Initially he rented a section of Rocky Mountain Sound’s shop, intent on running the business in a way that would allow him to operate it efficiently from the road. “It was completely paperless. I communicated exclusively via email. At that time, nobody did business like that, so it took a while to convince people.”
Ultimately, however, Nevalainen’s business model allowed him to operate Gearforce remotely, while depending on Rocky Mountain’s freelancers to handle the physical side of the business, troubleshoot the systems and prep them for pickup.
Over time, Gearforce has continued to expand, adding substantially to its inventory and branching out to provide mobile Pro Tools recording rigs and full PA rentals.
Part of that growth, Nevalainen says, was driven by the need to provide corporate clients with systems custom designed to meet the needs of decidedly challenging events, among them Red Bull’s Crankworks – a 10-day, free-ride mountain bike festival held on the slopes of Whistler Mountain, which required a wireless/broadcast package that needed to cover an area in excess of half a mile.
If any one event proved the worth of Nevalainen’s business model, it was the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, during which Gearforce rented it’s equipment exclusively to other sound companies, rather than bidding on events themselves.
Max Capacity
While the company still operates primarily via email and instant messaging and remains a small business – with only two full-time employees and a rotating roster of skilled freelancers with extensive touring experience – the growing inventory made it necessary to move out of the Rocky Mountain shop to a dedicated facility in Coquitlam.
The move essentially doubled the amount of real estate Nevalainen had to work with, also allowing the establishment of a dedicated training facility to offer training in the use of systems and products developed by Shure, Sennheiser, Rational Acoustics and Midas, among others.
In 2011, Gearforce became an Avid Pro Certification School – one of only three in North America – and more recently, Nevalainen earned his certification in the use of Shure Axient technology.
Given the fact Gearforce tends to operate consistently at maximum capacity, and that Nevalainen continues to tour with Adams, you might think he’s has little time for anything else. While that was definitely the case at one point, things have changed, he says. “Now, with Bryan, we typically work about 12 days a month, every month, forever – basically we do a week on one continent, come home for a few weeks, then turn around and do it again.”
Married for 11 years, Nevalainen has two children whose lives he refuses to miss out on. “For the first 12 years of my career, I was away virtually year round, but the thing that strikes me about going into impoverished countries is that even though people don’t have it as easy as we do here, they really, really enjoy life. They have an excitement for living and for the simple things, and that’s something I’ve come to appreciate in my life. So my business is a passion, but so is my family.”
Based in Toronto, Kevin Young is a freelance music and tech writer, professional musician and composer.