PROFILE
Dave Thiel
By Maxime Brunet
T
ransitioning from aspiring DJ to
go-to monitor engineer for one
of the world’s biggest EDM acts,
Dave Thiel experienced many
sides of the music industry before
settling into the live sound world.
Born and raised in Dryden, ON, Thiel
grew up playing sports such as hockey and
football. It wasn’t until he turned 13 that
he sparked an interest in music. In a town
teeming with guitar players and living with
a dad who played keyboard, Thiel decided
to go against the grain and learn bass. He
credits his father for passing along his pas-
sion for music: “My dad played and housed
a Hammond B3, among other keyboards, in
our basement. I played a lot of video games
as well, and attribute my initial draw to music
to that basement Hammond and [famed
composer] Koji Kondo,” says Thiel.
After a football injury sidelined him for
the season in his final year of high school,
Thiel decided to focus his energy on bass.
He formed his first band, which played a
mix of originals and Tool and Canadian alt-
rock covers.
He eventually pursued music in university
and studied jazz performance at Brandon
University in Manitoba. He credits his music
degree with helping him navigate the chaos
that often accompanies live sound work. “The
communication, critical thinking, and impro-
visation skills I learned through that degree
cross over to every gig,” he says. “Having some
knowledge of composition, arrangement,
and how to thumb through an orchestral
score have certainly helped out. There was
a figure in my university who was integral in
showing me how to apply those ideas to an
audio environment while maintaining musi-
cal context. He’d be upset if I named him, but
he was my audio school. He once said, ‘There
will always be a test,’ and he was right.”
During his studies, Thiel saw a poster ad-
vertising work with a local sound company.
He applied, and surprisingly ended up being
the DJ for a wedding. He recalls that first gig
being “comically atrocious, as the wedding
social crowd and I did not get along.” Thiel
was called back for a shift the following week
and was quite happy to realize he had been
moved to the audio tech side of things.
After graduating, he moved to Montreal
in pursuit of a more exciting music scene. In
his first two months there, he was robbed on
the street and asked to join a Toronto band
on tour as their bassist. This was enough of
a sign for him – after the band’s Montreal
show, he packed up his apartment and left
with them back to Ontario.
Shortly after arriving in Toronto, Thiel
started working professionally in audio in
local venues. He has been touring since 2016
and splits his time between being a monitor
and front-of-house engineer, collaborating
with artists such as Lights, Stars, Royal Wood,
and Good Lovelies.
Currently, he is working for deadmau5
on the artist’s massive Cube V3 tour, as well
as with Lights, who’s touring alongside
deadmau5. He explains: “I’ve worked with
Lights for the last two-and-a-half years as
her monitor engineer, and she brought me
along for the ride when their pairing was
confirmed. Since deadmau5’s team also
needed someone to fill a monitor position,
I was integrated and welcomed into their
crew directly.”
Thiel states that his favourite part of work-
ing in live sound is the lack of routine and
constant need to adapt to daily challenges.
“No matter how many variables you can
possibly eliminate beforehand, each day and
venue will present its own set of challenges. If
you’re lucky, your van, bus, or airplane might
actually make it to the gig so you can find out
what they are.”
In an industry where the most important
lessons are often learned on the job, Thiel
states that it can often be challenging to
keep up with new technology. As someone
who went from touring small clubs to inter-
national arenas in the span of a few years, it
has been important for him to constantly
develop new skills while still understanding
what the artists who hired him are looking
for in their engineer. He credits his career
growth to the audio community in Toronto,
which helped guide him through the learn-
ing curve, as well as “the artists that have
trusted me to translate their art, whether it’s
back to their band or to an audience.”
A bit of a gear junkie, Thiel states that his
favourite piece of equipment is the Neve
5045 Primary Source Enhancer. “When I first
heard it, I dubbed it the ‘Primary Job Securer.’
I appreciate the 5045 for how it can help
emphasize, for example, that your delay is
intended as a vocal delay, not a vocal and
snare delay, and how it can assist in bringing
out a quiet source without needing to carve
the soul out of it.”
Thiel kicked off 2020 by closing out the
American tour with deadmau5. When not on
the road, he can be found working away in
his home studio and even occasionally gig-
ging around town as a bass player – both of
which he’ll have some time for as he figures
out his next moves.
Maxime Brunet was introduced to audio at the age of 17 through community radio. She now works as a touring FOH engineer, splitting her time between Los
Angeles and Toronto. She developed an introduction to sound class, The DIY Audio Tech Workshop for Women+, which she has taught throughout Ontario.
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 19