But really, I’ve never been that kid that threw the ring around the Coke at the carnival and won a big teddy bear, or got my name drawn for the gift basket each classroom would put together in grade school. That wasn’t me. I spent years (more like 5 minutes) holding a grudge against my fellow elementary schoolers that would continuously win prize after prize…A cake walk here, a meet and greet with Smokey Bear there, but the years of constant losing, have made winning this internship competition all the more sweet! Now while all my peers are filing papers, running silly errands, and other boring intern tasks, I am sitting here basking in my one great win: the Shure Artist Relations Get the Gig Internship Competition.

While maybe some of them can say they’ve met Smokey Bear, I can say I sit next to and get to work with some of the coolest guys out there! Cory, Rich and Nelson have been incredible colleagues so far, making sure I know what to do and that I meet a lot of people to make my summer more enjoyable. The great thing about interning here is that they really make you feel like you’re a true employee. I don’t feel like an intern. My first day at Shure included your standard orientation, but want to know what I did next? I was immediately thrown into a meeting on social media with the team and asked for my input.

The atmosphere is so relaxed here, my days of increased heart rate over landing on the right number in the cake walk are over. I’ve found a place where everyone is friendly, has a smile, and talks to you! It’s kind of like the town of Spectre in the movie Big Fish if anyone has seen it (but a lot less creepy). Everyone at Shure is so happy and friendly it’s almost not normal, in the best way possible.

I couldn’t have asked for a better week to start my summer with Shure. I’ve already learned so much about the company and the Artist Relations department. I even got Mic 101 with Nelson and Rich! I am so intrigued by every aspect of work here. I go home each night listening to my two roommates (Shure interns as well) geek out talking about the engineering side of all this stuff and it’s so cool.

This summer is definitely going to be a memorable one. It feels like I’ve already done so much and learned enough information to write a series of books, but then I have to remind myself…

This is only the beginning.

–B

Here is a playlist I put together for my first week at Shure. It’s 10 tracks that I’m super into right now! You can also find a little about me section, so you’ll know who’s writing these things!

 ABOUT ME:

Name: Brooke Giddens

School: Truman State University

Hometown: Rolla, MO

Position: Artist Relations Intern

Top 10 Shure Endorsers (In no order): Matt & Kim, Phoenix, Passion Pit, Foster the People, The Black Keys, Atlas Genius, Alabama Shakes, Ben Folds, The Civil Wars, and Young the Giant

Favorite Things: Ultimate frisbee, music, frozen mango smoothies with rasberry drip from Panera, The Family Feud, harmonica solos, and cats (I know, controversial topic, but I like dogs too).

Twitter: @Intern_ShureAR

Mumford & Sons headline this issue, in which editor Cory Lorentz contemplates what it takes to hold onto a music career for the long haul, and balancing the need to make a living with doing what you love.

View and download the full On Tour With Shure Winter 2013 Issue on shure.com.

So I thought a bullet point format might work well for this.  I may ad a few short comments, but most of them will speak for themselves:

• My first show as an AR rep was to visit Slaughter at park West in Chicago.  The band we’re nice guys, invited me right up onstage to see their gear.

• Taking a road trip to Summerfest in Milwaukee to visit Destiny’s Child.  I brought some Shure shirts with to swag the crew and Beyonce put one on when she arrive before soundcheck!

• Many nights of hanging with one of the best photographers in the industry – Paul Natkin (www.natkin.net)

• Attending many awards shows including The Grammy’s, the Academy of Country Music Awards, The Latin Grammy’s (the 2^nd Annual was supposed to happen on Sept 11, 2001), the Country Music Awards, The Gospel Music Awards and the American Country Awards over the last 16+ years.

• Traveling to Switzerland (my first time out of the US) for the Montreux Jazz Festival.

• Seeing and meeting so many artists at the NAMM show each year.

• Working with some artists since the beginning of their careers: Le Ann Rimes, Jo Dee Messina, Dierks Bentley, Korn and many more.

• Meeting and working with legendary artists like The Pretenders, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Natalie Cole, Alison Krauss & Union Staion and The Who, to name a few.

