239. Marc Alan, FOH Engineer For The Legendary Jose Feliciano & More

In Episode 239, the hosts are joined by Marc Alan, front of house engineer for legendary artist Jose Feliciano as well as the production manager and FOH at the Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, CT and the marketing director of Factory Underground Studio. He goes deep on what it’s like working with an artist like Jose at this point of his incredibly long career, and he also talks about how to establish an optimum relationship between house engineer and guests who come in with bands — an especially fun conversation since Marc and Andy met last year when Marc guested at Andy’s venue! This episode is sponsored by Allen & Heath and RCF.

Episode Links
Marc Alan On LinkedIn
Wall Street Theater
Factory Underground Studio
Episode 239 Transcript

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Episode 239 Transcript

Transcript

Episode 239 - Marc Alan

Note: This is an automatically generated transcript, so there might be mistakes--if you have any notes or feedback on it, please send them to us at signal2noise@prosoundweb.com so we can improve the transcripts for those who use them!

Voiceover: You’re listening to Signal to Noise, part of the ProSoundWeb podcast network, proudly brought to you this week by the following sponsors:

Allen & Heath, introducing their new CQ series, a trio of compact digital mixers for musicians, bands, audio engineers, home producers, small venues, and installers that puts ease of use and speed of setup at the heart of the user experience.

RCF, who has just unveiled their new TT+ Audio brand, including the high performance GTX series line arrays and the GTS29 subwoofer. Be sure to check it out at rcf-usa.com. That's rcf-usa.com.

Music: “Break Free” by Mike Green

Andy Leviss: Hey, welcome to another episode of Signal the Noise. I'm your co host, Andy Leviss. With me in the virtual box next to mine, as always, is Sean Walker. What's up, Sean? 

Sean Walker: What's up, dawg? How are ya? 

Andy Leviss: I'm, I'm good. I'm recovering. I slept in today because I, you know how I swore I wasn't going to do those long days and I'm getting too old for that shit? 

Sean Walker: But you did it, didn't you? 

Andy Leviss: I, I was doing a load in day that was a little bit long. I was supposed to just do a late night, like 9pm to midnight ish load out. And halfway through the day I got a, are you available all day tomorrow? 

Sean Walker: Right. 

Andy Leviss: it was at, uh, at, uh, the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center here in New York, the American Heart Association's annual Red Dress Gala Concert, uh, and it was, uh, Mickey Guyton was the, one of the performers, and then the headliner was Demi Lovato, 

Sean Walker: Oh, cool, dude. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, so helped load that in, set up, did some comm programming the one day, and then dealt with the, like, the red carpet, step and repeat reception area. 

You know, DJ stage and like overflow feed. So, you know, a lot of the day was about lip sync, like keeping the video wall synced with the image and 

Sean Walker: For sure. Didn't you have, like, a giant banner in front of you or something, though, that was 

Andy Leviss: Oh, I was, I was, so yeah, the mixed position in the atrium there is above where the step and repeat was. So I'm trying to watch the video wall to get lip sync going with the row of Aries sky panels at full blast, right in my face for all the press. 

It was, it was like, I think it's thins. I close enough. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right. Totally. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, okay, so give me a hard consonant again, and uh, oh and then now they zoomed out, I can't talk. 

Sean Walker: Totally, dude. And 

Andy Leviss: any of those events, lip sync is like the bane of my existence. 

Sean Walker: Totally. And it depends on what desk you're on too. Cause like the Yamaha desks make it really easy. Cause they'll do it by frames as you can just click through frames. You're like close, good, go. Nope. Okay, cool. But like some other desks are just milliseconds that you're like, get your scroll wheel to death on trying to catch up. 

You're like, uh, 

Andy Leviss: so what have you been up to? 

Sean Walker: what have I been up to? Um, today has just been sales meetings all day with clients and stuff. And then a race back here to meet you guys to do this. It's, it's, uh, been pretty, pretty mundane as far as the tech goes today. We've been working through new tech packages, trying to make it easier for our clients to buy from us and try to like, you know, not get in our own way so much as most of us production companies do, whether we realize it or not. 

Andy Leviss: That's a big one. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude, it's just been some nerd business shit that nobody really cares about but me. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, I gotta scribble that down. We could easily do a whole episode on how to not get in your own way. 

Sean Walker: Totally. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, that's, note to self, note to Sean. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right? 

Andy Leviss: Speaking of not getting in our own way, why don't we stop our RBSing and let's introduce this week's guest. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude. 

Andy Leviss: So, uh, with us today is Marc Alan, uh, who, among other things, is, uh, front of house mixer for Jose Feliciano, who wrote Feliz Navidad, Wall Moon, Fru's cover of, uh, Light My Fire. 

Marc is also the TD and, uh, lead audio at a venue in Connecticut. He's worked for SIR and their studios for years. Uh, I'll stop talking about him though. And Marc, why don't you, uh, fill 

Sean Walker: also president of the Cool Beard Club. 

Marc Alan: Hey. 

Andy Leviss: that he is. 

Marc Alan: Thank you guys. Hey, thanks for having me on, 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude. Thanks for coming. 

Marc Alan: man. I appreciate it. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. So why don't you give us a little bit of, I know I kind of gave, gave the highlights, but you want to give us a little bit of your, your origin story before we dig in, 

Marc Alan: Sure. So, uh, like many guys, I was started as a musician trying to find a way to make a living. And I started working in rock clubs in New York City. And I worked for a whole bunch of places in the 80s and 90s. Uh, Limelight, Palladium, all the kind of cool nightclubs of the day, and uh, CBJB, uh, just a whole bunch of places. 

And it was like, it's, looking back, it's like a blur of all 

Andy Leviss: I was going to say, those are a lot of places that I'm surprised you can remember them all. 

Marc Alan: I remember the places, and I remember some of the shows, 

Andy Leviss: All right. 

Sean Walker: I was gonna say, remember the places but not the nights, right? 

Marc Alan: I do. And I kind of got lucky because I had a friend in college who was like, you know, in protecting his gig, he was like, I need somebody to work on the nights that I don't want to work, so he got me to do it. And he was like kind of teaching me by rote. 

He wanted to work the cool rock nights and put me on doing like the open jams and the jazz R& B nights. But then I met some really cool people and really, really great musicians and, you know, I just started working my way. I got lucky and around 93 I became a technician with SIR Studios in New York City. 

And, uh, it was kind of like, I don't know, an incredible experience because I got to work close up with. Incredible artists that, you know, in the beginning I would like put the names on my resume and then after a while I was like, nobody's ever gonna believe this, so it just became a one line item on my resume, but, you know, I've worked with legendary artists up close and personal and it was a wonderful experience, so. 

Sean Walker: Is that line item now just awesome? Like, who are 

Marc Alan: Yeah, it's just awesome. 

Sean Walker: awesome ones? Good talksy out 

Marc Alan: exactly. Truly, 

Andy Leviss: Any particular highlights stand out? 

Marc Alan: Well, I got to work with a Beatle, I got to work with Ringo Starr. And, uh, and I did, uh, One Stone, Charlie Watts, and with his Charlie Watts jazz band. And that was amazing. Um, I did a day, uh, two days teching for Aerosmith. And it was like, I'll never forget, there was one day, I was using like an old Soundcraft analog board. 

And, uh, the reverb, uh, the send on the aux was just like cracked open just slightly. Sending it into Stephen Towers. And he's telling me to turn the reverb off in the wedges. And it visually looked like it was off. And I'm like, there's no reverb there. So finally he called me over. He's like, I'm standing next to him. 

And he's like, he's like, check it out. And he like, talks in a wedge. And there's reverb there. And he says, you hear that? And I was like, yeah. I was like, oh, you don't want that? I just said that. He thought I was, I don't think he knew if I was fucking with him. Oh, sorry. I don't know if we're allowed to curse 

Andy Leviss: All right, I'll go for 

Marc Alan: You know, I was just like, I kind of just like said it like, oh, you don't want that. Okay. And then I went back and I looked at the console to like, what's wrong with me? And I realized it was just slightly 

Andy Leviss: Oh, man. 

