems, he was learning through experimentation, failure, curiosity, and instinct.

In this conversation, Ken reflects on the early days of regional sound companies, homemade consoles, analog outboard gear, Atlantic City showroom productions, the transition from analog to digital mixing, and the endless pursuit of what he calls “audio nirvana.” 

Along the way, he shares stories about:

•  recording local bands with a custom-built Gately Pro Kit mixer, 
•  discovering live sound while working with regional PA companies in the 1970s, 
•  troubleshooting a Doobie Brothers tour console failure, 
•  learning from legendary engineers and system techs, 
•  navigating difficult artists and high-pressure situations, 
•  and why honesty, consistency, and challenge matter just as much as technical ability. 

More than anything, this episode captures the mindset of a generation that helped build modern live sound from the ground up, often without formal training, established workflows, or even proper equipment.

For Ken, the goal has always remained the same:
 make it sound great, make people happy, and keep chasing the next level.

You can check out more of Ken’s work here www.newmanaudio.com

JBL was one of the earliest and largest manufacturers of speaker components and cabinets. Mark Gander spent 41 years at JBL starting in 1978, with various roles through the years such as Applications Engineer, VP of Marketing, VP of Engineering, and most recently Director of JBL Technology. He is also known as JBL's historian and often just called JBL GURU.

 In my opinion, he was one of the most influential and centrally connected people when it comes to speakers, with the largest sound companies in the world. He was directly responsible for marketing, product development, and connecting companies like Clair Bros, Maryland Sound, ShowCo, Stanal Sound, A1 Audio, Schubert Systems, and many more with JBL in the late '70s and early '80s. This was a time when all sound companies had to make their own property systems. Mark has a very unique perspective on our history because he was at the center of the live sound industry. Sound Companies needed a symbiotic relationship with a speaker manufacture to develop, engineer, and design their systems. Mark Gander was the catalyst of that for JBL.

Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes

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I want to thank Earthworks for sending me their new ICON podcasting microphone. It looks awesome and sounds great.


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

Joel Silverman has spent the last 41 years on the manufacturing side of the business with companies like MXR, DBX, Lexicon, and Millennia. Before this long successful career, Joel who was based in Rochester, NY started Silverfish Audio in 1971. In the summer of 74, Joel had been working with Bonnie Raitt while at Brighton Sound. Ross Ritto joined up with Joel to start building a speaker system for a Bonnie Raitt tour, which is really where it all started to come together for Silverfish Audio.

Bill Thompson was co-owner of Brighton Sound before moving on to start Ashly Audio. Early on they were building custom consoles, of which Silverfish had the most. These consoles were ahead of their time with parametric eq's on the outputs, built-in speaker crossovers, compressors, and more

In 1976, Silverfish landed Jimmy Buffet as a touring client. As they took on more clients and tours grew, it led them to open up an office in Burbank CA in 1978. The company continued to grow as Joel decided to leave the sound company and start the manufacturing side of his career. In 1980 Silverfish moved to San Diego. During this time Dave Shadoan joined the company and became half owner with Ross Ritto. They changed the name to "Southern California Sound Image” in 1984. They are celebrating 50 years in business and Jimmy Buffet is still a client to this day

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Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes

Support the podcast on Patreon

Get your How We Got Loud swag at our online store

I want to thank Earthworks for sending me their new ICON podcasting microphone. It looks awesome and sounds great.


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

The San Fransisco Bay area was very influential on the music scene in the late '60s and early '70s. In this episode, I am talking with Lee Brenkman, who has spent over 50 years working in many of the iconic venues there like the Avalon Ballroom, Family Dog on the Great Highway, and the Great American Music Hall. 

A very influential person in live sound history is Bob Cohen. He was the co-owner, co-manager, and sound engineer for the Family Dog, the San Francisco concert promoter that ran neck-and-neck with Bill Graham.

Cohen went on to start his own sound company called Lumiere Productions. He invented the modern-day intercom system and founded the company Clear-Com with Charlie Butten. Lee Brenkman was there in the shop as Bob and Charlie were drawing the schematics out on butcher paper.

For the last 47 years, Lee has worked at the Great American Music Hall as the house sound tech and later becoming the sound department head. We spent a fair amount of time talking about the progression of gear through the years there, along with some memorable shows like Duke Ellington's last San Fransisco performances, Robin Williams HBO Special, and more.

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Jimmy Hendrix Show for Family Dog in Denver Colorado, Feb 14, 1968
Lee discusses this the show and how he provided support speakers in the episode. you can listen to a recording of the show.

