PROFILE
Demetrius Moore
By Andrew King
Demetrius Moore was inspired to pursue a career in music by some forefathers of modern hip-hop , so it ’ s only fitting that he ’ s now the go-to FOH engineer for one of the genre ’ s biggest stars .
Since 2010 , Moore has been the man behind the console for Drake ’ s shows . He ’ s also collaborated with some of the artist ’ s highest-profile peers , including Lil ’ Wayne , Nikki Minaj , and Majid Jordan , as well as major international names like Beyonce and the late Prince .
Moore was born in Cincinnati , OH , and grew up surrounded by music and instruments . His father was a musician , and what ’ s more , his father ’ s first cousin was a founding member of renowned funk outfit Zapp – often credited as pioneers of the G-funk movement that gave rise to west-coast hip-hop in the early ‘ 90s .
“ I remember going with my dad to see them at the Emery Theatre and we ’ d hang out on the tour bus ,” Moore recalls , “ so I always knew I wanted to be in the music industry .”
Attending Cincinnati ’ s School for Creative and Performing Arts ( SCPA ) certainly jumpstarted his journey . Though he started specializing in ballet , percussion , and scenic set design , in the 10 th grade , he dropped ballet and percussion to pursue the technical trades of audio and lighting .
Each year , the school ’ s senior class would design and stage a musical that would eventually run at the city ’ s famous Taft Theatre , and so in his final year at SCPA , he was the scenic designer and FOH audio engineer for a production of Peter Pan .
Around that time , he was also developing relationships with some of the technical staff at the venue , which led to a major opportunity .
One year , he took his mom to see R . Kelly at the Aronoff Center for her birthday . The venue ’ s head of sound introduced Moore to Kelly ’ s engineer , Scott Pakulski , who invited him to watch the show from FOH . “ So my cousin came to sit with my mom , and I sat at FOH and watched him mix the show on [ a Midas ] XL4 ,” Moore shares .
A year later , Pakulski was back in Cincinnati with Brian McKnight . This time , he asked Moore a question .“ He said ,‘ Is this really what you want to do ?’” Moore clearly recalls . “ I said , ‘ Yeah ,’ so he started telling me what I needed to do to get there .”
When Yamaha ’ s PM1D digital console hit the market , Pakulski sent Moore to Yamaha ’ s site to download its operating software and then sent him his show file for Prince , who he was mixing at the time , and called him to walk through the mix . When Prince came to Indianapolis later that year , Moore went to see the show and , more specifically , the PM1D in action .
After Moore had graduated , Pakulski told him about Eighth Day Sound , the international audio equipment rental firm headquartered in Cleveland .“ And he ’ d also told Tom Arko , the president of Eighth Day , about me ,” Moore explains . “ Scott called me one day , a Wednesday night , and said Eighth Day needed a fifth person on a Jay Z and 50 Cent tour . When I told him I was interested , Tom called next and said , ‘ I need you in Cleveland before 5 p . m . on Friday .’”
Though he was only supposed to be there for rehearsals and the first few shows , Moore ended up on the entire tour . That ’ s how he met FOH engineer Tim Colvard and Eighth Day monitor engineer Sean
Sturge , who have since become regular collaborators . It also led to more work with Eighth Day , including runs with Nelly , Eminem and 50 Cent , and later , Madonna .
Moore initially turned down the Madonna run ; however , he gave in after repeated requests and was assigned to be the artist ’ s personal tech . He says their relationship got off to a rocky start , though they eventually earned each other ’ s respect and have developed a professional bond that ’ s spanned several tours and continues to this day .
In 2009 , Colvard was mixing Lil ’ Wayne and Moore was his system tech . Colvard gave his understudy some time at the console mixing the headliner . “ It ’ s louder , it ’ s bigger , there ’ s a full band …” Moore says , listing off how the experience was different from that of mixing some openers on major tours . “ It ’ s a lot of pressure .”
By the end of that tour , he ’ d mixed the whole show and also had his foot in the door with the Young Money crew , which led to later outings with Lil ’ Wayne , Nikki Minaj , and of course , Drake .
In 2011 , Drake was headed to Europe though Colvard , his usual engineer , was out with Usher , and so Moore landed his first tour at FOH . Over the next five years , he held down the console with Drake , Lil ’ Wayne , and Nikki Minaj . He also went back out with Madonna and did band monitors for Beyonce ’ s Mrs . Carter Tour of the U . S . and Europe , as well as her heralded Super Bowl halftime performance in 2013 .
Since Drake ’ s Would You Like a Tour ? trek in 2013 , though , Moore has been the 6ix God ’ s go-to guy . He ’ s also since started working with other members of the OVO family like R & B duo Majid Jordan . “ It ’ s a great job and great group of people ,” Moore says of his newfound professional family .
“ When the house lights go out and the fans start screaming , it ’ s that first note , that first sound , no matter what it is . It ’ s just so powerful ,” Moore says about his favourite part of mixing , regardless of the artist . “ It ’ s a great feeling and it ’ s still exciting to me . I still get goosebumps , even if I ’ ve been on the same show for a year straight .”
Having worked hard to pay his dues , it ’ s a feeling he ’ ll get to enjoy constantly in the coming years as an in-demand engineer for some of the biggest names in music .
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound .
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