The RJK Story

The story of RJK Productions is, for all intents and purposes, my story; I'm Rob, and this is my company. My life has been completely focused on live sound design since I was a kid—whether for theater, corporate events, television, or huge rock concerts—I am passionate, devoted, meticulous, and damn good at my job.

The Beginning

Believe it or not, it all began in middle school, seventh grade, at the ripe young age of 13. I joined the stage crew and helped with the lighting. Later that year, a teacher from the neighboring high school (my future alma mater) asked me to run the sound (a 6-channel Peavey powered mixer) for him. I accepted with much fear. Check out this article where I talk about these experiences a little more.

The Company is Born

In the years to follow, I began RJK Productions, first under the name "WRJK Disc Jockeys" in 1986. That's right, I was a DJ, of all things! Performing at all kinds of events ranging from proms to weddings, I aquainted myself with all the characteristics of a live sound system. Interspersed into the DJ work were several ventures into sound reinforcement. I provided systems, mostly elements from my DJ sound system augmented with additional pieces that were rented, i.e. consoles, microphones, snakes and monitor wedges. Some of the concerts that were done this way were with artists such as Arlo Guthrie, Kathy Mattea, and Steve Forbert. Now in high school, I was a member of the school's theater department, designing and operating both the lighting and the sound. I was quite the innovator even then, always trying to break molds and rules with new, different and exciting ways of presenting lighting designs and working the sound. I would constantly be fighting with faculty, trying to convince them to allow me to use the larger speaker systems, and always more, more, more. It was a great learning experience. I officially changed the company name to RJK Productions in 1990.

The Paramount

Towards the end of my sophomore year, I got my first live theater work at The Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, NY. Built in 1929, the Paramount Theater was a great vaudeville movie palace, modeled on the late Paramount Theater in Manhattan. Since the 80's, the hall had become a refurbished road-house, hosting all kinds of events, from orchestras to bus & truck theater tours and everything in between. Here, under the direction of executive director Robert Engstrom and technical director Joe Cornelison, I worked on lighting and sound as a house technician/engineer. I began at the hall as a technical apprentice, and worked up to assistant technical director and then later, became (unofficial) technical director. It was here that I received my education in the world of real, live audio.

The First Tour

The production staff of PM Dawn was in need of good sound equipment to take on their US Tour. I went down to SIR on 52nd street in NYC for the first of what would be a routine of visits. I walked into the soundstage and found a very large band noodling on their instruments, awaiting the start of the day's rehearsal. The rehearsal began and I found myself unexpectedly at the console's controls. There was a show that weekend at the Jacob Javits Convention Center before a crowd of approximately 10,000. It was to be my first concert for a major recording artist mixing front-of-house on my first large-format console--a Yamaha PM3000. Following this successful show, many months of rehearsals would lead to the first of many nerve-wracking high-profile shows with me mixing monitors. The first of these shows was "Earth Day" at the Hollywood Bowl playing alongside artists such as Paul McCartney, Steve Miller, Don Henley and others. Then came months of promo dates, and headline engagements across the US. PM Dawn was then invited to join onto the W.O.M.A.D. Festival tour with Peter Gabriel. The PM Dawn project lasted just over a year. I took some good snapshots.

Theater Sound Design

After the PM Dawn tours came to a close, I settled back into the NY area to concentrate once again on the theater. A few theater groups in Westchester, NY called on me for my sound expertise. The first show was South Pacific in Chappaqua, NY. This was a fairly large production in need of a full complement of orchestra reinforcement, cast miking, and cued sound effects. This show was completely designed, installed, gear-supplied and mixed by RJK Productions. The show was a great success. Others in Chappaqua: Pippin, Godspell. Shows in Somers: The Wiz, Godspell. Here are some pictures from those early days.

Palladium

After doing a show with PM Dawn here at this famous New York City nightclub, I was asked by the staff of the club to return as a staff engineer. I did, for a while anyway, and proceeded to handle the contracting of sound systems as well as mixing monitors for all of the club's live events. Artists to perform included Aaron Neville, De La Sol, Naughty by Nature, Dave Koz, Alex Bugnon and many others. I also spent much time working on the fine-tuning of the club's legendary DJ music system.

Counting Crows

The first show was at Wetlands, NYC with a band few had ever heard of before. I was asked to mix monitors for this show. I met the band, everything went exceptionally well and I was asked to venture on their "August and Everything After" tour with them. I accepted as they embarked on performing at Saturday Night Live. The touring party traveled in two vans, one towing the band gear in a trailer. This went on for about eight months when the band finally was big enough to get a bus. By this time, Rolling Stone Magazine was calling Counting Crows "The Biggest New Band In America." The band just kept growing. The tour grew with the band, moving throughout the US and Europe with tour-buddies Cracker. We went on to do larger venues, right up to stadiums with festivals like the HFS Festival in Washington DC and then opening for the Rolling Stones for a few weeks. All in all, I was with the band for just under three years, and I've got pictures to prove it.