• Being tricked by Tony Iommi – I met him at a gig early on in my AR career with endorsement paperwork in hand.  After handing it to him he said “I need to look this over.” A half an hour later, he came back and said “I can’t sign this.”  My face went blank – I was speechless.  He said jokingly “You should see the look on your face…I signed it.”

• Lobbying congress and the FCC on behalf of Shure to protect wireless products and the frequency spectrum they operate in.

• Watching The Who do a 2 hour pre-show rehearsal at the Palace at Auburn Hills, MI a day before their show.  It was myself and 3 other people in an Arena.  Shortly after they finished we shot an ad with Pete and Roger.

• Co-producing a Shure show for the National Sound Contractors Convention with Ed Thigpen and friends plus a 20 minute Blue Man Group set in the middle.

• Many days and evenings of hanging/working with some of the best AR reps in the industry at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) and the Modern Drummer festivals over the last 16 years. (You all know who you are!)

• At one of my previous bosses’ request, shaking Elton John’s hand after a sound check and thanking him on his choice of microphone.

• Seeing and Meeting Cheap Trick for the first time (on the same night) at The Metro performing the album Heaven Tonight. Killer show!!

• Coming up with a plan to open an AR office in Nashville and having that plan be accepted, put into action, and succeed beyond my expectations.

• Visiting some amazing Nashville area studios like Dark Horse Recording, Blackbird Studios, and Ocean Way.

• Having artists and engineers play me songs before anyone else gets to hear them and see them become hits.

• Seeing Rufus & Chaka Khan in Nashville.  Great show – deepest groove/pocket I’ve ever heard live!

• Shaking B.B. King’s hand and wishing him a Happy Birthday before a show in Chicago at The Riviera.

• Working with drummers who I grew up following:  Dave Weckl, Peter Erskine, John “JR” Robinson, Simon Phillips, Ndugu Chancelor, and many more.

• Arranging a group photoshoot with all the drummers listed above and a few others like Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, Rod Morgenstein, and Trilok Gurtu.

• Visiting the set of the movie “A Mighty Wind” to watch them shoot at scene that made it to the extra’s on the DVD. (it’s the music video scene with the large Lava Lamps)

• Taking the guys in Spinal Tap over to the NAMM show floor for a quick tour. Then watching them perform for what has been the hippest NAMM show performance since.

• Remembering several Grammy performances I saw on site: Aretha filling in for Andrea Bocelli singing a classical song, Alanis Morrisette signing “Uninvited” backed by a string orchestra, Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”, several Lady Gaga performances, and The Beach Boys with Maroon 5 and Foster The People

• Remembering all the great crew people behind the scenes at all of the awards shows who pull off major accomplishments to make these shows happen every year.

• Right Place, Right time -Finding about The Civil Wars and reaching out to form a relationship. Seeing them rise to perform at The Grammy Awards in less than a year.

• Hearing stories everyday from artists and engineers on how using Shure products have helped their careers and in some cases, changed their lives.

• Having a family, both at Shure and at home to share these moments with.

I know there are a few that I’m forgetting but these stick out.  I am so thankful everyday to be working and be allowed to visit with so many great people in this industry.   I hope to be doing this a long time as I feel I was meant to do it.  I move forward, with anticipation of the next great moments.

And now…back to work.  I have to come up with questions for my Jason Mraz video interview next week.

Calling all Artist Relations reps!  What are some of your memorable moments?

Ryan

I’ve been playing this obnoxious game with Foster The People for over a year now. Every time I go on their website to check tour dates I’m always in the exact opposite location of where they are playing. But this summer I FINALLY BEAT THE SYSTEM. So take that. And not only was I able to see their show, but on top of that I got to interview them. Double whammy? I think so.

I arrived to The Congress Theater yesterday around 4 p.m. and on the way over I had the same giddy feeling as when I went to Disneyland for the first time. Before I exited the taxi, I had to take a few deep breaths because I was not about to make a fool of myself in front of one of my favorite bands. No. way.

