Must be casual Friday at the Front End Audio offices

Do you have offices elsewhere?
We have two offices here, and have contact with our dealers via travel, and pretty much daily contact.

What makes Front End Audio unique among pro audio distributors?
Our beginnings were definitely operating a great studio [Mick and crew also own and operate Mixmaster Music Production Studio in Adelaide], and we have an unquenchable appetite for authentic analog audio, which has grown into our distribution as well, and they still run closely linked. We also have no issues with sending gear to folks to evaluate in their own recording environment; it rarely comes back, and folks respond to being trusted to make their own judgments, and being trusted with our precious equipment, and if they don't purchase for one reason or another, they will be back. Also, when we communicate with clients, they soon get to know that we are definitely one of them--making records, and totally involved with studio life, and have an intimate knowledge of the gear we distribute and use.

What makes the Australian pro audio market unique?
Australia is a huge country, with a very small population, 20 million. Most feel a huge distance to the rest of the world, but still very much a part of it. To help understand this, I would say there were almost as many studios in one street in New York or L.A. as there would be in the whole country, so we have our work cut out for us.

Are you sure there’s a DAW at the other end of this?

How many dealers do you currently have in your distribution network?
Probably about twelve strong dealers, with many smaller shops as well.

Why is Universal Audio important to your business?
Its core and beginnings were based upon pretty much how we have always felt, so being involved with and talking about this stuff, is just a part of life, and a lot of fun, because we are using the gear as well. So, it's much more than box moving...much more.

What makes selling UA gear cool?
Ahhhh, because it feels good to be involved with this stuff. Its wonderful history, the fact that it works. We love making friends rather than foes, and it's very cool when you say something is going to work in a given situation and it does. And it is very cool to be connected to where modern recording audio had its very genesis.

What makes selling UA gear a pain in the neck?
Not being able to keep up with stock--not such a bad thing to winge about--and the 2192 we have that we still can't remove the XLR leads...

Please provide us with any interesting or amusing stories about Front End Audio, your clients, or yourselves, or all three combined.
Hmm...Probably the most amusing thing about us was the time on the road between San Francisco and Santa Cruz when both Rob and myself ended up very much at the front of the Hummer, along with about eleven other punters...It was hard to tell Erica from Zofya, from Rob from...all in a nanosecond. At least we know that the old Hummer has decent brakes.

Rob demonstrating the Aussies’ unique spin on sashimi

Thank you Mick and the rest of the Front End Audio crew. Any thoughts in closing?
It's probably worth mentioning how we first became involved with Universal Audio. Being an enthusiast of all the vintage audio equipment that paved the way for modern recording as we know it, when I heard or read (I can't remember which came first) that Bill Putnam Jr. was going to release the 1176-LN and LA-2A to their authentic original specs, faithfully from all of the original schematics and designs, I saw red.

I went to great lengths, probably a year or so before the first commercially available model, to contact whoever was responsible for this great idea. I managed to, and made it very clear that, when the time came, I would be more than enthusiastic to be involved in the distribution of UA to our clients, and after a lengthy distillation process, this is what happened, to the benefit of all I am sure.

Since then, we have respected and enjoyed the association with UA and their commitment to quality audio, and also breaking through the digital threshold, which UA have managed to keep running parallel. We feel that we have grown together, and now enjoy the benefits of this very cool endeavor. We have taken on the Australian pro audio scene in a very "hands on" refreshing way, as have Universal Audio taken on the design and manufacturing of pro audio with a similar enthusiasm and integrity.

Universal Audio had its beginnings in a basement; Front End had its beginnings in the side room of a home studio (a very serious one at that), and the rest, as they say, is history...

Mick’s appreciation for “vintage gear” apparently extends to the auto industry as well