Insights In Sound 204 Daniella Peters, JBL Professional S21 E4

Welcome to Insights and Sound, where we
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talk to the people behind the scenes,
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behind the technology, and behind the
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music. People you may not know, but you
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should.
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insightsandsound.com for a full list of
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Insights and Sound is made possible with
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the support of our friends GCPro
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Customhouse.
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We are here live from the NAM show in
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Harman JBL truck with the illustrious
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Daniela Peters. You now have a new
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title, right?
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I do. I do.
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What are you called now?
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Global director of tour sound.
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Oo. So, you’re important now.
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I don’t know. It depends on who you ask.
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So, let’s talk about how you got here
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because you you definitely came up the
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hard way.
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You came up as a grunt basically, right?
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Oh, yes, I did. Yeah. You mean the
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industry?
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In the industry. Yeah. I mean, you
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started in live sound really kind of at
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the bottom of the totem.
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The very bottom. I was in my early 20s
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and I had bought my first car from John
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Monson who was the operations manager at
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Ratound.
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And the next day the car broke down. I
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bought it for a,000 bucks.
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Right. and it broke down on the 101. And
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so I called him up and like, “Hey, you
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car you sold me, it broke.” And he fixed
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it. I think it cost more than $1,000 I
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paid him to fix it, but he was so kind
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and and we became friends. And I used to
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do uh errands for Rat in the truck,
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deliver the amplifiers and and things
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around the city of Los Angeles. And and
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then bit by bit I did more and more and
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I ended up working for RAT in the end
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and had a first job at company that I
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delivered amplifiers to called um HHB.
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Oh yeah they I remember that.
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Yeah. and um
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went for a guy called Doug Schwarz and
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did that for a little while and then
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when Rat had an opening I I joined them
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and yeah we just it was early early
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2000s and
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so you missed really the the hardcore
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punk days
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just yeah but it was still a little punk
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I think
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well I think I think it still is even to
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this day Dave Rat very
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yeah he’s very true to brand.
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He’s a great businessman. His dad was
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super smart. I think a chemist. So, he
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has that that brain, that scientific
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brain.
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He has that entrepreneurial streak.
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Definitely.
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Absolutely. But he also um I think
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what’s interesting about Rat coming up
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in an environment like that is that you
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really you’re plunged into the festival
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mode. You’re plunged into the punk mode.
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You know, everything really where we
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Yeah, we’re doing business, but we also
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have to be incredibly loose about the
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way we do business because of the
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clientele that we’re serving.
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Yeah, I think so. And definitely that
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was true early on. I think that’s how
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they got a lot of their first gigs with
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Golden Boys because they did punch shows
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and
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um Dave met Gary Tobar in a liquor store
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I think and then became friends and they
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hired them for punk shows in the early
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80s and
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Carrie’s got wonderful stories about
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those times.
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Yeah. And great photos. Dave Dave and
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Carrie like they have it’s archived and
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I think the old Ratound website that um
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he created on Dreamweaver. Do you
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remember those days?
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And then I kind of helped upkeep that in
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my early days of RA. We had so many like
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punk flyers, punk gigs. And
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but nowadays
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you move with the times like everybody’s
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been bought up like AEG or Golden Voice
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and it’s run Coachella in the early
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days.
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It’s very corporate now.
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Yeah. Very. And and things have to be,
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you know, they grow and there’s rules
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and it’s a different time. You can’t do
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what you did in the 80s or 90s even
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today. It just doesn’t fly.
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Yeah. Of course.
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You know, so every and and so even
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though RAP probably had it start in the
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punk days, they they run a very
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professional, you know, there’s an HR
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department and
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Yeah.
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Yeah. Nobody wants to get sued or
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anything like that. So,
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right. And and Dave definitely is smart
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enough to understand that and has really
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gone through that a lot, you know. Yeah.
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um in terms of being able to just uh
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evolve with the times and everything,
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but at the same time, there’s a certain
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ethos there that I think
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it’s part of our industry.
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It is part of our industry. And just
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understanding that
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we’re working in an industry that is not
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9 to5, it’s not white collar, it’s not,
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you know, um
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it’s you’re on call 247.
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Absolutely.
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You know, we travel a lot. We we we get
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calls
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not only at all times of day, but from
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people with all different emotional
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states, shall we say?
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Oh, yes.
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You know, and and I mean, you really you
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found yourself on the front lines of
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that pretty early on.
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Um maintaining that kind of um shall I
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say calmness,
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right,
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has served you well, has it not?
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It definitely comes with practice and
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experience. I’m sure the if just ask my
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mother, she was like, “Do you still get
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upset about XYZ?” I was like, “Oh, no.”
