|
Navigation:
Home
Bio
Press
Discography
Music
Dj
Mixes
Videos
Buy
Music
Events
Contact
Links
Free Loops
Projects:
Acid Dj 3.0
Acid Loops
Looptastic Loops
Mixcraft Loops
Remix
Contests
Peace Love Prod
zZounds Music
Network w/
Dj Puzzle
 
|
The story
behind zZounds Music Discovery Center. Summer of 1996 -
23 years old. I was working at Projekt Records for about a
year and a half , maybe two. I started out as a shrink
wrapper and ended up in sales. My sales position came to a
halt when Sam signed a huge distribution deal and I ended up
back in shipping. I looked to the Chicago Reader for a new
job. This ad jumped out at me and screamed my name. It was
for a sales position at a new little music instrument
dealership called zZounds Music Discovery Center at 125 W.
North Ave Chicago Il. The ad was very unique and very
intriguing so I called it of course and instantly set up an
interview. It was like it was totally meant for me. I
interviewed with the owner Ray and the manager Chris Mosher
(keyboardist soon to leave zZounds to record his debut album
with Sister Soleil). Part of the interview was a written
test to see how much I knew about electronic music
technology. Some questions were multiple choice and others
were short essay. They were pleased with the results and I
got the job. This was a major turning point in my life and
the beginning of my professional music career.
zZounds (now an internet giant) was an interesting little
mom and pop store. It was started by an ex-attorney for
Jenner and Block named Ray Worthy Campbell. Ray's vision was
to open a music store for his kids so they could be exposed
to music and have a fun place to practice and explore music
as well. I sold midi equipment, software, and taught the
occasional student who signed up for my Intro To Electronic
Music Composition lessons. I also did the occasional home
installation and instruction if a customer was willing to
pay a little extra for the service and if they lived nearby.
zZounds was located at the corner of North Ave and LaSalle
in Old Town. The average clientele ranged from the budding
Hip Hop producer to the insanely rich looking for a musical
hobby or something for their children. I sold everything
from Didgeridoos to the latest in music technology. This was
the year soft synths made their debut and programs like
Propellerheads Rebirth and Cubase VST technology were
revolutionizing music software. I'll never forget the box of
Opcode's Max that just sat on the shelf collecting dust.
Working at zZounds was not all fun and games, in fact I had
started at a very uncomfortable moment for the store and
it's employees. Apparently there had a been a rash of thefts
just before I was hired and the salesmen were the prime
suspects. Ray had forced them to take a lie detector test.
Some refused and quit and some were fired. There was a very
sour vibe going around for the first couple of months after
I was hired. Chris Mosher quit and Mark Schoenhals took his
place. I worked closely with Mark since he was the other
"MIDI" guy.
zZounds was definitely a unique learning experience with
many ups and downs. Some days involved Ray handing me a box
full of zZounds Kazoos and telling me to go down to Lincoln
Park and North Ave Beach to make some noise and promote the
store. He would also have us bring African hand drums,
portable battery powered Keyboards, and Electric Guitars
with portable battery powered mini amps. We had Robert Moog
come in to do a personal performance of his new Midi
Theremin. Later that night I went out to dinner with Robert
and Ray down on Wells. We sold some of the most eclectic
musical instruments in the city. Mark brought in a lot of
Chicago's best House producers djs like Joe Smooth, Julian
Perez, and Scott Smokin Sills. Some of my most memorable
experiences were the "at home installations".
Crazy stuff
happened all the time. There was seldom a dull moment.
Selling musical instruments just wasn't enough for Ray. He
was determined to make zZounds a school for music. I believe
this is what lead to the store's demise. He hired on a
handful of instructors and took on an additional space in
Piper's Alley. Overhead was now really adding up. There was
also a warehouse packed full of gear and on top of that he
now had an additional rental space and more employees. There
was no way he could compete with the already established and
reputable music schools in Chicago like Old Town School Of
Folk but he was determined to make it work or at least put
up a good fight trying. During this time Mark was managing
the zZounds website. He was using SEO tricks and sending out
email blasts right and left and to my surprise it was
working quite well. The internet/mail order aspects of
zZounds were starting to outshine store sales. Keep in mind
this is right around the time when the internet started to
really pick up. I personally thought they should just closed
down the store, keep the warehouse, and focus mainly on
internet sales. Well eventually this is what became of
zZounds while the other aspects simply disintegrated. Ray
sent me to a NAMM convention in Nashville during the middle
of all this change and this is when I met the folks at Sonic
Foundry and found a better job.
Read about this chapter of my life
here |
|