I met up with Paul Natkin, one of the greatest photographers you will EVER meet, and we headed inside the venue and up to Foster The People’s dressing room to set up for the interview. Once we were done, we grabbed a cold bottle of water and quickly headed out to the lobby area. I kid you not, it was probably 100 degrees in that room. I wouldn’t even call it a room. The more appropriate word would be oven. So after cooling down a bit, Cory Lorentz arrived and the three of us went back to the oven to wait for the band. We were all chatting and then out of nowhere Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink walked in…

Okay, so before I go any further I think you need to understand my one-sided relationship with this band. I started listening to them back when no one really knew the name Foster The People and I immediately fell in love with their sound. When I feel an instant connection with a band’s music I try to find out their story, watch interviews, and behind the scenes clips. I find that when I get a feeling of the band’s personality I enjoy their music that much more because it moves from me listening to complete strangers to people who I consider my musical friends (……..even though they have absolutely noo clue that I exist). This happened with Foster The People and I have been following them ever since. I don’t become obsessed in that “crazed fan” way or anything, but I do feel as if I know them. (I grew up as an only child so naturally I have a big imagination… that’s my excuse.)

As I was saying, Pontius and Cubbie walked in… my first instinct was to casually say, “Oh hey guys… wazzuuup?” But yeah, that didn’t happen. A few minutes later Mark Foster strolled in and again, I had to stop myself from acting like I’ve known the guy for a few years. Instead, we each introduced ourselves and closed the door to the oven where we were to bake at 350 degrees for the next 20 minutes.

After practicing this interview in the mirror for the past 24 hours, the moment of truth finally came. My first interview. Overall, it went pretty good. The guys were great to interview. They were very down to earth and just real people in general. It was nice because they reminded me of my friends from home… so much in fact that within the first 5 minutes of the interview I wanted to crumple up my sheet of notes and simply just talk with the guys. But of course, I had to stay on track. I’ll admit that I was a little nervous, not because I was finally meeting Foster The People, but because I had never done an interview before and I desperately didn’t want to mess up. (You see, I’m the type of person who will walk into a pole while texting or a screen door… not while texting.) So I kept picturing something going terribly wrong when I was practicing, but thankfully nothing did. Then we said our goodbyes and me, Cory, and Paul went to grab a bite to eat.

We returned to The Congress a few minutes before the show was about to start. And boy, the setting had changed. First off, the venue was PACKED. One thing is for sure, Foster The People certainly know how to sell out a show. Secondly, the temperature had changed from 350 degrees to 1,000 degrees. I realized why though… hanging above the stage was a big ol’ sun. Now imagine putting a bowl of ice cream next to the Sun… well I was that bowl of ice cream. But don’t get me wrong, melting into a puddle was well worth it.

Foster The People put on an amazing performance. They exceeded my expectations and lemme tell ya, my expectations were HIGH. Foster sounded great and he danced around stage like a Mexican jumping bean, but without the Mexican. Cubbie was jamming out on his bass the whole time moving from place to place looking like he was having the time of his life. And Pontius… well he was my favorite to watch. I’ve been to a lot of shows, but he was by far my favorite drummer so far. I mean the guy can PLAY. At one point I felt like he was going to bang a hole through one of the drums while simultaneously flying out of his seat because he was bouncing so much. You could tell the three of them were really into the music. It was great.

Needless to say, the night was legendary. So thanks guys, it was nice to finally meet in person.

There are so many elements that contribute to putting on an awards show like the GRAMMYs.  To list every aspect would take too long so we’re going to focus on our side of this trip.

As everything usually comes together at the last minute for this show, we sent out a nice compliment of Shure mics to supplement what sound company ATK Audiotek already had in stock. Appearing for the first time on this show was the Beta 181/C condenser mic. We sent 20 of those and saw several get used on tympani (The Beach Boys) and occasionally on drum overheads. We also sent a few of the KSM313 ribbon mics, one of which prominently appeared on John Paul White’s guitar amp during The Civil Wars short but very effective performance in the show.

We were also very pleased to learn early on that the PSM1000 ear monitor systems would be the exclusive system for the show this year. There were plenty of bodypacks on hand for the performers and many of the crew people made a point to let us know how well the system was working for them.

