David Morgan Part II, Behind The Wrong Desk
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.
As my journey would have it, I have spent a lot of time learning about the early west coast sound company scene. David Morgan spent some of his early years heavily involved with some of them. We only scratched the surface of this in my first conversation with him on episode 2. I wanted to dig deeper into his time with these companies specifically, A1 Audio, and Innovative Audio.
Now for some quick context on the scene and times. Tycobrahe started in 1968, was one of the early sound companies on the west coast, and was one of the first companies to package and tour all across the country with bands. Before this time, the few sound companies that existed only provided support regionally. Tycobrahe went on to tour with bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, and more. They were around and flourishing until 1979. During this time at Tycobrahe, Jim Gamble and John Judnich engineered and designed quite a lot. Jim Gamble's first two consoles were designed and built under the Tycobrahe name, known as the "Black board" and "Blue Board".
Around the same time, a company called A1 Audio was started in 1969 by Al Siniscal. Starting with a Las Vegas office they quickly expanded to Hollywood and other locations. They were supporting acts at the time like Paul Anka, The Doobie Brothers, Frank Sinatra, and more. As discussed in my first episode with David this would the first company he stared at, after working a house gig at the Palimino located in North Hollywood, CA.
Tycobrahe was sold and transitioned into a company called Innovative Audio in 1979. This was a splitting point for many who worked at Tycobrahe like Jim Gamble. The company lived up to its name and took what they had from Tycobrahe and kept progressing forward with designs and innovations. As you will hear in today's conversation, David was called upon in 1981 to come and manage the company.
Dirk Schubert was a key engineer for Tycobrahe audio. With the split of Tycobrahe in 1979 Dirk and his father started Schubert Systems Group, which still exists to this day. In 1983 they bought Innovative Audio.
David's short time as a GM for a sound company was a great experience that allowed him in the future 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.
We also go beyond this time as he began to work with artists like Whitney Houston and Paul Simon as a freelance mixer. These artists were supported at the time by Maryland Sound. Being a guitar player at heart Morgan also talks about the time he got to play for James Taylor.
Listen to my conversation with David Morgan and hear from him, how he ended up behind the "wrong desk".