Marc Alan: and I killed that. So, but it was like one of the moments where I was just like, Crap in my pants, you know, but uh, 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, I, I, I had one of those recently, not anybody near Steven's caliber, but a DJ came into a setup that like I had thrown together the DJ rig real quick, like just what came from actually from SIR rentals, like set it up, like just patch it all together and You know, particularly with DJs, you know, they're gonna come in, whatever you do is gonna be wrong and they want it different. 

So it's mostly just get it out, get it connected some way that they stand, a chance of using it, and then they're gonna rearrange everything anyway. And this DJ comes in and, and just calls me, you know, is introduced to me as the sound engineer and calls me over and is like, did you set this up? And I thought for a second I saw the look behind it. 

It was, and was I neither answered yes nor no, I said. I'm the one who's here to fix it. What do you need? What's wrong? 

Marc Alan: mmm, 

Andy Leviss: we went from there and we're fine. I'm like, I'm not going to say yes. I'm not going to say no. Might've been me, but yeah, let's just pivot from there and not focus on, on blame. 

Marc Alan: let's not assign blame here. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. I 

Marc Alan: So, that day just ended with, uh, the drummer left, and Steve and Tyler played drums, and they just jammed on blues songs for the rest of the day. And that was like a day I'll never forget. But that was just one day in their life that they've long since forgotten. For me, it'll never die. 

Sean Walker: Dude, how cool. End. And, dude, a day with a beetle? How rad is that? 

Marc Alan: It was incredible. 

Sean Walker: You know, 

Marc Alan: was incredible. 

Sean Walker: cool is that? 

Marc Alan: Yeah. I, you know, I was really lucky. I, you know, I worked with some of my idols. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, dude, and some of those, like, some of those people are like the coolest cats to hang with for a bit, and then, like you said, what a cool memory for you or for us, and then, and they're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, cool, I'm off to the next thing. 

Andy Leviss: want to say, cause there's always that don't meet your heroes and like, mind you, you can meet a hero for an hour and they can completely fuck it up. But like if you get there on a good day, Like, you've got that good day, and then you don't have to worry about, like, there's no chance for seeing the bad day, just leave and go on. 

And that's kinda awesome. 

Marc Alan: what's cool is I still work with a lot of guys from the, for those years. Like, I'm part of a company in Norwalk, Connecticut called Factory Underground Studio. It's a recording studio and video production company, and the owner of Factory Underground now was my intern in 1996. So, uh, I still work with a lot of those same guys, you know, that's how it rolls, you know, you work with the people you know and you trust. 

Sean Walker: Dude, that goes back to our common saying we got here, which is don't be a dick. 

Marc Alan: Don't be a dick. Exactly 

Sean Walker: Cause you never know like where somebody is going to be or where it's going to, you know what I mean? Like it's astounding how many times that that turns into a career changer or a good gig or something just by being nice to somebody, you know, 

Marc Alan: Well, you know, in business, everybody talks about ROI, which is like, what is the return on my investment? You know, but I met this guy, this is like, uh, I met him once, but he, I would say he's a mentor, but I only met him one time. But he said that, um, there's something called ROR, which is return on relationship. 

And he said that you're always going to make, you're always going to get more from a long term relationship than from any single investment. And I've always believed that and I've always espoused that. And I think that it just really comes down to don't be a dick and be cool. And, 

Sean Walker: Totally. 

Marc Alan: you know, 

Sean Walker: Totally. Do your job to the best of your ability and be cool to be around to the best of your ability, 

Marc Alan: you gotta, you gotta be grateful. You gotta show appreciation. You gotta say thank you. And you gotta appreciate people's time. And that's how it was with Andy, like when I met you. At the Pearlman, you know, uh, yeah, I try to come in very laid back and try to just be really, you know Not waste people's time and do what I got to do and allow you to do what you have to do 

Andy Leviss: And that was, like, that was a series of, like, I think five nights worth of shows where it was, like, I was mixing lots of the acts that came in, and then a handful brought their own engineers, and, uh, and that night you were there, there were two of you that came in. And, yeah, likewise, it's, like, from the other end, it's trying to, uh I both need to make sure I have what I need for all the other acts on the show, but also making sure you have what you need and that, yeah, that I'm not, and I think we're going to dig into this a little more as we get going, but yeah, making sure you have what you need and that everybody has a good day. 

Marc Alan: Exactly. Right. 

Andy Leviss: And I mean, the, the, the fact that you mentioned that, like, the, the person who owns that studio was your former intern, too, reminds me of that, like, it's such a cliche, but to be careful whose butt you kick on the way up the ladder, because that might be the butt you have to kiss on the way back down, and 

Sean Walker: Dude, totally. 

Andy Leviss: I mean, I had that, too, the, the theater at Lincoln Center that I worked at for a few years, uh, about, like, I guess like five or six years. Wow, I feel old. Um, the Jay who was my boss there and is still a good friend was the union apprentice at the rental shop. I got my card. I was the apprentice and then Jay was the apprentice after me. 

And then fast forward a bunch of years, uh, he's there the boss at a, at a theater in town and I needed a job and they needed a new sound person. And so now my former apprentice was my boss. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, 

Sean Walker: Dude, let me ask you, while we're, while we're on the, like, venue and touring guy and stuff, like, do you guys, how, how do you, how do you look at that situation? Right? I, I own a sound company here, so I, I am often on the vendor side where I've got touring X coming through or whatever, and I love that 'cause I just take notes, man. 

I'm like, Hey man, like, how am I gonna do this better? How am I gonna, you know, improve my craft or whatever. And usually everybody is like, usually they're super cool. And we're all, we're all gear nerds, man. We're all excited to like show our tips and tricks for the most part. So they're like, Oh dude, here's how to do this. 

Here's how to do that. And you're like, Oh yeah, scribbling notes and stuff. Like, but I totally have run into people that were not into that or had a very different thing. Like, do you guys see a lot of, you know, you both probably see both sides. Like, what are your thoughts on how to handle some of those situations? 

If they're maybe not as cool as they could be, or. You know, overcome some of those hurdles. 

Marc Alan: well, you know what I remember when I was younger, you know Being a guitarist, you know, everybody is very competitive and you're also really trying to get ahead in your career. And there's always that sense of, I could do that better. But as, I think as you get older, you start to realize that, you know, we're all in together and we all have a job to do and we'll just have to work together. 

And it's not that I'm doing it better. I'm just trying to have a consistent mix from day to day and, uh, and I'm also servicing an artist and, uh, trying to give them my best each day. And so it's not a matter of am I mixing it better than you or are you mixing it better than me? It's a matter of, you know, we're just doing the job that we have to do and do the best we can and, um, and we'll work together. 

Sean Walker: Totally. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, 

Sean Walker: Andy, what about you? You spend a lot of time on both sides. What are your 

Andy Leviss: I, I do, and it's, we were, we were, I know Marc and I, uh, were talking about this a little, uh, before we started recording, that it's, there's a weird tension, because, like, when I'm working with an artist, or when I'm friends with an artist, I'm always gonna vouch, gonna, not vouch, uh, I've lost the word, but I'm always gonna advocate, advocate, I'm always gonna advocate for, uh, Them having an engineer who knows their music, knows what they want, knows what they need, knows what compromises can be made or not. 

But then when you're on the house end, there's that natural monkey brain that is the house engineer, particularly on a show where you're mixing five of six acts. When that six act comes in with an artist, you're like, Well, why don't they trust me to do it? And it's like, of course they don't, they don't know you, and that's fine. 

And it's nothing per, it's generally nothing personally about you, and it's not even necessarily an assumption about what you can or can't do. It's simply, you don't know their music, you know, you don't know them. And, and there's nothing, and yeah, I've learned, like, I've been watching, like, Marc that night. 

Like, I picked some things up from Marc. I know, uh, Marc knows, like, the CL and QL as well and didn't know the RIVAGE, so I think I was able to show him a couple, you know, the new cool tricks in the RIVAGE. Um, we had, I think I've actually talked about the other act that was on that night, had you know, had a DI guitar that she'd been fighting with forever. 

And just at one point, just like kind of sighed and just turned to me in like a commiserating of like, I can't ever get this guitar to not sound like a DI. 

Sean Walker: pulled out Ryan's trick, didn't you? 

Andy Leviss: uh huh, did indeed. In fact, I had it saved as a preset. I was like, can I try something since we're at soundcheck? And she's like, yeah, go for it. So I, you know, my fingers flew around it. 