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You know, um, and
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yeah, you have to be calm like restraint
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of pen and tongue. Is that the
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expression like one flip word can ruin
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an entire relationship or career?
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Yeah. And so I’m very careful trying not
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to um say things like pause and not say
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things that will I’ll regret later
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because the once or twice that I have
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done that always
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no yeah we we’ve all learned that the
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hard way. Mhm.
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So how did it evolve for you where you
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became
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sort of customerf facing like while you
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working it with with rat for the most
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part you start out as somebody you know
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hauling boxes or shleing things and you
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really don’t have that need to deal with
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the customer and obviously you’ve
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evolved to the point where you not only
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deal with the customer but you really do
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deal with crisis management a lot. I
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think
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I think that’s just the nature of our
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industry. Like you said before, we deal
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with very passionate people. Um but the
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customer way to put it.
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Yeah. Right.
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Um
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I think the early days it evolved just I
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I did not have a defined
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path towards my career. I I did not know
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what I it was I did a lot of things but
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was never like brilliant at one thing.
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You know how some people they find that
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passion Yeah. very early on and that was
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definitely not me.
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Um went to university,
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loved travel, love languages. I always
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loved that. Had parents who were very
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creative. My mom was a in theater ballet
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dancer by trade. And um so I grew up
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around the theater. So even though I
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think they wanted me to have a
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traditional job, it was not my
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upbringing, right? So that’s kind of how
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I was drawn to the live event industry.
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Um, and the customerf facing thing just
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naturally happened because um, when I
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started it, I was just going to shows,
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production assistant, little things like
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that. Um, well, not so little. That’s a
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that’s important job. Um, and
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he eventually Dave sat me down and he
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said, “You have to make money for the
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company in order for us to keep you. You
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know, you have to be generating income,
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like business 101, right?” Yeah.
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Um, so
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he said, “Your goal is to sell one rat
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sniffer and one oxen 7 mic a month.” And
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0 and7 because that’s what the chili
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peppers Anthony was using as his vocal
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mic at the time.
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And so that was the goal and and we
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created a small PayPal button like
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onepage rat sound sales website on the
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on the Dreamweaver Rat Sound site
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and and that was the goal and and there
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was a message board and it was the early
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days of Facebook and so over time we it
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just naturally evolved into something
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huge and and when I left Rattown the
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sales and installs division was about
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50% of their business. Like it was a
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massive gross number um of their
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business and and then through that I
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ended up at JBL and um in sales. It’s
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just I like talking to people. I like I
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like that interaction.
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You have that good gift. Yeah.
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Oh, thanks. Not an
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well but I think that’s important
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because when you’re when you’re figuring
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out what you want when one is figuring
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out what one wants to do with you know
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with your life basically it’s like okay
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where are my strong points you know and
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being able to understand how to
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communicate with people
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I think is essential you know just I
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mean
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it makes a difference it really does you
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know
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it it does and I feel you know I’ll use
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JBL as the example because that’s that’s
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my life today. Um we have a whole team
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and I think you need everybody right and
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you find out what comes more naturally
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to you. I have a technical team. um my
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colleagues Raul Gonzalez and Dale West
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and they they are brilliant at what they
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do and get Raul like on the phone
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talking about gear and he takes a
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trajectory that I will never
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no matter how hard I studied I would
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never be able to
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have his mind
