Last year, Shania Twain announced a new album and a follow-up tour, her first in nearly five years. Enjoy the delight of country pop fans.
But when you're shelling out money to see a performance this highly anticipated — whether it's the Queen of Country Pop or Taylor Swift — you want to make sure you can hear the music, even if you're in nosebleed seats.
That's where sound engineers like Liam Martley come in. The Northeastern University senior spent his spring and summer working on tours like Twain's, setting up speakers in venues so everyone could enjoy the shows (and make money from it).
Martley came to Northeastern with the idea of pursuing cybersecurity, but two years later he majored in music technology.
Growing up in Stonington, Connecticut, Martley sang in his school choir. In his spare time, he makes background tracks for friends that he describes as “melodic trap jazzish dance-ish stuff”. He plays the piano and some guitar. It had a juvenile music.
So switching to a music technology major made sense.
“It worked well for me,” he said. “I've always been very passionate about (music). But I didn't just want to do music. … I wanted to make sure I had some kind of stable career going forward.”
Martley's STEM background and musical studies fit nicely with a co-op he started this year with Eighth Day Sound System Inc., an Ohio-based company that provides sound equipment as well as crew for live events.
During the first few weeks, Martley underwent a training program where trainees are taught about speakers and how to install them, preparing them to become sound technicians straight away.
From there, they hit the road — literally. Within weeks of completing his training, Martley was invited to work on the Re:SET Festival, a touring outdoor concert series launched this year. To prepare for the tour, Eighth Day Sound sent Martley to Madison, Wisconsin, and St. Paul, Minnesota, to get his feet wet at concerts for Twain, helping to glue and hang speakers at each venue. Then, for the whole of June, it was on the road for Re:SET.
Martley visited six cities during his partnership, including Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and Columbus. In Texas, he battled 105-degree heat and sets cut short by lightning, and in Los Angeles, he tried In-N-Out Burger for the first time. His favorite stop was New York, not only because his mom visited and was able to stay in a four-star hotel, but because he got the chance to work at the iconic Forest Hills Stadium.
The learning curve was steep and the environment often stressful, but as critical as technical skills are, Martley said the most important thing is being able to work collaboratively and in tense situations, something he got from Northeastern.
“As far as the mindset you have to have to be successful in this industry, you have to know how to work with people and be a leader,” Martley said. “You don't need to have any technical knowledge or experience to do this job. By far the most important things are your people skills.”
Martley said he enjoyed the work so much that he hopes to return to the company after he graduates next year.
“It was incredible to be a part of something like that,” he said. “It was a huge learning experience for me in terms of real responsibility. At first I had a lot to learn. … But it was a really great experience. I felt so lucky to be practically in the front row for these huge concerts every night.”
Erin Kayata is a reporter for Northeastern Global News. Email her at e.kayata@northeastern.edu. Follow her on Twitter @erin_kayata.