Cause at that point, I'd been doing so many like. Quick DI's over the days that I had it all saved and could do it on autopilot and popped in that little bit of like a teeny tiny room reverb at like 30 percent right on the channel. You know, turned it on and it opened up and sounded like a guitar again and she just turned to me and was like, what did you just do? 

Marc Alan: You hit the magic button. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, I'm like, I can't take credit for it, but yeah, here, try that, try this next time. And, and Ryan made me look like a hero as, as Ryan oh so often does. Um, and yeah, it goes both ways, but. 

Sean Walker: totally, 

Marc Alan: Well, you know, a lot of times the house engineer will do a better job because he knows the room, knows, works on a console every single day. 

Andy Leviss: Uh huh, 

Marc Alan: And, uh, but it's just that from the artist's point of view, that their sound person is like their security blanket. They want to, they want to know that you're at front of house because they're on stage and there are so many uncertainties to their situation that they trust they have, they maybe have a better performance because they know that you're there watching their back. 

And I think that that goes hand in hand, um, in that, in that terms of that relationship. So I think that, and, and it's also. Yeah, you might do a better job. It's okay. I have no issues with that. For me, it's a matter of I'm trying to give the artist a consistent 

Andy Leviss: uh huh, 

Marc Alan: quality sound each and every show and you're striving for that consistency. 

So it's really not about like you might do a better job or you might do a different job. But it's just a matter of. You know, I'm trying to, you know, you know, I don't know if I'm saying what I'm 

Andy Leviss: no no, I'm getting it and that's exactly it, and it's, and there may be days where literally I'm doing exac as the artist engineer doing exactly what the house person would, but because, whether it's because I've got that Shorthand language with the artist. They don't have to ask for it. They can just give me the the evil eye and I know what the evil eye means or they can give me the wink and I'm like, okay, we're leaning into that today. 

Got it. That they're comfortable. And sometimes it's just like I may not do anything or I may do nothing different from what anybody else with half a clue in that situation would do, but because they know me and have that trust, they're more confident in it. 

Marc Alan: Exactly. Look at that show that we did together. And Jose Feliciano, when we tour, he has a full percussion rig, you know, his drummer, who's his son, bass and keyboards. And, uh, you know, it's, it's a big band. But that day when I worked with you. It was just supposed to be Jose performing solo and then he said no, I want to have my sons come and so it was acoustic guitar, drummer and bass. 

I mean There's not a lot, there's not a lot of mixing that goes in with that. You're basically trying to get guitar and vocal loud and clear, not have the drums be too loud and, uh, and just the bass does what it does. You know what I mean? It's not like mixing an orchestra. You know what I mean? It's, it's a, it's a small amount and you, you've, you've really focused on the lead singer. 

His guitar, he's the star of the show, he's what people are coming to hear. They're not coming to, they're not paying to hear the drums, they're not paying to hear the bass. They're paying to hear Jose Feliciano sing and play guitar, so that's what the focus is. And truthfully, I didn't need to be there. He didn't really, you would have done a fine job and everything would have been great. 

Jose wanted me there because, you know, I've been working with him a long time, uh, you know, he trusts me. And then I had the opportunity to come see the Pearlman and see what you guys are doing and see this beautiful new venue, so of course I'm like, yes, I have to 

Andy Leviss: do it. 

Marc Alan: Uh, let's do it! 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, there's, there's times for both. And like, there were other acts on, on that bill or that week that had artists come that it was honestly, there's enough, you know, like, depth to like, the size of their band or what they're doing that it absolutely was, it, they, they needed somebody who knew what was coming and knew when that player who doesn't solo for the entire show is suddenly going to take a whale and solo. 

They're like, Would I, as the house engineer, catch it? Absolutely. But I might, it might take me a beat or two to be like, oh, oh, that one's so long now, shit. 

Marc Alan: Mm, 

Andy Leviss: and those little things help. And I mean, I'll say like one thing I appreciated about you, Marc, is Marc brings a delightfully, like, just the right amount of old school approach to like how he dials something in on, on a new system. 

Like we had a tuned rig and I was like, do you want to hear? Is there something you want to listen to? Like, what do you want for effects? And Marc was like, just plug in a 58 and hand it to me and just give me three minutes. And, yeah, I sat there and dialed in some reverbs, dialed in some stuff, and it sounded fuckin fantastic. 

Marc Alan: yeah. Uh, at the end of the day, if you can make a vocal sound good, and you know what your lead singer is going to do, that's a great start. 

Sean Walker: totally, totally. I mean, everybody knows what the human voice is supposed to sound like, but nobody's been able to. Agree on a great 

Marc Alan: Well, my human voice sucks. 

Sean Walker: mean? But like, you know, we all instantly recognize if the voice sounds whack, right? Whereas 

Marc Alan: For sure. 

Sean Walker: if the, if the drums are different than we like, that's a much bigger gray area or sliding scale. 

Or if the guitars are different than we like, or something, you know, it's not immediately like, that's messed up. It's more like, Oh man, I'm just not really digging the guitar tone. You know what I mean? But like, if the voice sounds Hollow or messed up somehow, where like something's wrong with that voice. 

And so it's a real, it's a smart place to start to make sure that the vocal is killing and then everything else is like, Ah, I can sort that out, you know. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, because you can set your gain on your vocal, you can kind of make sure that your compression is right, and just kind of know your starting point. And know you're in a good spot to start. And um, everything else you can kind of mix on the fly. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, so like on that subject, which we sort of answered, but maybe to dig slightly deeper into that, on the, on the Signal Noise Discord this week, there's a thread that had started on kind of the order and like method of like dialing in your mix and like, where do you start? How do you build it? So I think we kind of established that to a point, you know, uh, you know, there's a case for starting with the vocal, uh, like where, where do 

Marc Alan: Well, sometimes I start with the music, but, uh, I don't like Steely Dan, so, uh, I had to find music that I liked, uh Lately I've been using the Chick Corea electric album. Uh, there's a couple of tracks on that I really dig. And I got that, uh, I got that from another, actually the audio engineer I told you about who I thought would be great for your podcast, his name is Abbott Finkel, I got that from him. 

Uh, that's like, I was hearing it on his gigs. I was always like, ah, this is good, man. So I use that, um, but that's just a quick reference to me. Kind of tells me that all the components are working and the system sounds like it's got as much. Lows and mids as it needs to have, and then I go to my vocal. And I set up my vocal gain, set up my basic effects, and then I'm just, I'm off to the races at that point. 

Andy Leviss: And then like, once you're into soundcheck, like, do you have a pretty, like, cause I know some folks are like, every instrument I want to go, I want to get the drums first, then the bass, then build around that. Some folks are like, just play and I'll build in the pieces around that. Uh, what's your general vibe there? 

Marc Alan: Well, I mean, I would love to start with the vocals, except that your vocalist is usually the last to come, right? 

Andy Leviss: damn time. 

Marc Alan: So that's why I, that's why I start with my voice in using the same mic that the singer uses and I like to have it in a channel so I can sort of like set it up for my voice and then copy it over to his channel. 

And then I'll start, then I'll go to the drums and do the other instruments. Every time that would be my choice. I like to build around that. Uh, to me it's about, like I said, people are there to hear the vocals and hear the, hear the song. Um, they're not here to hear, there to hear the bass drum. Really? 

Sean Walker: for yourself, dude. Symphony 

Marc Alan: I know. Well, my, my bass drum is amazing. Of course. 

Andy Leviss: Oh, 

Marc Alan: bass drums speak for themselves. 

Sean Walker: dude. I don't need no vocal. I got symphony of kick drum. 

Andy Leviss: Oh, man. I finally. I've finally, if not, gotten to the point where I don't think my snare sucks. I'm at least like complacent with my snare, but yeah, the eternal journey we talked on our holiday episode about like, I'm like deep down the rabbit hole of like second guessing every choice I make on kick drum mic. 

And one of these days I'll, I'll maybe be almost happy with it. 

Sean Walker: Oh, dude. And the, dude, the hard part. Uh, you know, in a rare vulnerable moment for me here, the hard part about doing what we do, Andy, is we're talking to a bunch of people that let's be honest, are fucking way better than me. I won't speak about you, but like our audience is way better at this than I am. 

