In Episode 8, host Chris Leonard is joined by Steve Nider, formerly of Silverfish Audio, which went on to become Sound Image, one of the largest sound companies in the world. Following a previous episode (here) with Greg Price, I shared a photo he sent me of a Pablo Cruise show in 1978 handled by Silverfish Audio. The console at the time was a custom-built unit from Ashly Audio with features like 4-band parametric EQ on every output, LED metering, and adjustable crossovers built into the desk. These features on a console were unheard of at the time. Ashly made very few consoles before realizing the economics of it were not great, so they shifted focus to dedicated outboard gear only. Silverfish Audio was one of the few companies to have these consoles.
Based in Rochester, NY, Nider was in the right place at the right time and kind of “fell into the business” at a young age. SivlerFish Audio, also located in Rochester, started in 1971 and moved to San Diego in 1978, and during that time three touring systems provided to support artists like Jimmy Buffet, Bonnie Raitt, Pablo Cruise, Jackson Brown, and more.
Jump in now to hear Steve’s journey in and out of the touring world along with some fun stories along the way.
Presented by veteran audio professional Chris Leonard (also a co-host of the Signal To Noise podcast on PSW), How We Got Loud features stories about the people, technology and passion that built the history of live sound. Go here to access all episodes.