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Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes

Support the podcast on Patreon

Get your How We Got Loud swag at our online store

I want to thank Earthworks for sending me their new ICON podcasting microphone. It looks awesome and sounds great.


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

In this episode, I am joined by Steve Nider formerly of Silverfish Audio, which went on to become Sound Image, one of the largest sound companies in the world. After my last episode with Greg Price, I shared a photo he sent me, of a Pablo Cruiz show in 1978 with Silverfish Audio. The console at the time was a custom-built Ashly, with features like 4 band parametric EQ on every output, LED metering, and adjustable crossovers built into the desk. These features on a console were unheard of at the time. Ashly made very few consoles before realizing the economics of it were not great, so they shifted focus to dedicated outboard gear only. Silverfish Audio was one of the few companies to have these consoles. 

Based in Rochester, NY Nider was in the right place at the right time and kind of "fell into the business" at a young age. SivlerFish Audio also located in Rochester started in 1971 and moved to San Diego in 1978, during that time they had 3 touring systems for artists like Jimmy Buffet, Bonnie Raitt, Pablo Cruise, Jackson Brown, and more. 

Jump in now and hear Steve's journey in and out of the touring world along with some fun stories along the way.

Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes

Support the podcast on Patreon

Get your How We Got Loud swag at our online store

I want to thank Earthworks for sending me their new ICON podcasting microphone. It looks awesome and sounds great.


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

Often when starting off in the studio, making the shift to live sound can be a difficult transition. If you make the transition well, it's often more difficult to go back to the studio. When you find someone who can excel at both studio and live at an elite level, It's rare and special. That's Greg Price. 

For the last 25 years, Greg has mixed Front of House for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. His career spans over the last 45 years with artists like Van Halen, Rage Against The Machine, Poison, The Cult, Steve Miller, Pablo Cruise, and many more. While working with these iconic bands, Greg prides himself in taking the music to the next level and delivering unforgettable experiences for the audience.

It's difficult to cover a 45-year career in a single conversation. So I believe this will be the first of many conversations with Greg.  Even though he has done so much already, Greg believes he has more to accomplish, and I cant wait to see what that looks like. Listen in and hear the passion Greg has along with stories from his journey.


Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes

I want to thank Earthworks for sending me their new ICON podcasting microphone. It looks awesome and sounds great.


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

David Morgan spent 5 years behind the "wrong desk". David's short time as General Manager for Innovative Audio (formally Tycobrahe) was a great experience that allowed him to learn more about the music business and to have more respect and understanding for the freelance FOH Engineer and sound company relationship. But in his heart, he knew he belonged behind the mixing desk.
Being a guitar player at heart, Morgan also talks about the time he got to play for James Taylor.

Check out www.howwegotloud.com for more details and other episodes


Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

Greg Carttar started out making amplifiers and home stereo equipment but quickly found himself providing sound for concerts.  Carttar started 3rd St. R&D Production Services in 1974 and they went on to work with acts like Johnny Cash, Steve Martin, The Statler Brothers, and more. He was able to get most of his early training and support from Stanal Sound.

Click here to see all of Greg Carttar's photos.

Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

Today I am talking with David Dansky, whos been in this business since 1970. Coming from an electrical engineer background he was well suited to jump into an industry that needed a lot of innovation early on. It's hard to summarize all that David has ventured into over the last 50 years however, David has spent a lot of his career working with adult contemporary showroom acts like Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bette Midler, and many more.

It is very apparent David loves what he does. He has also documented so much of his work. Make sure you check out How We Got Loud.com to see some of the pictures David has sent me as well as other episodes. While you are at it please tell a friend about this podcast and subscribe on your favorite podcast player.

Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."

Jim Yakabuski (AKA Jim Yak) quickly made his way from mixing bar bands in Vancouver to Front of House for Van Halen. Since that time Jim ,who is in the 39th year of his career, has diligently perfected his craft and worked with artists like Peter Frampton, Journey, Avril Lavigne, Matchbox Twenty, Rob Thomas, and Gwen Stefani just to name a few. 

He also has over 20 years of doing freelance corporate work for major clients like Nike, Microsoft, Walmart, the NBA and the Super Bowl, with production companies such as ATK, OSA, Creative Technologies, PRG, LMG, and more. In this episode, we are going to take an early look at how Jim was able to have such a successful career.

Make sure you check out How We Got Loud.com to see some of the pictures Jim has sent me as well as other episodes. While you are at it please tell a friend about this podcast and subscribe on your favorite podcast player.

Please check out and support The Roadie Clinic, Their mission is simple. "We exist to empower & heal roadies and their families by providing resources & services tailored to the struggles of the touring lifestyle."