And so the imposter syndrome kicks in. We're like, Oh man, here's how I do this. Shit. I should have shut up and let somebody tell me how to do this. You know, 

Marc Alan: dude, 

Sean Walker: I should just use my two ears and one mouth and that proportion, you know, 

Andy Leviss: And my main qualification for being here right now is that I was too stupid to say no. 

Sean Walker: right. 

Marc Alan: yeah, 

Andy Leviss: Although that's like 

Sean Walker: talking about me, right? 

Andy Leviss: career. 

Marc Alan: it's because we should have stayed in college. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: I did! What's my excuse? 

Marc Alan: Oh, 

Sean Walker: Um, 

Marc Alan: well, now you can go to school for this. 

Sean Walker: Right. 

Andy Leviss: I mean, I went to school for theater, so make of that judgment what you will. 

Sean Walker: You know, we were going to talk to you about that, but, uh, 

Andy Leviss: It's like 20 something years too late for that intervention. 

Sean Walker: yeah, right. For sure. 

Andy Leviss: Um, so before we veer on to other things, like talking and Marc about the, that like house guest engineer relationship, uh, and from either side, because again, you, you kind of work on both sides of it and, um, how have you come up with any tricks or tips or how, when you get somebody who doesn't have that good of an attitude and comes in more adversarial, any, any advice you've come up with for trying to make the best out of that? 

Yeah. 

Marc Alan: well, for me, it's a matter of I've been in that sit the other side of it so many times where I didn't have a guy who was that helpful or sometimes you get a guy who's so overly helpful that he wants to tell you everything that the console can do in ten ways of doing every single thing and I'm just like, I just want to do what I need to do. 

And, you know, just, and so from having experienced both types of guys, for me as a house guy, I just want to help that guy as much. I need to help him. I just want to be the best that I can be for him so that he can do his job. And then during the show, I don't disappear. I stay there. I stay with him, uh, so in case he needs anything, uh, or any assistance, I'm there. 

I've experienced the other side of it when, um, I had a guy who was a house guy who was my friend. Uh, he was trying to give me the respect to stay out of my way. And then during a show, I needed him and he wasn't there. So, uh, you know, no disrespect to him, but I need, if you need somebody, they need to be there. 

And so I try to be that guy. I try to be there, I try to help you as much as you need and not be in your way at the same time, 

Sean Walker: Would you say that that role of the house engineer, when they've got another. Engineer coming through is a little bit of a, like a little bit of a consultant and a little bit of an order taker, like not like you're getting direction, but like, what do you need? How can I help you? What can I get for you? 

What, you know, how do you, how can I help you do your job better? Rather than like, here's the nine things you have to do on this console. But you're like, yeah, man, I got it. It's not my first rodeo on a desk. What I needed to know is how to send on this particular desk that I haven't 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: Oh, I got it. 

Okay, cool. You know what I mean? Like you were talking about what the Rivage, right? Andy, you know, 

Andy Leviss: yeah, and that's a particular thing that, like, Marc brought up, that that week, too, is opening week in a venue, and, and I was, I'd done other shows on Overwatch before, but that was, like, the first month or so I got really in depth with the console, and being the kind of nerd that everybody listening knows I am, my natural tendency is to want to be that That person is like, look at all the things it can do. 

And it was a quick learning curve of figuring out like, that's not going to help anybody because we don't have time for that shit. And then the corollary to that is being attentive and being engaged enough to know when and sense when they're struggling and they're about to be struggling for something or need something and be like, either like I will with an engineer if I know it's going to be safe. 

I can't remember this happened with you or not, Marc, but I'll particularly on a console like that that's got multiple bays. I'll see what, what I think they're about to reach for in a second. And I'll go and pop up the screen they need and just wait till there's a moment to be like, if you need it and just point at the screen, you know, and either let them run with it or just tell me what you need. 

And I mean, Marc can spill the crap and tell you if I, if I, if I dropped the ball on that or not, but I, I. 

Marc Alan: ha 

Sean Walker: actually we're just here today, Andy, to tell you that you're, you're fired, bro. 

Marc Alan: ha, 

Sean Walker: you were, you were trying to mix his show for him and we had to go this whole thing. Like we already had this talk. Okay. No, no, but that's a, that's a good thing. Cause like Marc, you're a pretty ripping QLCL. And like, you know, Yamaha pretty well, right? 

But the Rivage is just a little different. So it was, it wasn't like, how do I operate console? It was like, what is this thing doing with this touchscreen that the other ones aren't doing, even though it's the same ecosystem, right? 

Marc Alan: Well, the workflow of the Yamahas are all fairly consistent. I mean, going back to the M7CL, which was really great in its time, and still is, you know, in many ways. I mean, the fact that you have every fader on one level is so cool, but the workflow is the same. It kind of feels the same. The RIVAGE feels like that to me. 

It just does maybe some cooler stuff, but the basic heart of it is the same and that's how it feels to me. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, and that's, 

Marc Alan: like 

Andy Leviss: of, yeah, that's one of the things I like about them is that if you know your way around a CL or a QL, 95 percent of the things are exactly in the place where you expect them. And most of the rest of them are close enough that with a minute of poking around, you're like, it's not, oh, I bet it's, yep, there it is. 

And 

Sean Walker: re invent the frickin wheel, which is 

Andy Leviss: yeah, and they've, they've added new ways and faster ways to do certain things, or like for the EQ, they brought in the way on the iPad app, you can like, Slide your finger around and, you know, pinch, you know, to change the cue. They've brought that to certain screens in the EQ. So like as the house engineer, if I see somebody who doesn't know that, digging for EQ a lot and hunting around and trying to struggling to like, find the right knob to grab on the fly, then I might point out to them like, Hey, pop it into the big view and you can just do the iPad thing on it. 

And you know, there's a moment to offer that trick up and there's a moment to be like, yeah, they're fine. Even if they're not doing it the fastest way, they're doing it in a way that works. And that's what's going to be fastest in the moment for them. 

Marc Alan: Well, they have come a long way since the LS9. I will say that. They did invent the wheel from that point. Reinvent 

Sean Walker: literally the wheel, the amount of time he spent scrolling on that wheel, holy cow. 

Andy Leviss: You know what? You know what? I have to remind myself an LS9 isn't every time I'm on an LS9 

Sean Walker: X32. 

Andy Leviss: a touchscreen. 

Sean Walker: Oh yeah. 

Marc Alan: exactly right. That's right. 

Andy Leviss: looks exactly the same as the M7. 

Sean Walker: you gotta 

Andy Leviss: and tap and you're like, I, but I, ah, 

Marc Alan: Damn 

Sean Walker: times have you poked that with a sharpie and you were like, dang, 

Marc Alan: Damn it. Yeah. You know what I did is I had a little days you could basically mix with your eyes closed and just use your ears. And I think that in the digital age, we just started mixing with our eyes a lot. And I feel like, you know, when you have a console that it just has a certain feel to it. 

where you know where everything is and everything is kind of where you expect it to be, then you can really just go back to using your ears more and not, you know, just not constantly looking for something. 

Andy Leviss: That's like I can get into the weeds of like QL versus CL, but if you're in the area where they overlap I'm always gonna want a CL because I can reach for an EQ knob and not have to think about what EQ band I'm reaching for And that's, I mean, that has been a thing on the RIVAGE as I've spent more time on it. 

There are times where it is easier to hunt and pinch, and because without going between knobs, I can use three fingers and get the EQ I need, but it is easy to fall into that trap, particularly when you turn the RTA graph on behind the EQ of Unfortunately, 

Marc Alan: Mm. For sure. 

Sean Walker: what is it like being smart enough to know there's two ways to do something on a console? Because I only ever have to bash my head against the desk until it fucking operates. I only know how to use the knobs, bro. Like, I didn't know there was other ways to do shit. 

Andy Leviss: I'm cursed enough to know that there's actually about four ways, technically maybe five 

Sean Walker: Yeah, no, I don't got the brainpower for that, sorry. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. Well, and that's the thing, and that's what I was saying before, particularly as, as the local weather engineer, front of house tech, console tech, whatever, with a visiting engineer who's not familiar with the console is knowing when to point out the other way and when it doesn't fucking matter. 

