PROFILE
Greg McVeigh
By Andrew King
T
hese days, Greg McVeigh helps
other people tell their stories for
a living, but as it turns out, he’s
got more than a few great ones
of his own.
Prior to the 2006 launch of Guesthouse
Projects, his PR and artist relations firm pri-
marily serving clients in the pro audio and
musical products industries, McVeigh was a
staple of the audio community in prominent
positions with some industry-leading com-
panies. Before, during, and in between those
stints, he enjoyed some truly astounding life
experiences.
There was the time The Who’s John
Entwistle tried to pick up his girlfriend at
a private party, or when he got a tongue-
lashing from iconic director David Lynch on
the Mexico City set of Dune in the early ‘80s.
He was also hired by Stevie Wonder’s mother
to film one of the artist’s lavish birthday par-
ties. And that’s just the “dinner party fodder”
category; he also amassed an impressive
list of audio industry achievements and ac-
colades during his decades in the business.
McVeigh is a proud son of Michigan,
born in Detroit and raised just outside of
the city. Music was a big part of his life early
on – picture a four-year-old carrying around
an Elvis Presley record with his favourite
blanket at all times.
“My formative years were divided be-
tween a desire to be the next Keith Moon and
a grudging interest in the steady income of
working at my father’s car dealership – pretty
typical for a Detroit kid,” he shares.
McVeigh played in bands through his
teens and later got into production work
as a stage hand with his brother’s notorious
“Drunk and Dirty” crew. His mom worked at
the city’s famous St. Regis Hotel, where many
of the visiting touring bands would stay. “She
didn’t always know who the bands were, but
she would try to get them to hire me!” he
recalls with a laugh.
At 21, he moved to Southern California
“after seeing one too many album credits cit-
ing Los Angeles as their origin.” After initially
landing a gig at a music store, he soon took
a post with a company that built recording
studios throughout the area and remembers
it as “a great experience.”
“I was always intrigued by the manu-
facturing side of pro audio, and eventually
got an offer to be a field sales manager for
Soundcraft,” he continues. That led to suc-
cessful stints with QSC, Crest Audio, and
Meyer Sound, where he spent nearly a
decade and was eventually appointed as VP
of tour sound.
Squeezed in between were three tours
with singer Jimmy Buffett via Sound Image
in San Diego. “Being on tour was such an
eye-opener for me,” McVeigh puts in. “Learn-
ing about the complexities of an arena-size
sound system in combat conditions on a
nightly basis was invaluable.”
With Meyer Sound, he travelled the
world and brought some heavyweight art-
ists like The White Stripes, Norah Jones, and
Barenaked Ladies into the fold. He loved the
experience, though recalls waking up one
day and realizing he’d “gone corporate” and
it was time for a change.
“About 15 years ago, I started my own
business to specialize in artist relations and
what we now call ‘content gathering,’” he
says. “My first client was Heil Sound, the
microphone manufacturer, and they’re still
with me. I owe [founders] Bob and Sarah Heil
a debt of gratitude for believing.”
He actually calls his relationship with the
Heils a career highlight thus far, which, con-
sidering all he’s accomplished throughout
said career, carries some weight. “There
have been hundreds of times where I
shook my head in disbelief at something
that I experienced or an artist who I met,”
he says. “Becoming part of the Heil Sound
family has been fantastic; I bought Bob’s
Practical Guide for Concert Sound when I
was in high school!”
He also mentions his time in Montreux,
Switzerland, working on the world-renowned
Montreux Jazz Festival with Meyer Sound,
and finally, adds: “Working on The Wreck-
ing Crew film with Denny Tedesco, as
well as being involved in the upcoming
documentary about CREEM Magazine are
highlights; I helped both films get financed
via crowdfunding projects.”
And then there’s the joy he gets from
simply interacting with talented artists,
engineers, and technicians on a regular
basis. “I really enjoy visiting a touring group
in the afternoon, just around the time that
they’re going to soundcheck, and talking
a little shop with the crew,” he enthuses.
“I can look around the stage and see gear
that’s been through a war and gear that’s
brand new, just waiting to go. I know that
there are stories on those stages; that part
never gets old.”
For McVeigh, there’s not much distinc-
tion between “work” and “outside of work,”
and he likes it that way. He currently lives
in Palm Springs with his wife, Claudia, and
their two sons, Jasper and Duncan. As a
resident of California’s Coachella Valley,
he tries to catch as many shows as he can,
and also enjoys hiking through the nearby
mountains or riding his bicycle around
town. The family also heads into Los An-
geles fairly often to catch a movie or visit
his daughter and grandchildren.
McVeigh remains passionate about his
work and has a lot to look forward to in
that regard through 2020 and beyond. “I’m
at the point where I’d like to explore that
next step in growth and let Guesthouse
Projects become bigger, whether through
a partnership or an additional office loca-
tion,” he asserts. “Otherwise, I’m at a nice
place with my business right now and want
to continue to do good work and tell good
stories for my clients.”
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Sound.
18 PROFESSIONAL SOUND