Watching the rehearsal and then the performances over the course of 4 days, there were many highlights for us that sounded amazing in the house, thanks to both Jeff Peterson who finely tuned the PA and Ron Reeves who mixes the acts so well.  The Beach Boys segment featuring Maroon 5 and Foster The People was quite a thrill to hear live in the house. Each group nailed the original harmonies, it was one of the highlights of the evening. The other was seeing The Civil Wars perform on this broadcast. They have quickly become a respected group that continues to impress well-established artists like Adele, Taylor Swift and now Coldplay, who Tweeted that they are now fans of the group.

The Glen Campbell tribute featured newly signed artists The Band Perry who sang “Gentle On My Mind.” It was great to see Glen having so much fun on stage in light of his ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s.

It was especially gratifying to have the industry standard SM58 open this years’ show in front of Bruce Springsteen and then have Sir Paul McCartney close the show on a wired Beta 58A. You can’t get more Rock and Roll than that!

Seeing the same crew that has been doing this successfully for so many years is always a wonderful part of this trip. Maintaining those relationships and letting them know we are there for support is a vital part of attending this show as well as talking with them about our products. There were a lot of people who have not had the opportunity to try the PSM1000’s out. Thanks to ATK Audiotek and the monitor engineers for this show, Mike Parker and Tom Pesa, over 20 acts were exposed to the new standard in monitoring.

Special thanks go out to Michael Abbott who is the audio coordinator for the show, John  Harris and Joel Singer with Music Mix Moblie, who take care of the music mix that goes out to television and Eric Schilling who shares music mix duties with John Harris. This years’ show was monumental in size and every year, it just keeps getting better and better!

- Ryan, Cory and Jenn

Plenty of time to prepare! Not really, but we dove in like we always do and made our way down to meet Roger in the city. So, this guys is pretty famous and all, but honestly one of the nicest and most gracious rock stars on the planet. The Who have been Shure endorsers since 1968, and after all these years Roger is still just as appreciative for his SM58 from Shure. It really was a cool rock star moment, but you’ll have to stay tuned for the interview. We’ll keep you posted…

To get things back on track, I resumed plans for my original destination and made my way down to the Riviera Theatre in Chicago. It was about 3:30 PM and there was already a line beginning to form in front of the venue. Tonight’s show with Foster the People and Cults was sold out at the neighboring Vic Theatre, so the show was moved to a larger venue and ultimately sold out again. Making my way through the stage door, I caught Foster completing sound check and making some last minute tweaks. I met the guys once they were finished up and they were very grateful for the support Shure has given them since day one. Our meeting was brief, as the guys were called into a last minute conference regarding their upcoming performance on SNL… possibly to discuss where and when Kenny G would fit into the end of “Houdini” on the broadcast?

Cults was now beginning to set up and begin their sound check, and I had the chance to speak with their production manager and monitor engineer, Jeff Neuberger, who is a big fan of Shure. We spoke about a few options for lead singer Madeline and a few key mic choices for the guitar cabs on stage. The band is already using Shure on pretty much anything that produces a sound, but I’ve got a few things for Jeff and Cults to try that will ultimately make their lives and sound that much better.

As I mentioned before, this was a sold out show, and by the time the first band, Reptar (pretty solid by the way!) hit the stage, every square inch of the place had reached capacity. Cults came on, just as the news that Steve Jobs had passed came over our respective mobile devices. For a moment there, as I stared out onto the stage at the five MacBooks that are so vital to Foster the People’s set up, I thought about what an impact Mr. Jobs has made on this music industry we all love so dearly. Thanks Steve.

Cults (Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin), along with their touring band of three additional members, delivered all of the choice cuts from their self-titled debut, and honestly, they’re all pretty choice cuts. The first two bands definitely got things warmed up, but the crowd was at a fever pitch in the moments right before Foster the People took the stage.

Just like that, Mark Pontius, Cubbie Fink and the other two members of their touring band hit the stage and ripped into “Houdini” with its Billy Squier-esque drum beat… the place erupted. I think the roof blew off the place when Mark Foster hit the stage and delivered the driving piano melody and first lyrics of the song. Aside from drummer Pontius, the band used up every bit of the stage to wander from station to station adding key elements of sound to every song from their smash hit Torches. By the fourth song, I was tired for them, these guys definitely gave it everything they had and somehow kept going. Their rapid pace and fierce delivery accompanied by one of the most dizzying light shows I’ve ever seen, made for one hell of a Wednesday evening at the Riviera.

