John Penn

Profession:
Managing Director, SSE Audio Group

Date & place of birth:
December 4 1954; Manor Park, London E12, UK

How did you first discover your passion for audio?
In 1969, a friend of mine was very much into the then-new progressive rock scene and had all the albums. He put Cream’s new album, Goodbye, on the Dansette and ‘Badge’ sounded fantastic — it was when the Leslie guitar arpeggio came in that I got this huge adrenalin rush.

That song transformed my listening habits and within six weeks I went to see my first gig at the Dreamland Ballroom in Margate by a new signing called Black Sabbath. The tickets were 5/- 6d (27.5p), I sat four rows from the front, on the floor as you did then, and it was like ‘WOW’!

They had big Laney PA columns and I noticed this bloke who was sitting at the front edge of the stage tinkering with something that had a big valve box with knobs on it. He looked just like the band, with long hair, a beard and a long leather coat. I asked someone, ‘what’s that guy doing?’... ‘oh, that’s their roadie, he operates their gear’. I thought, ‘hmmm, I could do that’ and went up to this roadie after the gig, and asked him what it was all about.

From that point onwards, I went to gigs all the time and always asked the crew about the equipment. ‘What’s that?’ ‘It’s a Binson.’ ‘What does it do?’ ‘It’s an echo unit.’ ‘Ah, like a Copicat?’ ‘Yeah man, but a lot better.’

One night, I went to see Fotheringay and looked around to see the sound guy but he wasn’t there. Instead, there’s a bloke at the back of the hall mixing on a WEM Audiomaster. ‘Why are you all the way back here?’ ‘It’s great — you can hear the PA from here.’ What a fucking good idea!

The first person to show me how to use a desk properly was Ian Horne when he was mixing Paul McCartney & Wings at Liverpool Empire on their Red Rose Speedway tour [1973]. Ian let me mix their support band, Brinsley Schwartz, on a stereo RSE console. He gave me this great piece of advice: “You’ve got to be able to hear the singing; nobody comes to hear the drummer.”

When did you get your first PA rental job?
The first official paid booking for Sigma Sound Enterprises (SSE) was on December 12 1975 when I returned to my old school in Formby, Lancashire to provide a system for an end of term ball, run by my brother.

What are the qualities keeping SSE alive and kicking during this recession?
We have a combination of fantastic staff and solid business experience. This industry is full of enthusiastic amateurs who started sound rental companies because they wanted to be part of a very creative industry and have fun. But this is a very capital intensive world and banks lend money to businesses, not lifestyles.

There was a period of about six years when I worked for Amek and I learned a lot from Nick Franks about proper commercial business management — balance sheets, budgets, gearing and everything else that goes with it.

I then imported all that information into SSE, which although may have made me unpopular, continues to help us stay afloat, keep people in jobs and give our bank sufficient confidence in us to provide credit.

If there’s one thing that helps to focus my mind it’s that we have 55 very gifted people directly employed in the UK who depend upon the decisions that my fellow directors and I make to ensure that their mortgages get paid. I’ve been happy to give them enough rope to hang themselves and they’ve all come up trumps. You can be whatever you want at SSE but you’ve got to show initiative and really take it on.

Is there anyone you would describe as a mentor?
There were a number of people who gave me advice or opportunities when I was starting this company, without whom SSE would never have got off the ground. They include Ian Jones, Hans Freytag, Tony Andrews, David Bissett-Powell, Mick Johnson and, of course, Nick Franks.

You and your wife of 33 years, Heather, probably qualify as the only married couple that head a sound rental operation... at least in the UK.
We’ve been on this journey together since the beginning and she’s still my best friend. SSE would not exist without Heather — be sure of that.

What occupies your free time?
Listening to music, going to the pub, long walks, watching Formula One... and spending as much quality time as possible with Heather, our family and friends.
  
Your favourite record of all-time?
‘Badge’ by Cream... for the reasons I mentioned earlier.

What would be your advice to a teenage John Penn?
Follow your head, be honest, treat people the way you want them to treat you... and never think you know all the answers because there’s always someone smarter than you.