Um, 

Marc Alan: Yeah. All right. 

Andy Leviss: I don't know if there, I mean, in Marcet, is there anything else on like that subjectively those relationships you think we haven't touched on that you want to throw out to folks or warnings advice before we, before we pivot other directions? 

Marc Alan: Um, so I, I just, I can't think of any other advice, uh, other than just employing some basic empathy and trying to understand. Look at where the guy is, who's in the position he's in, as the house guy, look at everything he's dealing with. Like, in that context, that day when I met you, you were dealing with a whole lot of stuff, you know? 

And I was with one artist, I had a very specific, you know, reason for being there, but you had a lot of things going on. So that's where I tried to come in and not be, uh, you know, too demanding and just try to be like I try to be cool with you and understand where you're at and, you know, and at the same time, try to get done what I need to get done. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, and from the opposite side on that, it's the, yeah, I'm juggling a lot, but part of one of the things, like, I'm juggling that week is as much advance as I have from everybody, what everybody needs. Or if I don't have an advance, what An average engineer is going to walk in and feel comfortable getting quick up and running. 

And that may be very different from what I'm setting up with for the other five acts I've got to do because of how I work. And, you know, like I, like, y'all know me by now, like I, I can get nerdy and I'll, I'll do some like tricks and extra shit to like make my life easier. But I know that's If you're not familiar with how that's set up, it's not going to work for you, so a big thing there is making sure that while I've got those creature comforts I need, I'm also setting it up so that somebody else could come in and could make their show happen without having to get into the weeds of that. 

I mean, that's a, that's a beautiful thing on that console particularly, is there's like DSP power and mix sends for days, so I can do whatever esoteric combinations of like reverbs and delays and harmonizers I want. But then I can also just have a few buses that are like, here's your hall, here's your plate, here's your room, you know, here's an Eventide if you want it. 

Go to town and let me know, you know, here's an Echo, let me know if you need anything else. Change anything you want, those are yours. 

Sean Walker: Dude. 

Marc Alan: Have you guys been to Sony Hall in New York City? 

Sean Walker: I have not. No. 

Marc Alan: Well, it's, it's a beautiful venue. It's a beautiful venue. It's in the, uh, I forgot what hotel it's in, but it's a, it's a ballroom of an old hotel and it's a beautiful venue. And I think they have a Rivage in there too. Uh, but what's interesting about that venue is that you can kind of mix the whole venue like you're in Surround. 

Where you can mix things in a panning forward and back as well as left to right. And, and you can kind of set up your panning on a grid where you can look at this computer and be like, Okay, I'm going to push this hi hat back in the mix and I can bring this acoustic guitar forward in the mix and all this stuff. 

Sean Walker: Dude, cool. 

Marc Alan: It's really cool, right? But, for me, as a visiting sound engineer walking in, My expectation was that I'd never have ever in my life Mixed on anything like that and that's not a situation I want to be in to learn how to do that with my artists that's, you know, bringing me on tour with them So I sat there for 15 minutes listening to everything this thing could do and then I just was like Yeah, this is not a good time and place for me to really grasp this. 

So I asked the guy, can this mix, can, can, can you set this up in stereo? He was like, Oh sure, no problem. And it was like, took him two seconds in his laptop to change it over to a conventional stereo system. And then I had a great day. And it was one of those things where I was like, there were so many things that this system could do, but it was just beyond my ability to really, uh, take note of, employ You know, develop into my mix in the context of the situation I was in. 

So, um, you know, I think that's an example of where you just have to do the job you have to do and you try to do it the best you can. And sometimes that means not using every trick in the book that's available. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, it's, it's, this, this is a career in a field where it's not just knowing what to do, it's sometimes knowing what not to do or when not to do it. 

Marc Alan: Right. There you go. 

Andy Leviss: Um, yeah, so we, we, in, in all of this we've mentioned that, uh, like, that your steady artist you work with is Jose, uh, why don't we, like, dig into that a little bit, like, how did, how did that come to be, because, I mean, Jose's had a career spanning decades and decades, and you've been with him for what, like, around, like, like, seven, eight years ish? 

Marc Alan: Something like that. Uh, it was before COVID by a couple of years. Um, yeah, I got really, it's really like, luck, really is what it comes down to. Um, I had a guy who was an intern for me at my studio, at the recording studio. And, uh, he worked with Jose's daughter at a, at a place in our city. Like a museum. And it was just a conversation over lunch asking, do you know any audio engineers? 

My dad is looking for one. And he was like, yeah, I got one guy. That's it. And uh, Jonathan, his, uh, Jose's son called me on the phone and we had a great talk. And um, they're kind of like a family business. You know, it's, uh, his wife is part of the management team and his son is the drummer and his tour manager, essentially. 

And uh, net. And now his other son is a bass player. And, uh, right away, from the very beginning, I I was there, really, the first gig I did was at, uh, Lehman Center in the Bronx, I believe. And I think we did Sony Hall. And I was there subbing for a guy who was His wife was having a baby, I guess, or something. 

And, uh, so after the second gig, I was like shaking her hands and saying, thank you so much for having me here and appreciate it so much. And he was like, oh no, no, no, you're with us now. Yeah, no, no, yeah. And, uh, you know, it was like, oh man, it's been great because. Well, Jose's 70, now he's 78 years old, and he only tours, you know, he maybe does maybe 30 to 40 gigs a year. 

And for me having a house gig and my daytime business in the studio world, um, that's just enough for me to go out and have fun and see the world and, and, and, and mix great music. But without having, worrying about going away for six weeks, eight weeks at a time like I used to do. And of course, you know how disruptive that can be to the rest of your life, you know. 

I don't have that. 

Sean Walker: Especially as you start having more responsibilities at home, whether that's businesses or, you know, significant others and children and 

Marc Alan: I mean, I used to do it. I used to, I would be away for two months at a time. And, uh, make great money when you were touring and then come home and be sitting around for a month and it was always like feast or famine, which you guys can understand 

Sean Walker: Yeah, just trying not to blow all the money you just made. 

Marc Alan: exactly. Yeah, exactly. And uh, you know, after, so now I don't have that, thank God, you know, now I, uh, I work enough to, uh, to stay busy in between. 

All three of my jobs, essentially, I work pretty much all the time. But I love it, you know? It doesn't feel like I'm I'd say I'm a workaholic. Uh, I work constantly, but I love what I do, so it doesn't feel like work, you know? 

Sean Walker: Although, sometimes it feels like work when you're just getting your ass handed to you, but for the most part, I'm with you. 

Marc Alan: That's true. With Jose, it's great because, uh, like, we went to Israel. Played two shows in Israel. 

Sean Walker: Dude, how cool. 

Marc Alan: And in March, we'll be in South America for like 

Sean Walker: Oh, that's awesome, dude. 

Marc Alan: and, uh, that's, that's, that's a blessing. I just, there's no other way to say it. You 

Sean Walker: Oh yeah, man. How cool. Plus doing the studio work is, is rad. Do you, do you find there's much like, how, how does your approach in the studio differ from your approach live when you're mixing? 

Marc Alan: Okay. 

Sean Walker: do both also. So I'm, I'm interested to see how somebody else does it. 

Marc Alan: well, okay. So I don't do recording engineering at all. 

Sean Walker: Oh, okay. 

Marc Alan: Yeah. So the, the factory underground studio, uh, like I say, it was built by my friend that I, I used to work with. He wanted me to come to Connecticut to. It took me a few years to really get up to Connecticut and really see what he was building and I, from the moment I saw it, I said, Oh, I want to get involved. 

We started, so what I do for that studio is Marceting 

Sean Walker: Oh, cool. 

Marc Alan: I got involved in Marceting because I was like, oh my god This place is amazing. Nobody knows about this place and we would People would come down to the studio who were from Norwalk and say oh my god. I'm from Norwalk. I've my whole life I never heard of this place and I decided I never want to hear that again I never want to hear if somebody say I never heard of this place. 

So I didn't know anything about Marceting But I became the self appointed director of Marceting so that, so I never, I could be responsible for never hearing from somebody saying, I never heard of this place. And, uh, you know, it's been 13 years now. 

Sean Walker: And has that statement died off? Everybody knows 

Marc Alan: Yeah, nobody knows who it is. 