For an encore, Mark Foster performed a song entitled “Ruby” as a piano solo, but was ultimately joined by the rest of the band to finish up the track and deliver their closer for the evening, their infectious hit, “Pumped Up Kicks.” As the song neared completion, Foster was joined by opening band Reptar, armed with cow bells and shakers to turn the song into an extended remix reminiscent of a warehouse rave.

To my friends that couldn’t make it, but wanted the highlights… it was hard to tell them about this show without having a big smile on my face. Maybe next time…

Cory

Nashville, TN

Soundland Nashville has taken over the town with great new upcoming bands.  I hope you got a chance to go out and hear some new music.

I started out my day on Thursday by visiting a panel discussion at the Belcourt Theatre on the success of the band The Civil Wars.  If you are not familiar with the group yet, please click on the link.  They are on tour in Europe with Adele, who was quoted saying this is her favorite group live. The speakers included people from their record label, distribution, marketing, and their producer.  It was very interesting to listen to the details of how this group came together, by chance, at a writing seminar and immediately hit it off.  So many great opportunities have come their way and their team has done a great job of handling them.  Their success at iTunes was amazing and now they are opening for one of the best selling artists. Go pick up their record, Barton Hallow, …. immediately after you finish reading this blog of course.

Following this panel was another regarding Grooveshark, the music streaming service. So many people are starting to enjoy having access to thousands of songs at their fingertips.

After that, I went over to Soundland’s temporary headquarters to catch an interview and performance with new Endorser Justin Townes Earle.  American Songwriter did the interview and Shure captured it all.  We supplied a couple of KSM42′s, a KSM353 ribbon mic, some Beta 27′s, and a few SM57′s to capture these moments, which will later be put up online.  The engineer’s were enjoying it all through a couple sets of SRH940 headphones.  The mixes sounded great!  (see pics below).  There will be many other artists interview up as well so visit Soundland’s website often to see them up there soon.

I then walked over to the 12th avenue concert are and waited for the evening’s show to begin.  Tonight featured a group that’s starting to take off – Cults.  Closing the show were endorsers Foster The People.  I watched Cults perform for a little bit and noticed that they were using a non-Shure vocal mic up front.  However, halfway through the set, I saw the monitor engineer change out to an SM58. Sounded like it may have helped a bit.  Festival situations are always difficult to walk in to as you may not get the soundcheck you are used to.

Foster took the stage and proceeded to rock the crowd. An energetic set and a great light show was just what the crowd needed.  While I was hanging out watching their set, I was back by one of the food trucks.  This was a BBQ food truck !  The owner called me over to take a look at what he had on the smoker.  Upon opening the lid, he revealed about 10 pulled pork roasts, completely caramelized over and smelling way too good.  He asks one of his assistants for a serving dish and proceeds to pull apart the meat to give me a sample.  Heavenly….is the word that comes to mind.  Then, if it couldn’t get any better, he offers me some of that caramelized bark!  DONE!  I’m falling deeper and deeper into BBQ bliss…”and I can’t get up.”

After a great set by Foster The People, I met with their sound engineer who proceeded to tell about how much they love the UR wireless mics and the PSM900′s.  Then I’m escorted to the buses where I’m introduced to both Mark Foster and Mark Pontius who thanked Shure for our support.  Foster is loving the freedom of his wireless UR2/KSM9 vocal mic, saying “it’s made me a new frontman.”

The next day (Friday, Sept 23), I went over to the Cannery Ballroom to grab a video interview with Justin Townes Earle. Justin has a rich, deep knowledge and appreciation of traditional country artists.  He loves to talk about them.  They have influenced the way he chooses to perform and connect with his audience.  Justin also loves his new Beta 57A vocal mic as well as his PSM900 ear system. I don’t want to spoil the surprise when you see the interview on our website so I will stop at saying that this was a great interview to be a part of and I have meet another wonderful, approachable artist in this exciting world that is our music industry.

Please take a gander at some of the photos and if you attended Soundland, please (pretty please) write back and let us know of your experiences.  We’d love to hear from you!

A special THANKS to the folks at American Songwriter magazine for inviting Shure to be a part of this event.

Ryan