028 INTERVIEW
Peter with Chris Kennedy of Norwest Productions
workforce full of ambition, the correct surroundings were vital. Peter said: “We ventured in to the big smoke of Melbourne and set up an additional shop [to the one in Geelong] and then another in Melbourne, just 12 months later.” Once in Melbourne, Peter’s attention turned to the professional audio sector and he was quick to set up a separate rental division Troy Sound Reinforcement, which operated from the same outlet as Troy Music, the retail arm of the business. Peter built the rental side of the business to a substantial level, at which point he felt some investment from more experienced industry players would help the business to grow even further. After researching the market, Peter approached Balance Sound, a smaller competitor with three industry veterans attached, Ernie Rose, Grant Walsh and Adrian Smith. The amalgamation of the companies was fi nalised in 1984 and Troy Balance Corporation was born. “This quickly grew to become the second largest audio production company in Australia, boasting clients such as LRB, Men at Work, Midnight Oil, John Farnham and many others,” said Peter. The company managed to establish an iconic concert production set-up known as ‘The Lord Nelson System’. It was a system conceived with a philosophy of achieving the best possible audio quality and combining it with the most convenient set-up and operating parameters. Troy Balance Corporation was responsible for supplying audio at the fi rst pre game entertainment showcase for the Australian football league grand fi nal in 1986, which was broadcast to more than 70 countries and provided a sound solution for the Papal’s visit to Adelaide in 1988. For a second time in his career Peter was making waves at the top-end of the business. While Peter focussed on the rental and production side of the audio industry his brother Drago was busy in the retail market and advanced into importation. In 1978, under a new company name - Central Musical Instruments (CMI) - Drago began wholesaling musical instruments and audio products for the MI retail market, representing brands including Rickenbacker, Fender, Digitech, Dean Markley, Seymour Duncan and he still continues to sell many of these brands today. The brothers enjoyed many successful years in both areas of the business but began to feel the pinch in the early ‘90s when the Australian economy took a turn for the worst and spiralled into recession. “We both become stale and somewhat disillusioned with our lot, no longer enjoying what we were doing,” said Peter. This is when Drago suggested we sell off our production company and I join him at CMI with a goal of both taking it a little easier. With the two of us sharing responsibilities at CMI the idea was to work less and enjoy it more,” he continued. Peter grabbed the suggestion with both hands knowing that it was an attractive idea and the best way forward. “I immediately commenced the orderly sell off of the production business and I can tell you that we did everything but take it easy. With the two of us in the same company, together we found so much more energy and drive.” Today, CMI represents a number of high-end brands in the professional audio market including Adamson, HK Audio, MC² Audio, XTA, One Systems, Duran Audio, Mackie and Tascam. Co-Director and CMI shareholder, Graeme Mitchell and Peter have invested a lot of time and effort over the last 10 years to acquire new brands to distribute and although the road to setting up new distributorships has seen tough times along the way, these have been balanced out with some fun times too. Peter recalled: “Probably the funniest distribution story I have is when
www.mondodr.com
“
...Chris Kennedy from Norwest Productions - one of my biggest adversaries during my time in
concert production and Adamson’s biggest client in Australia - stated that ‘if any one can make the
product happen in Australia Peter
can because he is like a dog with a bone’.”
Jesse Adamson approached us to represent Adamson System Engineering in Australia. I asked why he wanted us to represent his product. To which he replied that Chris Kennedy from Norwest Productions - one of my biggest adversaries during my time in concert production and Adamson’s biggest client in Australia - stated that ‘if any one can make the product happen in Australia Peter can because he is like a dog with a bone’. I took that as a compliment.” Peter’s organisational logistics, fi nancial understanding, determination to succeed and forward-thinking vision has lead him to many of these business relationships. He understands each particular brand fi ts into a market segment or a price point that is different to the next and the key is to represent the product in the correct way. “At the end of the day, a distributor continues representing a product only if they keep their supplier happy and we seem to be able to achieve this despite what may seem to be competing lines,” said Peter. He is also adamant of the importance of building and maintaining healthy working relationships with manufacturers and often takes to the road to visit his customers and demonstrate CMI’s support. Other than selling, Peter has brought many other defi ning attributes to CMI that remain a strong part of the company ethos to this day. Upon joining CMI full time, Peter spent his fi rst three months in the warehouse, getting his hands dirty and learning the backbone of the business from the shop fl oor. His organisational and procedural skills were advantageous when dealing with existing customers or establishing new ones as he explained: “I remember always looking at any query or problem that came along and wondered how as a customer I would want this to be handled by my supplier. I felt that our customers wanted to buy goods from effi cient suppliers who were easy to deal with and could deliver on time.” In a competitive market, providing good service is paramount. Although Australia is the sixth largest country on the planet in terms of total square footage, its population density is one of the lowest in the world making it tough for any niche
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124