brushes with greatness
the other day while talking to lexi, i somehow got onto the topic of my time doing technical support at motu. i was there for about two or three years and still maintain friendships with people i worked with. it was a lot of fun, and i'm still a big supporter of their products. captain digital performer over here, you know?
so anyway, i was relating a bit of my adventures. you never knew who or what was coming down the line when you answered. it could've been some music bigwig, it could've been some kid in his bedroom. could be some kid in his bedroom who only sounds like a bigwig, and could be some bigwig who just happens to sound like a super-green kid with new toys.
the phone rings this time, and i'm puttering around chatting with the caller, a slightly hoarse sounding guy who seemed to be at the edges of his patience but was keeping his control and maintaining pleasantries despite the fact that his shit don't work. hence the reason he's calling tech support.
that was probably the biggest thing not to like about doing tech support. no one calls tech support when they're happy and things are working and all is right in the world. the people that are doing that are just wasting your time and probably don't have anything else to do. you hope you're going to have them happy and working when they hang up, but every single time the phone rang, it was a little aural cue that you were facing a hill. you're about to find out how steep and how high that hill is as well as how easy the terrain is. just gotta answer the phone and be ready for anything.
so i'm taking this guy through the procedures for testing what the issue is. this was a few years ago, so we're dealing with probably mac OS 7.5 or so on a just-pre-powermac computer. nothing's adding up. we try this, we try that. each test finds his patience a little thinner and his grip a little weaker. it is also gradually revealed that he's in a studio (not a bedroom or garage) with an engineer and a producer. okay.
finally, after what feels like 20 minutes of going back and forth and up and down and six ways from sunday, i come to the conclusion that an updated version of the MIDI OS would solve the problem. he begrudgingly accepts this resolution, despite it concluding their work for the night.
"let me pull up our database and i'll get that disk right out to you." it's amazing that this is just a few years ago but it sounds so dark ages, no? disks? in the mail?
"sure."
"okay, what's your last name?"
"zevon."
fuck. seriously, how many 'zevon's can there be making music? i quickly do the math in my head, and it doesn't look good. despite my thoughts, i maintain professionalism.
"okay... and, first name?"
"warren."
you gotta be kidding me. i've been unable to solve the werewolf of london's performer issue and get him rolling and off the phone happy. great.
anyway, he was eventually working fine. but this wasn't one of my better support calls, and that's probably why it sticks out in my head. well, that and 'cause it was warren freakin' zevon.
maybe another time i'll tell you about the time i did support for juan croucier from ratt. or how i came to be thanked on a slaughter album.
like i said, i had a good time working there. one day they sent me off to the NAMM convention in anaheim. my first night, after spending a day helping set up the booth and stuff, i was hanging at the very crowded hilton lobby bar. tons of people. i couldn't believe it.
over at the bar i notice trevor rabin. now, if you know me, you know i love me some yes. i never really got into Big Generator, but 90125 had some great stuff all over it. so, you know... "holy crap, that's trevor rabin!"
then i notice that he's talking to jim and ralph, two other guys from motu. jim sees me and waves me over, and before i know it i'm drinking with trevor.
at the end of the night, trevor's got his arm around me at the bar and he's slurring "i gotta get HOME. my WIFE is gonna KILL me!"
later that trip i met, much more briefly, tony levin. i shook his hand hoping that some of his excessive bass playing talents would brush off on me. musical improvement through osmosis.
i'm not sure, but it may have worked!
so anyway, i was relating a bit of my adventures. you never knew who or what was coming down the line when you answered. it could've been some music bigwig, it could've been some kid in his bedroom. could be some kid in his bedroom who only sounds like a bigwig, and could be some bigwig who just happens to sound like a super-green kid with new toys.
the phone rings this time, and i'm puttering around chatting with the caller, a slightly hoarse sounding guy who seemed to be at the edges of his patience but was keeping his control and maintaining pleasantries despite the fact that his shit don't work. hence the reason he's calling tech support.
that was probably the biggest thing not to like about doing tech support. no one calls tech support when they're happy and things are working and all is right in the world. the people that are doing that are just wasting your time and probably don't have anything else to do. you hope you're going to have them happy and working when they hang up, but every single time the phone rang, it was a little aural cue that you were facing a hill. you're about to find out how steep and how high that hill is as well as how easy the terrain is. just gotta answer the phone and be ready for anything.
so i'm taking this guy through the procedures for testing what the issue is. this was a few years ago, so we're dealing with probably mac OS 7.5 or so on a just-pre-powermac computer. nothing's adding up. we try this, we try that. each test finds his patience a little thinner and his grip a little weaker. it is also gradually revealed that he's in a studio (not a bedroom or garage) with an engineer and a producer. okay.
finally, after what feels like 20 minutes of going back and forth and up and down and six ways from sunday, i come to the conclusion that an updated version of the MIDI OS would solve the problem. he begrudgingly accepts this resolution, despite it concluding their work for the night.
"let me pull up our database and i'll get that disk right out to you." it's amazing that this is just a few years ago but it sounds so dark ages, no? disks? in the mail?
"sure."
"okay, what's your last name?"
"zevon."
fuck. seriously, how many 'zevon's can there be making music? i quickly do the math in my head, and it doesn't look good. despite my thoughts, i maintain professionalism.
"okay... and, first name?"
"warren."
you gotta be kidding me. i've been unable to solve the werewolf of london's performer issue and get him rolling and off the phone happy. great.
anyway, he was eventually working fine. but this wasn't one of my better support calls, and that's probably why it sticks out in my head. well, that and 'cause it was warren freakin' zevon.
maybe another time i'll tell you about the time i did support for juan croucier from ratt. or how i came to be thanked on a slaughter album.
like i said, i had a good time working there. one day they sent me off to the NAMM convention in anaheim. my first night, after spending a day helping set up the booth and stuff, i was hanging at the very crowded hilton lobby bar. tons of people. i couldn't believe it.
over at the bar i notice trevor rabin. now, if you know me, you know i love me some yes. i never really got into Big Generator, but 90125 had some great stuff all over it. so, you know... "holy crap, that's trevor rabin!"
then i notice that he's talking to jim and ralph, two other guys from motu. jim sees me and waves me over, and before i know it i'm drinking with trevor.
at the end of the night, trevor's got his arm around me at the bar and he's slurring "i gotta get HOME. my WIFE is gonna KILL me!"
later that trip i met, much more briefly, tony levin. i shook his hand hoping that some of his excessive bass playing talents would brush off on me. musical improvement through osmosis.
i'm not sure, but it may have worked!
posted by onlyone at 9:22 AM
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