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you know and likewise that’s why we
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worked together as a team because I I
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have attention to detail in other areas
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or have strengths in other areas and and
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I think that’s what’s made our team I
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feel it was a magical thing those two
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well you know part of it I’ve always
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felt is this is a business of
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relationships every I mean you know we
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talked about this yesterday as well you
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know the whole idea that to me really
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we’re involved in in an industry that
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we’re all friends you know we all like
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each other we all you know it it’s
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you know when you when you work a
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typical 9-to-five job in a lot of
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industries, you never want to see your
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colleagues outside of work, right? Oh my
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god, there’s, you know, this kind of
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thing, you know, whereas
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we all really love each other’s company,
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you know, all these people that I know
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in this industry, they’re my friends and
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they’re people that I really I love to
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communicate with. We have common
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interests even if we don’t all love the
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same music which typically we don’t you
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know but we all share a certain passion
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for the arts
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and we all share a certain passion for
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communicating with each other and I
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think that’s really it makes such a
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difference and the understanding of that
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I think is what
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drives a lot of it for you
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for sure my social life is my work as
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well like you go to conference Parnelli
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awards NAM show you’re bumping into
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people you have history with these
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people. You’ve
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worked on gigs with these people. You
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have
11:37
shared experiences and and bonds in a
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way that I don’t think other industries
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have. How could they? You know, most
11:46
people
11:48
go to the show as their
11:51
um how do you say it? Um to like just
11:54
relax and but this is
11:56
this is work. But it’s it’s what it’s a
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great industry. it, you know, and that’s
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the thing is we have such a different
12:03
perspective on the show
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than other people do because it’s, you
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know, on the one hand we could get very
12:10
jaded about it and say, “Oh my god,
12:11
another G, you know, because, you know,
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a lot of us have spent so many years
12:16
going from show to show and it can be
12:18
really, really stressful,
12:19
right? But um you know on the other hand
12:22
there’s something about that that builds
12:24
this camaraderie and that builds this
12:27
understanding of
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how you know it what do you say you know
12:32
how the sausage is made you know the
12:34
inside of the artist because we’re
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you know somebody once said to me we’re
12:39
the front row of the audience
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right
12:41
you know we get this different
12:43
relationship even even if we’re not and
12:46
and of course most of us are artists
12:47
ourselves you know to some degree But we
12:50
have this relationship to these artists
12:52
that other people don’t because we
12:54
really understand the downtime,
12:57
you know, and the the differences I
12:59
think um between what the public sees
13:03
versus what we see,
13:05
and that I think that makes you more
13:07
conscious of what you’re doing for these
13:08
people, doesn’t it?
13:10
Yeah, that’s a really good way to put
13:12
it. Yeah. I don’t have any more to add
13:14
to that because I think you just poised
13:15
it so eloquently. No, but but now you um
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you evolved from being sort of, you
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know, like you say, the the marketing
13:24
wing of Rat Sound,
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right?
13:27
So, how did you all of a sudden find
13:29
yourself in one of the biggest
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corporations?
13:33
I mean, wasn’t that kind of a an
13:35
interesting shift in a way?
13:37
It was a really big shift. They’re
13:41
really two opposite extremes of
13:45
That’s what I’m wondering.
13:46
Yeah, they couldn’t be further. And I
13:48
think
13:50
I think the beauty how did I find myself
13:54
here? It just um it was around the time
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of the pandemic and and I we didn’t know
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which direction the the industry was
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going to go and I got a call about this
14:08
position and and I thought it would be
14:11
fun to interview because I’d never
14:13
interviewed for anything before in my
14:15
entire life, right? Um at least as an
14:19
adult. I think the last time I
14:21
interviewed I was 22 23 and I
14:26
interviewed more for the experience of
14:28
just kind of
14:30
Yeah.
14:30
Um
14:30
somebody asked me once recently if I had
14:32
a resume and I thought
14:34
I think I had one about 20 years ago. I
14:36
don’t know maybe.
14:38
Yeah. And then nine interviews later, it
14:41
suddenly became something I was invested
14:43
in the process, you know, like and it
14:46
just sounded interesting. Jim Brad had
14:48
reached um a level where there was other
14:51
talented people and they knew the the
14:55
person who I was working with, Adam
14:57
Figuero, was brilliant, you know, and
15:00
and and
15:02
he was just looked at him one day and I
15:06
I just knew it was time to to go and him
15:13
like take over the department. And I
15:15
think he’s thrived. think he’s done a
15:17
really good job and I’d been there 20 20
15:20
years something like that
15:21
really
15:22
and yeah a long time and I could do it
15:24
in my sleep and
15:27
and it was just time for somebody else
15:30
to take those reigns and give fresh
15:33
ideas and
15:35
I’d run out of ideas like you do
15:37
something day in day out in your sleep
15:39
and
15:40
so and yeah I was ready for a new
15:44
challenge and and it just worked. Maybe
15:47
10 years earlier, I wouldn’t have had
15:49
the same experience at JBL, but I’ve
15:52
loved every minute. It’s it’s it’s a
15:57
unique role within the company because
15:59
it’s tour sound. So, yeah,
16:01
I bring I think some of that experience,
16:04
personal experience of having been on
16:06
the client side for 20 years, right? I
16:09
know what needs to happen to make a good
16:12
experience for them and they try and
16:15
orchestrate that and yet at the same
16:18
time it needed somebody who is able to
16:21
navigate being in a big corporation
16:23
because there’s a lot of rules and
16:25
regulations that are very different from
16:28
a very small company comparatively
16:30
speaking even though they’re one of
16:33
obviously one of the
16:35
well they’re one of the major companies
16:36
but it is a completely different
16:38
perspective. Absolutely.
16:39
But now when you come into a when you
16:41
come into a touring situation now,
16:44
the dynamic is completely different for
16:45
you, isn’t it?
