Brian – The “Sound Lad” of the BeatLads — The Legend of the SoundLad

It all began years ago when an innocent mother of two young brothers walked down the stairs to the basement room to answer the ringing telephone when she noticed that the keypad was missing, and in its place was a stand or mismatched colored wires weaving their way across the room. She followed the trail to the “end of the rainbow” and there she found the missing keypad wrapped in sticky, black electrical tape and by some miracle still attached to the telephone. She later discovered her eldest son’s fascination with electrical components and his curiosity of “gee-whiz, I wonder what happens if I do this…”

Years later and with a musical history starting at five years old on the piano, Brian discovered the guitar and the strange phenomenon of guitar amps and the relationship of their volume knobs to loud rock ‘n’ roll. Every family has one, you know the type, can’t get it loud enough, and when you do, there’s usually a fried wire or better yet, the dimming of the lights in the entire house before the inevitable BAM!! at the circuit breaker box.

Slowly by self education through the pops and bangs, and 120 volt arm shocks – the kind that makes your hair stand up on the back of your neck and leaves a metallic taste in your mouth – the skill of audio mixing was being fine-tuned.

Band after band, through high school and on, instrument after instrument, wire after wire, speaker after speaker, his skill and ability to hear the right sound was being refined and honed, like a fine piece of steel in the hands of a master blacksmith.

He found jobs that would teach him more about his trade including: IMAX theatre sound system equipment testing and installation, large venue and intimate settings multimedia and surround sound consulting, planning, and installation. Now with the understanding of audio and rooms and their relationships, it was time to step from behind the walls with the wires to behind the mixer board where the power at his finger tips began to blend the music so beautifully that it was said “to watch him move, reminds one of a ballet performer in their prime.”

During one of his audio engineering jobs, Jamie (the PaulLad) befriended Brian, and there began the friendship that would escort Brian to the threshold of being with the BeatLads. After a guest appearance behind the mixer board at a show in Birmingham, the BeatLads offered Brian the deal of a lifetime, one that he could never turn down: to become The SoundLad.

That was then… Brian and the band never looked back.