Sunday, December 25, 2011

Solotech (Canada) and JPJ Audio

I suspect JPJ Audio formed an alliance with Solotech on Meyersound speakers so that they (Solotech) would not come here with K1.
JPJ lost out on a few big gigs this year to Solotech touring the big shows into AUS.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Eminem sound issues

JPJ Audio P/L are the company responsible for delivering sound for the Eminem concert.
The technical specifications that the Eminen production people would have sent through to the promoter for JPJ Audio P/L to satisfy would probably have been worded with the expectation that a sound system capable of delivering high quality sound to all audience members is provided. This certainly did not happen.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Sadly Johnstons have gone the way of JANDS

It didn't take long for JANDS to infiltrate the fabric of Johnstons of old. There is no longer a welcoming feeling. Soon it will be bereft of any...

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Jock Bain

A recent post:
"Jock Bain was the prime loss of the merger for those who know the real story. RIP Jock." Anonymous from L.A. USA

How will JPJ repsond to the Norwest Perth Office?

Norwest have now set up office in Perth, although it is unclear if they have bought out an existing company in Perth or not. Perth is over supplied with PA so it begs the question whether the city can sustain another supplier.
All it means is the price may come down in an expensive market which is Perth.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

JPJ will open an office in Brisbane?

Has anyone heard anything to substantiate the rumour?

Monday, July 4, 2011

Johnston Audio Services is now JPJ Audio while JANDS remains the same.

When you call Johnston Audio from now on expect to hear JPJ Audio greeting.
When you call Jands Production Services you won't hear this same greeting.
Something tells me the name change is a precursor to Jands Production Services Melbourne!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Next to come... Bruce exits

Now that the Johnston Audio name is to be no longer used, expect to see Bruce Johnston cash out of the JPJ Audio Pty Ltd entity.
I suspect he wil have a " do not compete" clause in his contract!

From the Newsletter....

Company Name
It has been agreed that from July 1st the company will trade as JPJ Audio Pty Ltd. This will include stencilling on roadcases, building signage, telephone greetings (see below). etc.

Norwest Productions
Recently, Norwest has become increasingly petty and damaging, with regards to their approach to the business, and JPJ in general. As a result, JPJ has no option but to cease all business dealings with Norwest, effective immeadiately.

Human Resources
Sarah Pearson
Sarah Pearson has resigned from her position within the Melbourne office. Sarah has been working with Bruce for many years and was a valuable employee. Sarah’s final day with the company is Thursday 23rd July. We wish Sarah all the best in her future endeavours.

Communications
Telephone Greeting.
From 1st July, please use ‘JPJ Audio’ as the company name when answering incoming calls.

The latest post (by Anonymous)

As someone who has worked for JPS in recent years, I am interested by the continuing perception that Jands has some kind of attitude problem. I believe this used to be the case back in the 'good ol' days' when the the drugs were flowing as fast as the gear was being trucked around the country. However since selling off the lighting department they downsized quite substantially. The fulltime staff is a shadow of it's former self and the attitude of being the all powerful super production warehouse had to be adjusted.
They say that a company's attitude comes from the top down and anyone who has worked there can soon tell you that Eric takes no prisoners. But an attitude has to be sustained by the rest of the staff as well. After spending some time within the company, what I learnt is that in the last 10 years there's been quite a large staff turnover. The JPS 'oldschool' is more or less on it's last legs and the 'newschool' is slowly making it's mark. If you've worked on a JPS gig recently you'll probably notice that the crewing is usually made up of one or two older guys with countless decades of experience a the top, a bunch of 25-30 something contractors and some younger trainees. So out of a crew of 8, maybe 2 will have come from the 'good ol' days' while the rest will either be unaffiliated contractors or trainees who are learning on the job.
On that note, what other production hire company in Australia has such a large trainee program? Sure you can be cynical and say that they only have the program so they have a endless supply of cheap crew. But at the same time I would love to know to career success rate of those going through a JPS traineeship vs those paying a fortune to attend Mr Grafton's college or JMC. They took on 11 trainees in Sydney last year and rumour has it they will be starting a similar program at Johnstons in Melbourne. These kids aren't just learning on the job but also get proper classroom teaching from some of the best practicing engineers in the country and they're being paid to do it.
Anyway, I hope it doesn't sound like I'm too pro-JPS. I promise you I am not someone from the office trying to make excuses for the company. I'm just an outsider who's made my own observations over the years.