Chris Anderson is one of the excellent sound engineers at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, and he told us all about it...
How long have you been running sound? How did you get into it?
I’ve been working as a sound technician for almost 30 years. In the early 1990’s I played in a bunch of bands in Cleveland, and I owned the band van, so I ended up driving around our pa gear.
Eventually, my girlfriend and I moved to Albuquerque, where I continued playing in a bunch of bands, and landed a job working in the scene shop for a musical theatre company. They needed a sound designer for a local show, so I dove in and became the sound designer and front of house tech for live theatre productions with full pit orchestras and 20 or so Lavalier mics. For extra income, I began mixing at the Launchpad, a cool club very similar to the Grog Shop in Albuquerque.
As fate would have it, my partner, our three children and I returned to Cleveland, which is quite affordable and has a thriving arts scene. I met with Kathy, who I knew from long ago, they were looking for sound help, and I began working sound at the Grog Shop.
How did you get hooked up with the Grog Shop?
I moved back to Cleveland in 2010 and met with Kathy soon after. Kathy was looking for sound technicians and I happened to ask her about work at the right time.
Any particular highlights? Which bands have been the best to work with?
That’s a question I’m frequently asked, and I never have a coherent answer. I like my job and my job entails mixing and or setting up groups I’ve enjoyed for years and groups that I’ve never heard before, but each deserves the same amount of care and effort. I like the challenge of setting up complicated arrangements but I also like mixing simple, local shows. I can only clearly remember shows I’ve recently worked, otherwise my head would be overwhelmed with meaningless information. I recently mixed a rap battle, which was quite fun, and set up the night for Angie McMahon, whose crew were great and lovely to work with.
How would you describe the acoustics/layout at the Grog Shop?
We have a wide stage, but not terribly deep stage that faces the bar in a rectangular room. The stage isn’t far from the ground so shows here are quite intimate. We mix from a loft house right at the rear of the room. The room sounds great with a decent crowd.
What gear do you use?
We have a Midas M32 desk. At first it seemed odd to not have racks of eq’s, compressors, gates, and effects, but goodness, the work flow is fabulously simplified over the analog boards we had before. I’ve recently begun using a really old iPad to mix remotely and set monitors from stage. That’s made a big difference in reducing sound check time and effectiveness. I used to have a nice pair of Sony headphones, but I left them somewhere or they were stolen. I use a much less expensive pair of Audio Technica headphones when needed, but I usually just mix from the house.
For more information, visit grogshop.gs.