Sean Walker: They still don't know who it is. Good directing, dude. But Hey, if it's been in business 13 years, you're doing something, right? 

Marc Alan: well, here's the thing. Who would have thought starting a recording studio in 2008 was a good idea? Nobody. 

Sean Walker: nobody. 

Marc Alan: And, uh, here we are going strong, um, we also have another subcompany which is a label, a record label, it's uh, really label services, uh, it's not a traditional label, um, but we do Marceting for music artists. 

And that's really what I do about 90 percent of the time during the day. 

Sean Walker: Marceting for music artists. 

Marc Alan: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, cool, man. That's awesome. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, so it's kind of like having a multi personality disorder between my live engineering, my venue operations and my daytime job in music. 

Sean Walker: Dude, that's awesome. Is there a particular genre of music that you guys are finding yourself in or is it multi genre? 

Marc Alan: On the label side, it's a lot of blues and, uh, but a really diverse, really diverse, but on the studio side, uh, we do a lot of pop and a lot of rock, but we're really, really saved us during, uh, During COVID is we, we really got serious with our code compliance and we got an endorsement from Screen Actors Guild and that opened up the door for all sorts of ADR and, uh, which you get, you guys are familiar with ADR, it's like dialogue replacement for film and TV. 

So, uh, we do a ton of ADR now for film and television during the day, uh, uh, Sesame Street, things like that. And so, so that, that, that just keeps us going. 

Andy Leviss: And that's a whole, I don't know a ton about, I know a little secondhand about that whole rabbit hole of all the compliance you need to do and like each studio has their own requirements for So, yeah. Security, because in, in this world of streaming and everything leaking there, it's, I mean, it could cost them millions if recordings of something they're not ready to release gets out. 

And it's, I mean, that's almost its own specialty at this point. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we put out newsletters all the time, but we're never allowed to say who we're working with until it's out. So something we record today might not be commercially available for a year or more. So, uh, you know, it's, it's tempting sometimes, but at the same time, I'd rather keep making money then. 

Andy Leviss: Yep. Those cool brag points are not worth breaking in NDAs. 

Marc Alan: For certain, for sure. Uh, but yeah, the, that, the, the daytime business is really fun. I really love, uh, all that stuff. And what's great is that I, it still gives me the flexibility to go do my venue work and still go on tour when I need to go. And, uh, somehow I'm able to keep all this stuff, uh, you know, in the air at the same time, which is like, sometimes it seems like a magic act, but. 

I pull it off. 

Andy Leviss: So once, once you started doing Marceting for them, like, did you seek out any sort of like training, self educate, anything on Marceting, or has it all been just kind of figuring it out as you go? 

Marc Alan: Kind of like the way I have been as an engineer. Just, just constantly researching and self, self teaching, you know. Asking a lot of questions, reading a lot. Just self taught in pretty much all of this stuff. 

Sean Walker: Have you run across the, the Marceting Made Simple and Donald Miller and those guys yet in your quest for Marceting stuff? 

Marc Alan: I'm not familiar. 

Sean Walker: Not to, not to blow their cover, but, uh, if you go to Marceting Made Simple or whatever, Dr. JJ Peterson has a killer book about how, how to Marcet and how to think about it and create a story for people 

Marc Alan: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: given up my whole secret to everybody that's listening, but 

Marc Alan: Is 

Andy Leviss: mean, I'm 

Marc Alan: Marceting for 

Andy Leviss: it on the show notes. 

Marc Alan: Yeah. 

Sean Walker: What'd you say, Marc? Sorry. 

Marc Alan: was that Marceting for Dummies? 

Sean Walker: No, no, it's called 

Marc Alan: that's the book I need. 

Sean Walker: Yeah, right? You and me both. No, it's called Marceting Made Simple and I think the website's the same thing. It's like orange and, orange and white, but I read a bunch of that and I was like, Oh man, I'm messing this up. I gotta do a whole lot better. 

It was like how to, how to create a story and bring your customers into a story. You know what I 

Marc Alan: Oh, no, that's what I'm actually, what I'm all about really is telling the artist's story. That's what it's about. Because, because it really comes down to people don't really buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And they, if, if they identify with your story, then they'll, they'll check out anything you're about. 

You know, 

Sean Walker: totally. 

Marc Alan: they'll buy anything from you if they believe in you, but, not from me, but. People 

Sean Walker: your artist, right? Yeah. For your artist. 

Marc Alan: oh, I'm going to. You're in a non profit? No, I'm in a no profit. It's called the music 

Sean Walker: Yeah. What a no profit. 

Andy Leviss: Swing and a miss. 

Sean Walker: man. Too funny. 

Marc Alan: I didn't mean to hijack your podcast to 

Andy Leviss: No, no, that's great. 

Sean Walker: man. That's, that's why we're here. That's, that's perfect. 

Andy Leviss: yeah. And I, Marceting is one of those things that we don't always necessarily talk about, but I think it's great too, because both many of our listeners have businesses that they very obviously know they need to Marcet, you know, like that's, uh, I mean, Sean was saying he was in sales meetings all day today, but also even just like freelance engineers. 

Like that's how we get work is Marceting ourselves. I think that's, it's a super valuable thing to, to dig into and think about. So I'm glad we, I'm glad we have kind of ended up there. 

Marc Alan: It's just kind of weird because, like, in the beginning, uh, when I was, you know, I really made every mistake you could possibly make in trying to have a music career. I really didn't know. I really didn't know what the hell I was doing. I really didn't. For 10 years, I didn't know what I was doing. Uh, but at the same time, I had sound, which was my day job, kind of keeping me going as a musician. 

And then You know, it's kind of like that now. I still have sound as my day job, except that instead of being, uh, trying to be a musician, I'm trying to be a music Marceter. But I love it. You know, I do it cause I love it. And, uh, and you know, but I, you know, I fortunately I still have, I still able to make a living as a sound engineer. 

And, you know, I think, yeah, if I didn't work during the day and I just did my mixing gigs, I'd probably have a whole lot more free time. Um, 

Sean Walker: Or you'd have a whole bunch more mixing gigs. You'd be traveling a lot more like you'd. You know, you're, you're a talented engineer and a cool dude to hang out with. So you'll get hired. You just have to be gone from home a lot more, you know, 

Marc Alan: Yeah. And I'm, I'm going from home just enough at this point. 

Sean Walker: totally. Plus you can just tell them like, look, man, it doesn't really matter what it sounds like. Look at this beard. You know what I mean? I, I got, I gave good beard. So that's really, what's going to get me the 

Marc Alan: It's my COVID beard. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. 

Marc Alan: This is, this, 

Sean Walker: And you were like, you know what, it's, this is good. I'm going to hang out of this and not, I'm not chopping this off after we're done here. 

Marc Alan: it's my COVID beard. 

Sean Walker: awesome. 

Andy Leviss: I've seen many of those. I was gonna say, look, it looks like you actually trimmed it a little bit 

Sean Walker: Yeah, the beard plays, 

Andy Leviss: Oh, you know, it's just out of the frame. There it is. There it is. 

Marc Alan: Yeah. I had to put it 

Sean Walker: like Vance Powell style beard, bro. That's awesome. 

Marc Alan: up. I'm, I'm, I, I think about shaving it every single day. 

Sean Walker: Don't do it. 

Marc Alan: No, 

Sean Walker: Don't do it. 

Marc Alan: not today. Anyway. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: That's, I, I'm, I'm at the cleanest shave I've been in a few months only because I screwed up entering the line the other day and I was like, ah, and we're hitting a reset. Understood. It'll be back in a week. But I don't, I don't go to, yeah, I'm, I'm like at that, like, you know, a clipper bladed like a one or two. 

I'm not nearly at, at, at Marc levels or even Sean levels of, of beard. 

Marc Alan: I did cut it off at one point because, uh, so I used to dye it and it was kind of funny to talk about. But, uh, you know, when I was first trying to grow it, I was like, Oh my God, look at all this gray. It looks so old. So I started dyeing it. And then you realize you become a slave to that because now you're like, Oh shit, I'm showing my roots. 

You know? And I met my girlfriend. She was like, this, this looks stupid. It looks so fake. You just got to stop it. So then I ended up with a line. A horizontal line from where the roots were showing, and I couldn't stand to look at it, so I just cut it off. So it would actually be twice as long now, and it would not be six colors. 