Terence & Live

Interspersed in the Counting Crows tours were tours with two other groups. First off was Terence Trent D'Arby. Starting with full scale production rehearsals in LA, the party took off for Japan for a full tour of the country. After Japan, the tour headed to Europe and England. This tour only lasted a few months, but I took some nice pictures. Next, I mixed monitors and stage managed for one of the hottest bands of 1995, LIVE. It was the summer tour for "Throwing Copper" and the band was selling out 15-30,000 seat sheds and arenas all over the US and Canada--as you can see in these pictures. It was great business for the band, and a challenging tour for me. This was my first time stage managing a band, complete with four tractor trailers fully stuffed with gear and over forty crew to deal with (20 traveling, 24 local.) Throw in the other full task of mixing monitors, and you have a busy day. (Whew.)

Various TV appearances

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to handle the sound responsibilities for the bands I've traveled with as they perform for a nation-wide audience on the small screen. In addition to the bands mentioned in this bio, I have also been called in to make sure that artists like David Byrne, Robert Palmer, Sarah Brightman, Christina Aguilera and 98° sound good on the airwaves. These shows include: The Arsenio Hall Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Saturday Night Live, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Jules Holland Show (UK), Top of the Pops (UK), Zoo with Jonathon Ross (UK), MTV Video Music Awards, Essence Awards, The Today Show, and many different VH1 specials such as "Men Strike Back" and "Race to Erase MS".

Chic/Nile in Japan

This was an experience to remember. We traveled to Japan with Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards and their band Chic, accompanied by Steve Winwood, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, Sister Sledge and Slash from Guns & Roses. It was an absolute thrill, honor and pleasure to be working with such music industry pros. Rehearsals were held in S.I.R.'s soundstage in New York. Final production rehearsals were in Japan prior to the first show at Jo Hall in Osaka. We had about ninety-six inputs and about twenty monitor mixes with all the artists combined. Each artist performed a few of their own hits, then they all came out for the grand finale "Dancing in the Streets." The final show was staged at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo. They were all amazing shows and a great time. Here are some pictures from that gig.

Joan Osborne

First called in to mix monitors for Joan, I was thrilled to work on the same stage as the legendary band The Who. It was their Quadrophenia tour and they were playing Madison Square Garden in NY. After these two shows, I was asked to tour Japan with Joan mixing Front of House. After this, we went all over the states playing festivals and fairs, bringing along a polaroid camera for those special moments on the bus... Joan was then offered a spot on the Lilith Fair tour for the first two years. It was great to be among so many other great female artists on this high-profile project. Working with Joan was probably the most rewarding touring experience I have ever had. She is a great talent, and a great person, and that makes months on the road a pleasure.

Spin Doctors

I was brought in to handle a few US dates for the Spins at FOH. There was one big challenge on these shows, however. Lead singer Chris Barron had lost his voice for some time and, in the interim, keyboardist Ivan Neville took over the lead vocal job. A while later Chris regained full use of his voice and we did a show in Chicago at the United Center about six months later. It was good to hear Chris sing! I have been tour managing and mixing sound for the band for some years now doing one-off dates and summer tour dates.

Production Management

In addition to all this sound design and engineering, I have worked as a production manager for many events. The first events with this job description were "Quad Jam" at Manhattanville College in Purchase New York. On this, my first venture into production, I arranged the staging, lighting, local crews, sound and on-site facilities for an all-day concert. I handled these responsibilities for two years before a tour got in the way of it happening again. Other artists/shows with exclusive production responsibilities include: Wyclef Jean (formerly of the Fugees) for a Presidential Fundraiser with the Democratic National Committee, another Wyclef benefit with special guests Bono (of U2) and Shiela E. Special Events Since about 1996, I have made a transitional move over to the world of industrial audio while keeping up with the music and theater. This is just another growing facet of the entertainment business. Shows can range from one person speaking and showing slides in a small boardroom to a huge stage production in an arena with many special effects. I have been designing and mixing these shows with many different clients and production companies. See Special Events for more details on select shows.

IATSE/usa

I am a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, United Scenic Artists Local 829 as a Sound Designer, S.N. 4625.

Theater Program Bio

ROBERT J. KILLENBERGER (Sound Design) World tours and other projects: PM Dawn, Counting Crows, Joan Osborne, Live, Lenny Kravitz, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chic/Nile Rogers, Spin Doctors, Christina Aguilera, Cyndi Lauper, David Byrne, Itzhak Perlman, The Veronicas and others. Off Broadway and Regional: Zanna Don't! (Off Broadway), Pippin Benefit starring Ben Vereen, Striking 12 (Off Broadway and multiple regional.) Rob has been busy designing and mixing corporate shows around the world for clients such as Intel, Microsoft and Washington Mutual. See www.rjkproductions.com for more.