PROFILE
Ray Wilson
By Matt Bauer
Born and raised in the rural northern Ontario town of Englehart , Ray Wilson spent most of his youth jamming in his grandparents ’ garage while recording local artists as a hobby on his first 4-track . Those humble , formative days in the garage have paid off ! With over 30 years of studio and recording experience , Wilson is a Sales Manager at Yorkville Sound and owns Synergy Studio in Pickering , ON .
After leaving his hometown to attend College in North Bay , ON , Wilson was a regular at the city ’ s Music City location , which was a harbinger for his career trajectory .
“ I had done a few recordings — multitrack tape synced to an Atari computer with MIDI — and I wanted to make some money doing it ,” he explains . “ Radio Shack in North Bay was one of the first to carry computers , so I got a job there . My Tandy 1000SL was the first computer that I recorded with using Cubase .”
Staying on the retail path , Wilson worked at the Sony Store in North Bay , eventually moving to Toronto in a management role . Further stints in the musical / electronics field included stops at Staples , Best Buy and Apple , to name a few .
In 2011 , Wilson made the decision to wholly invest himself in music retail , becoming a recording / PA product specialist at Long & McQuade . With more than 15 years in retail management on his resume after three years at L & M , he was offered the Sales Manager role with their sister company , Yorkville Sound . “ I don ’ t think that there ’ s a market in the 10 provinces that I ’ ve not been to ,” he adds .
Explaining his role at Yorkville , Wilson says that the biggest part of his week “ is spent serving nine incredibly talented District Sales Managers within their core markets across Canada with calls , emails , and store visits . If I ’ m not on the road I spend my time working with our credit , order desk , shipping and buying teams to assist our partners to get the products they need . My passion for audio and video allows me some time to support our marketing and media team , something that was much more prevalent during the pandemic .”
For the past two years , Wilson has focused on live streams and shooting videos to maintain Yorkville ’ s online presence . “ In short , if there ’ s a disconnection between any corner of our business including our business partners , I help to bridge the gaps and repair the disconnection ,” he says .
Wilson admits that making the move from retail to a wholesale role requires a much different mindset and the need to work with business owners versus end users . “ While both groups have their rewards and their challenges the former deals with a much greater amount of risk ,” he shares . “ I have learned to speak less , listen more , and to put on a pair of their shoes when a dealer is in need . If you lose a transaction with an end user there are a number of programs one could use to get them back . If you drop the ball with a business owner , it can take a long time to repair the trust that is lost . I remind myself daily to be succinct ; our partners have little time for chatter .”
In terms of his professional achievements to date , Wilson takes a moment to humbly reflect on how far Yorkville has come in “ building an autonomous , accountable team ,” which he credits to his days at Apple . “ Our teams have the ability at almost any level to make major decisions on the fly without repercussion with only reporting as their responsibility . Some might call this the ‘ ask for permission versus beg for forgiveness ’ rule . Our business partners know that Yorkville is willing to listen to most anything that would help them make more turns and be more profitable .”
Wilson also attributes his and his team ’ s passion and flexibility to the launch of Aston microphones in Canada . Through Yorkville ’ s very close ties with their ownership group , Aston became one of the top selling microphones in the country . A takeover of U . S . distribution followed via Yorkville ’ s Niagara Falls team , then headed by Steve Hendee ( Director of Sales , Yorkville Sound Inc ). Four short and very successful years later , they
were courted by and ultimately sold to the Music Tribe . “ If you ask Aston why they became such an overnight success they would attribute it to the passion that our team put into every part of their product and message ,” Wilson says .
As for future career plans , if he has his way , Wilson intends to stay at Yorkville for the next decade . ” I ’ m always pressing the envelope for growth within the company and within my current role ,” he elaborates .” My budding live production / video production / recording business has taken off to become my retirement plan . As long as there ’ s music in my activities both my BOB professional WITH HIS WIFE KAREN and personal goals will be met .”
When not at Yorkville , Wilson spends his home time at the aforementioned Synergy Studio ( a sound controlled 1000 sq / ft basement studio ,
www . synergystudio . ca ). Outside the studio , music still remains a focus as he can be heard upstairs with his wife and son singing the hundreds of songs on his son ’ s online playlist . For a break , Raptors , Leafs , Argos , or Buffalo Bills games are chief diversions as well as senseless comedy on TV or movies . But they indulge their serious side as well .“[ We ] are currently hooked on Season five of Yellowstone !” Wilson says .
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 19