Sean Walker: You know, the salt and pepper in the beard is just experience. It's not really that you're old. So that's what I, at least that's where I've been going. It's like, hey man. This, this gray ass beard just means I got the experience to do a good job. It's not that I'm too old to sort it out, you know, 

Andy Leviss: It's dignified. 

Sean Walker: that's right. 

Totally. 

Andy Leviss: It's like I'm starting to go grayer and grayer in the temples, and I keep telling myself it's the Clooney look. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. Like I totally need a homie to help me double stack these subwoofers, but you know, cause I, you didn't need that when you were in your twenties, but now you're like, yo man, can I get a friend? But, but I got the experience to not blow out my back on your show. Oh, funny dude. 

Marc Alan: we've really run the 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, that's 

Marc Alan: dying, dying my beard to 

Sean Walker: Oh yeah, dude. Squirrel. Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: Um, 

Sean Walker: Oh man. But that's probably a, sorry. Go ahead, Andy. I didn't mean to cut you 

Andy Leviss: oh, oh no, I was just gonna say, I know we briefly touched on the theater you work at, and you're Your title is officially production manager, right? How does, like, where do the, where do the duties fall into? And like, even like what, what, what scale theater are we like? Tell us a little more about that. 

Marc Alan: So the beauty of the venue is that it's about 150 feet from my other business. And then, 

Sean Walker: commute. How do you deal with a commute like that, dude? That's so, 

Marc Alan: But here's, here's the funny part. For two years during COVID, I lived in a house that was directly between both of those places. 

Sean Walker: oh my God, dude. 

Marc Alan: So I would literally roll out of bed and then during the, the parking lot directly outside my house was where we had outside festivals during COVID. 

So literally I had a festival grounds directly outside my house, which was also directly outside the recording studio and behind the theater where I was production manager. 

Sean Walker: Winning. 

Marc Alan: winning. It was a really great situation. Um, 

Andy Leviss: to fight with the neighbors. 

Marc Alan: no, and really it got to a point where I said, you know what, there wasn't a lot of work in Norwalk where I live now, but it was close to, you know, this where the studio is. 

And I got tired of trekking off to New York and New Jersey to do all these AV, corporate AV type gigs. And I just said, you know what, I'm just going to double down on my investment in Norwalk and try to really develop work here and not travel as much. At least not, you know, I'll go to Israel, but I don't want to go to the city, you know, 

Sean Walker: Yeah like driving sucks, but I'll fly like 

Marc Alan: yeah, but I'll fly. 

Exactly. And then, uh, the, uh, the theater at that time, the Wall Street Theater was at that point boarded up and we knew that it was being, there were plans to revitalize it and restore it. And I just thought to myself, that's going to be the place for me to work. It's so close to where, you know, my other gig is, it just, and I just, you know, I just put myself in there from the moment they opened, I was in there. 

You know, networking and became the guy. And I've been there since they reopened in 2016 and I've mixed about 90 percent of the shows that they've had there. And, um, it's been a great, it's a great size venue because it's, it maxes out at a thousand with standing room, but usually this shows like 400 to 700. 

And bands playing in that size room are mostly not touring with engineers. So I get to mix, you know, a predominant amount of the bands and that's really fun. Um, and, uh, this year the theater was sold. It was just recently purchased by the New Haven Performing Arts Center. And they also have the College Street Music Hall, the Westville Music Bowl. 

And, uh, another place called the Space Ballroom. So, uh, their management team is amazing. And now I'm technically working for them and, uh, working with them has been great. Uh, it's turning it, it's going to become a really, really formidable venue over the next couple of years, 

Sean Walker: Dude cool. 

Marc Alan: Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, that's, I, I actually, the very first concert I went to see as an audience member post pandemic was at the Westfield Music Ball. 

Marc Alan: Mmm. 

Andy Leviss: I went to see some Lake Street Dive, 

Marc Alan: Yeah. I haven't been there, but I've heard it's, it's a great, they only do shows there in like, you know, the warmer months because it's outdoors. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. Cause that used to be, was it a tennis venue, I 

Marc Alan: Tennis venue in New Haven, yeah. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, but, 

Sean Walker: Is that close to you? Is that a long drive Andy? 

Andy Leviss: Uh, it's like an hour and a half ish. It's 

Marc Alan: Norwalk, 

Andy Leviss: I'm 

Marc Alan: uh, from the city of Norwalk is only about 45 minutes 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, well, I'm in Westchester, so it might actually even be closer. 

Marc Alan: Yeah, closer. 

Sean Walker: Damn dude, everything 

Andy Leviss: I looked this up one time because I was like, oh, I should hit Marcup if he ever needs anything. Yeah. 

Marc Alan: I'm, I'm doing all the labor scheduling at this point, so if you want to come work with me, you can. I'd love to have you there. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, it looks like it's, yeah, about like a 50 minute drive from my house. So, 

Sean Walker: Bro my shop was a 50 minute drive until a few months ago. Like, everything is so close over there, holy crap. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, well, here, why don't we do the important question? This is one of the, one of the classic questions on this podcast that we've sort of fAlan away from doing lately, but, uh, we're coming to visit you in Norwalk, uh, we're coming to play at the Wall Street. Where are you taking us for dinner? 

Marc Alan: Where am I taking you for dinner? What genre of food do you prefer? 

Sean Walker: Andy, the good kind. 

Marc Alan: So, lately I've been eating at this restaurant called Alma's Bistro, which is a couple doors down from the theater and they, uh, I'd say they're a Latino food, but they're a mix of different cultures and different, you know, ethnic from South America. Um, so really, really good food overall. Uh, I probably eat there six times a month. 

And, uh But our latest bar to start in our area is my new favorite place called The Flying Scotsman. And that's where we would definitely have to go for drinks. Um, they, the guy is a true Scot. He can only understand half of what he says, but everything he says sounds cool. And, uh, I've never been a Scotch drinker, but he's definitely getting me, uh, he's schooling me in the complexities of the 

Andy Leviss: Well, there you go. Now, next, next time you're in the city, then I'll, we'll, we'll get you out to my whiskey bar and, and, and expand 

Marc Alan: sounds good. Right 

Andy Leviss: now I've got the old Robin Williams, different cultures and how they are drinking going through my head, and he's like, you know, you ever go drinking with a Scotsman? 

That's an adventure because you can't understand them before they start drinking. 

Marc Alan: It's true. You start to understand more as you 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, I, I, I, yeah, I think the Robin Williams thing was, yeah, it's like, and eventually, you know, you get enough drinks into them and they just start having vowel movements. It's like, ay, ay, oh, you, sometimes why? 

Marc Alan: By the end of the night, you guys sound alike. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah. Um 

Sean Walker: Oh that's funny 

Andy Leviss: last thing, as long as we're going to the old classics and we're almost right about at the hour, Marc, why don't I'll throw this one out to you too, Marc, if there's one thing you know now that you could go back and tell early career Marc, uh, what would that be? 

Marc Alan: How to be on time, it's something I learned really the hard way. My first touring job was working for the Big Apple Circus. I was a lighting guy actually. I didn't know what I was doing. I really, really lied to get the job, to be honest with you. Um, and I was chronically late at that point in my life. And I worked with an all female electric crew, which was really interesting. 

And the master electrician was a Total, uh, I don't know what the politically correct word is, but she was tough. She was tough. If you were five seconds late for a dimmer check, she would berate you. in front of everybody, you would 

Sean Walker: that's a hard ass, no matter what we're talking about. 

Marc Alan: oh yeah, she'd, she'd either find, she'd find you or she would find you in terms of working on a day off. 

And so the first month I never had a day off. And I got so paranoid about being late that I would wake up on time without an alarm clock. And That was kind of how I got it together. And then later on, as, as a person who was hiring other people, when you have people who are chronically late and you realize, man, this guy is just wasting my time. 

I look back and I remember I was that guy. I was wasting people's time. And, and you really just cannot get ahead in this business unless you get that together. And um, you know, you gotta really respect people's time, you gotta be early, and uh, be prepared. And, you know, it took me a long time, I don't say a long time, it took me my 20s to really figure that out. 

Sean Walker: totally. Those, yeah, that's good advice. Cause those people don't work for me very long. 