16:46
I mean, you’re the you’re the corporate
16:48
person. You’re the the company rep in a
16:51
way. Yeah.
16:51
How’s that different for you?
16:54
No, a lot of these people are my
16:56
friends.
16:57
So,
16:59
back to that. Yeah. Back to that, back
17:00
to the relationship piece. I did not
17:03
realize
17:05
until I started this because I was in a
17:08
role that I’d go to I’d meet people all
17:11
the time and especially I worked 20
17:14
years at Coachella since the second one
17:18
um in some way shape or form I’d have
17:21
various positions and roles um and over
17:24
the years Brat had hired well what’s the
17:27
crew about 80 a crew of 80 a year I
17:31
think of audio team. So I knew
17:34
I knew a lot of people without even
17:36
realizing it. So
17:38
sure
17:38
when I worked here
17:41
it was like oh
17:44
I you don’t realize what you know until
17:46
you’re faced
17:47
Yeah.
17:48
Sometimes it Yeah. Yeah.
17:50
So but now when you walk into these
17:52
situations
17:53
are you do you feel you’re perceived
17:56
differently?
17:56
Yeah definitely. At the beginning I was
17:59
very quite intimidated um because
18:02
there’s all these legends in the
18:04
industry that at the time like Shadone
18:08
Michael McDonald who used to be the
18:09
president of JBL and I
18:12
was like hi my name’s Daniela and it was
18:15
just very yeah it was very intimidating
18:17
because all these people knew the
18:19
product and the organization way better
18:22
than me right I was just walking in
18:24
and but over time that trust and
18:27
friendships were built in a different
18:29
way.
18:29
Yeah.
18:30
And
18:30
Yeah.
18:32
Yeah.
18:33
Now you also came up in a company.
18:37
I mean, one thing I will say for Dave
18:39
Rat is that he is one of the people who
18:41
has always been really really supportive
18:43
of women in the industry, you know. I
18:45
mean, starting with Carrie, of course,
18:47
you know, but but really um
18:49
it’s a dynamic, you know, and especially
18:51
when you’re on the road, you’re sharing
18:52
a bus with people and stuff like that,
18:54
you know, it’s a
18:56
it’s a it’s a it’s an odd dynamic
18:58
sometimes. challenge sometimes, you
19:00
know, and you’ve you’ve kind of, I
19:03
guess, had to establish your bonafides
19:05
in a way walking into a company like
19:08
this, right?
19:09
Yeah, I guess I guess so. Yeah.
19:11
This is another company that really does
19:13
encourage a lot of women in the
19:14
industry, which I I love.
19:16
Yeah, it really does. Um,
19:21
I’ve always worked really hard. That
19:23
work ethic was instilled by my mother.
19:26
Even if it was a bank holiday, she’d be
19:28
like, “What are you doing?” Like, “Go to
19:30
work. Show them you’re dedicated.” She
19:32
grew up, like I said, as a ballet
19:34
dancer. And the the amount of um
19:38
I’m trying to think of the right word.
19:39
Not rigidity, but
19:41
determination and structure and
19:44
dedication. That’s the word.
19:46
To that,
19:47
she Yeah. You don’t get a day off.
19:49
No. and she instilled that work ethic
19:51
for me like
19:53
from day one and I’ve really
19:56
I try to give 100% if I’m
20:00
if I’m tasked with something
20:02
even just for my client’s sake like I
20:04
want them to feel that they can trust me
20:07
right
20:08
and you don’t get a second chance it’s
20:09
very our industry is so time sensitive
20:12
everything it’s happening moment to
20:14
moment like
20:15
if you need something or a client needs
20:18
something for that show on Friday, it
20:20
better be there, you know, cuz otherwise
20:23
Yeah.
20:24
So
20:24
Mhm.
20:25
So I I feel that I’m pretty trustworthy
20:28
person and
20:31
yeah, I give 100% and I feel that
20:37
people have been kind back, you know.
20:40
Yeah,
20:40
it’s whether I’m a woman, a guy or
20:42
whatever, I don’t even think about it to
20:44
be honest. And and you know, it’s true
20:46
also that when you came up in this
20:48
industry, I think it was even easier
20:49
than it is now, ironically enough,
20:52
because
20:54
when the industry was younger,
20:56
it was like,
20:57
I don’t care. I don’t care about your
20:59
genitalia. I care if you can show up and
21:01
do the job. Right.
21:02
Right. And you’re just if you’re good at
21:04
the job and you’re giving 100% and
21:06
you’re there,
21:07
nobody cares if you’re a guy or a girl.
