Steve Nider entered the live sound business at sixteen, driving an equipment truck for Black Sheep, the Rochester band fronted by Lou Gramm before Foreigner.

He later joined Silverfish Audio, helping build and tour the company’s early systems for artists including Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Buffett, Jesse Colin Young, Warren Zevon, Emmylou Harris, and Pablo Cruise. Steve shares the story of Silverfish’s rare Ashly consoles, custom-built speaker systems, small touring crews, and the company’s move from Rochester to California before becoming Sound Image.

He also looks back on decades of touring with Foreigner, Jackson Browne, Aerosmith, the B-52s, the Eagles, Joe Walsh, and others.

This episode is a firsthand account of the resourcefulness, relationships, long hours, and unforgettable moments that helped build the modern live sound industry.

check out the episode page for more pictures and details www.HowWeGotLoud.com

Greg Price has spent more than four decades moving between the recording studio and front of house at the highest levels of the industry.

His career includes work with Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, KISS, Poison, The Cult, Steve Miller, Pablo Cruise, and many more. But Greg’s story is about more than an extraordinary list of artists.

In this episode, Greg shares how he went from driving the truck and working as a roadie for Pablo Cruise to learning under legendary recording engineers Bill Schnee and Tom Dowd. He explains how those studio lessons shaped his approach to live sound, why he spent years trying to turn front of house into a recording studio, and how he became one of rock’s most respected and competitive mixers.

We talk about Sound On Stage, Silverfish Audio, Maryland Sound, Showco, Ozzfest, the evolution from analog to digital, working with Eddie Van Halen, and Greg’s belief that a live mixer should begin by faithfully representing the record and then take the music somewhere bigger.

As Greg puts it, “Start with the album and then become a producer. Don’t flatline the thing. Make it exciting.”

Visit HowWeGotLoud.com for the full episode story, career timeline, technical details, and additional history from the interview.

David Morgan spent five years behind the “wrong desk.”

After coming up through A1 Audio and the early West Coast live sound scene, David was called by Jim Gamble in 1981 to help manage Innovative Audio, the company that grew out of Tycobrahe. What followed was a crash course in sound company life: gear, people, payroll, pressure, system design, client relationships, and the reality of supporting major tours from the other side of the desk.

In this second conversation with David, we dig into A1 Audio, Tycobrahe, Innovative Audio, Schubert Systems Group, Gamble consoles, JBL’s role in early touring systems, Maryland Sound, Whitney Houston, Paul Simon, and the complicated relationship between freelance FOH engineers and sound companies.

David eventually found his way back behind the mixing desk, but those five years changed how he saw the business forever.

For more historical context, photos, names, companies, and gear details from this conversation, visit the full episode page at HowWeGotLoud.com.