Marc Alan: no, myself either. 

Sean Walker: when they're always late and you're like, Hey man, call time was whatever, like it's not a suggestion. You know what I mean? The rest of us are here ready to work. And you're just strolling in with a giant cup of fancy coffee. 

Like you even had time to stop for coffee and 

Marc Alan: Yeah, Time for Saffa Coffee, 

Sean Walker: about call time. You 

Marc Alan: exactly, 

Sean Walker: And then didn't even bother to call and get coffee for the rest of us. You know what, man? Today's your last day. 

Andy Leviss: After you get the coffee 

Sean Walker: Yeah. Like you're late and you're a dick because you didn't bring coffee for everybody. 

Screw you, dude. 

Marc Alan: and we all, we all know that traffic on 95 in the Northeast Corridor is terrible. It's terrible for everybody, 

Sean Walker: No, I'm not talking about somebody was late 

Marc Alan: know what I mean? but like, when people say, oh, the traffic was just terrible, you know, we, we all know it's terrible, so you have to take that into account and leave that much earlier. 

Sean Walker: Yes, 

Andy Leviss: Oh, you're right, it was terrible today, because it's a day that ends in day. 

Sean Walker: right. It's a day that ends in Y. We knew that, right? 

Marc Alan: Yeah, 

Sean Walker: But at the same time, like, I don't, I'm not trying to say that nobody could ever be late, ever, because they're, I mean, life happens, dude. You know what I mean? If it's, like, once in a while somebody's late, like, dude, it, it, life, life frickin happens. But we're talking about, we, the chronically, right? 

You're talking about people that are just, like, not one flying fuck to the calendar or the clock, and they're like, I don't know, man. I just thought I'd get here whenever I got here and You know, got my morning routine going and here I am 45 minutes later, 20 minutes late every, every single day. Not one time, you know, 

Marc Alan: Well, I mean, I do know people that have never been late, you know, like I have a guy, he's my main, uh, I mean, he's an A1, you know, he could be front of house for anybody, but he's most often my monitor, monitor engineer, I'm sort of swallowing my words, so, uh, never been late a day in his life, always early, always on time, always prepared and just, I love people like that, you know, I aspire to be that guy, so. 

Sean Walker: and what's his name and telephone number so I can call him and fly 

Marc Alan: His name is, 

Sean Walker: I'm just kidding, dude. 

Marc Alan: no, he's Dan Monaghan, actually, Dan Monaghan, uh, we, and we've toured all over the world together, uh, 

Sean Walker: dude, that's awesome. 

Marc Alan: yeah. He and I have actually done a lot of touring together with Armed Forces Entertainment. 

Sean Walker: Oh, cool. 

Marc Alan: that's another period of my life where, uh, we, we toured with, uh, a band performing for U. 

S. Armed Forces all over the world. Probably did 20 different countries. 

Sean Walker: We got a couple of guys in our, in our community that. Work for the arm for like for the marine bands or whatever that that was is that that same kind of thing you're talking 

Marc Alan: Yeah, yeah. 

Sean Walker: It looked they looked like cool shows. Some of them are super complex and super cool looking shows man. 

Was that was that a fun period 

Marc Alan: Yeah, it was really cool because, very educational, because, you know, everybody knows the USO, but the USO is, you know, when Bob Hope or Kid Rock goes to plays for the troops and they're playing in a very safe green zone area. But where I was working for was Armed Forces Entertainment, which is part of the military. 

You're playing for troops on sometimes forward operating bases and you're playing in, uh, in real war zones. And, um, uh, I, I, I, I never went to Iraq and Afghanistan, but some of the guys that, that I tour with, uh, did go there. You know, we actually took, one of the bands that I worked with a lot, uh, Released a documentary on their touring for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2006 and 7. 

And Dan Monaghan was one of the guys touring with them, so. It was a great time, great period. I went to Iceland, I went to Europe, I went all over the world, but unfortunately never in a war zone. 

Andy Leviss: It's apparently Iceland month here on Signal to Noise, we were just talking about my vacation to Iceland last week. 

Marc Alan: Wow. Yeah, we don't have a base there anymore, but I was lucky I got to go there. 

Sean Walker: did how cool 

Marc Alan: Yeah. Yeah, I probably did 20 countries with the military. 

Andy Leviss: That's, any time you can get paid to see the world is It's 

Marc Alan: It's always, I mean, I always wanted to see the world as a musician, but you know, uh, when I got the, the first time I got offered to go to a tour as an engineer, I was like, oh wait, you're going to pay for me to go here? 

Sean Walker: and then pay me to mix? 

Marc Alan: Pay me to mix? 

Sean Walker: Yeah. All right. I got this theory. Let me run it by and see what you think I have this theory that, and it goes along with, but don't be a dick, right? It's way harder to be a dick if you're well traveled because you've met a lot of people and a lot of cultures and you realize that we're all just fricking people doing people stuff. 

You know what I mean? Would, would you say that that has been your experience too? 

Marc Alan: Oh, a hundred percent. Oh, that, that goes back to empathy, you know, and you realize at the end of the day that all over the world that, you know, people are people, you know. Famous or not, doesn't matter. 

Sean Walker: Totally. 

Marc Alan: You know, on stage and then, you know, behind, behind stage, all the same, 

Sean Walker: Yeah. We're all just trying to figure out where the good tacos are and how to get a cold fricking drink. You know what I mean? 

Marc Alan: Exactly. Well, that's why I always say, like, if you know how to say cheers, uh, please and thank you, and where's the bathroom in every language, you're golden. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. Totally. 

Andy Leviss: And, and I, I would imagine like touring to those, like the, you know, like forward bases and stuff like that. It's like, it was a thing when we had Kevin Young on the show a couple of months ago, we were talking about folks doing like music in the Ukraine the last couple of years. And it's the same thing where like, when you've done a show in an actual war zone, you start to understand how like, as much as we like to think we're saving lives and like, everything's at risk on a gig, 90. 

8 something percent of the time, we're not, we, like, you've been to an actual warzone, this ain't that. 

Marc Alan: I haven't been to a war zone. I've been to military bases. Uh, I went to, no, not an actual war zone. Uh, the coolest base I went to was in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It was called Diego Garcia. Uh, it's a tiny little island in the middle of the ocean that, uh, I don't even know if it's on a map, but it's very cool. 

It's a tiny little coral reef. Yeah, it was Top Gun. Yeah, very, very cool. 

Andy Leviss: That's, 

Sean Walker: that's awesome, dude. 

Andy Leviss: yeah, I mean, I, I mean, I guess that kind of brings us to a natural stopping point. I don't know if there's anything, any other last bits of advice or anything you want to share, Marc, or I, if not, I think, uh, being on time is certainly a great way to, to wrap up and be on time with the end of the show too, so. 

But anything else you want to add in other than that or shall we leave it there? 

Marc Alan: Man, I feel like we could talk, uh, for hours, you know, 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, that's always the the danger with these. So yeah, why don't we wrap it up there and then we'll see. Maybe we'll have you back on another time and we'll dig into more stories. Or I keep saying we got to do some roundtable episodes. We're bringing like some new folks, some old guests and just like get a bunch of us going and shooting the shit. 

Like maybe do another live episode soon because that was that was fun back in December flying by the seat of our pants so. 

Sean Walker: What do you mean there? We're always flying by the seat of our pants, bro. 

Andy Leviss: Yeah, but at least we've got, we've got, we've got a Reaper session in between us and the listeners when we do it, when we do a normal episode, when we're live streaming, it's, we're going full Bill O'Reilly there. 

Sean Walker: Fair enough, dude. Fair enough. Well, cool, dude. That's the pod. Thank you, Allen & Heath and RCF for supporting us, you know, talking all kinds of nonsense online. And thanks Marc for coming and hanging out and sharing your awesome stories and cool experience and that great fricking beard dog. 

Marc Alan: you, man. It was a pleasure. I really had a good time. 

Sean Walker: Yeah. 

Andy Leviss: thanks, good to catch up with you again, Marc, and we'll, we'll catch up offline later. 

Marc Alan: Sounds good. 

Andy Leviss: All right, 

Sean Walker: All right. Bye y'all. See you next time.

Music: “Break Free” by Mike Green

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