21:10
You just, you know, you’re there to do
21:11
the job. Mhm.
21:12
I think that has almost devolved a
21:15
little bit these days in terms of, you
21:17
know, the the challenges now with with
21:20
I think women have almost a harder time
21:22
now getting in, you know.
21:24
You think?
21:24
Yeah. I think Well, I see a lot more
21:27
women now, which is wonderful. But I
21:29
also see that and and maybe it’s not
21:31
just a a woman challenge. Maybe it’s
21:32
just a challenge in general. The
21:34
industry has gotten a little bit more
21:36
closed in certain ways, has it not? I
21:39
mean
21:40
your experience with people coming in?
21:42
Um
21:44
because everybody goes to school.
21:47
Yeah, I guess so. It’s a little more
21:48
structured like in the old days. Oh, old
21:51
old days.
21:52
Um
21:52
the old days when we used to push push
21:55
speakers uphill both ways.
21:57
Um
22:00
yeah, you could work in a shop and just
22:02
But now
22:04
there are more rules and regulations.
22:07
Um,
22:08
but I don’t know. I just said yes to
22:12
everything. Like even the small things
22:14
because you don’t know where they’re
22:15
going to lead, right? I was never I
22:18
never had an ego about doing
22:20
you mentioned the word grump, but
22:22
whatever it was like,
22:23
yeah,
22:24
cleaning up, getting coffee,
22:27
whatever that looked like, I I would
22:30
roll up my sleeves and and help.
22:32
Yeah. Well, that’s kind of, you know,
22:34
you just said it, saying yes to
22:36
everything. And that’s how you you meet
22:38
relationships and you never know. Um I
22:42
think all the beautiful things that have
22:44
happened in my life have been because of
22:48
a chance meeting that evolved into some
22:52
sort of relationship whether that’s
22:54
work, play, my personal life, you know.
22:57
Yeah. Yeah. So 15year-old you in the
23:01
industry now
23:03
what advice do you give? say yes to
23:05
everything.
23:07
Um
23:09
but positive yes to positive things, not
23:12
not yes to like will lead you down the
23:15
garden path.
23:16
Um
23:19
yeah, that that would be my my my
23:23
takeaway.
23:25
Did you ever find that
23:28
saying yes was the wrong course of
23:30
action? I mean like for example
23:31
spreading yourself too thinly.
23:35
I think there’s always mistakes but
23:37
through mistakes you gain experience.
23:40
Who was it? Robert Scoville or Jerry
23:42
Palumbo yesterday who maybe it was
23:44
yourself. I was when we were on that
23:46
panel
23:47
when experience is what you get
23:52
after
23:52
after you need it.
23:54
After you need it. That was it. I think
23:55
that was Robert Gold School said that.
23:57
Yeah.
23:57
Okay. Experience is what you get after
23:59
you need it. And
24:01
through bad experiences, you either
24:04
learn and decide not what to do or um
24:09
but you can’t
24:11
you can’t look back. You got to keep
24:13
looking forward.
24:14
Yeah. Yeah.
24:15
You know,
24:16
that’s good advice right there.
24:17
Yeah. I’ I’ve definitely done dumb
24:19
things, you know. I’m not immune to
24:21
that. Be like, “Oh my gosh, what was I
24:24
thinking?” But but I try not to like
24:28
dwell on it.
24:29
So far it’s served you well.
24:31
Yeah. So far so good. But isn’t that
24:34
about seeing the glass half full
24:36
rather than half empty? I think it is.
24:38
Yeah.
24:39
I’m not generally not a negative person.
24:43
I try and see the good
24:45
um in most things and I can feel my
24:49
body. If I’m if I’m being whiny and and
24:53
getting worked up, then I know I have to
24:55
pause because something something’s not
24:57
right. You know,
24:58
that sematic awareness is very
24:59
important, too. I think, you know, in
25:01
order to be able to really
25:03
feel like I’m in the right place, I need
25:05
to be tuned into
25:07
my physical as well as my emotional
25:09
state, I think.
25:10
Right. Yeah. No, definitely. I you got
25:12
to listen to your body and you can you
25:14
can feel it, you know.
25:15
Yeah. When I’m getting worked up, it’s
25:19
it’s not good. I know that I’m about to
25:21
say something I shouldn’t. I gota I got
25:23
to walk it off.
25:24
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love it.
25:27
Well, Danielle Peters, thank you for
25:28
being my guest.
25:29
Thank you for having me. Yeah. Thank you
25:31
so much.
25:36
Hey, I’m Daniel Keller. Don’t forget to
25:38
hit the subscribe button and join us
25:39
each week for Insights and Sound.

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