The Gene Berkenbile Website

     When I started my journey into the musical/sound industry, I had no idea that it would take me to the places that I have been throughout the last 38+ years. I knew that it was a vast industry that was always changing with each passing day and to keep up with it, I would definitely have to be "on my toes", so to speak. I first started playing guitar when I was 9 years old then took to the drums which I am sure drove my Mom & Dad through the roof!...It all started one day at a friends house when we all sat down at different times at his brother's drum kit and tried to play to various songs on what is now concidered collector's items....RECORDS!! When it was my turn to play, it was like I had been playing for years. Within the next six months, I talked my parents into buying a drumset for me to practice on. The first band that I ever played live with was in 1972 & my parents had to take me to the shows due to me not having a drivers license. I played in several local bands ranging from country, new wave, hard rock & top 40. It was quite an adventure and I had loads of fun doing it. I continued to play for over 15 years & sometimes in between playing in bands, I would spend my time reading about sound reinforcement. The reason for this was the fact that although the bands I was playing in had PA gear, it was hard to find someone who could mix the band & make them sound good. Also, the industry was heading for a big change & I knew that I needed to change with it! The realm of biamplification was coming full circle and that was a key ingredient for my turn towards sound reinforcement in general.

    By 1983, I had gone full time sound engineer, and had purchased a 16 channel mixer, some power amps, various pieces of processing gear, horns & drivers, 12" woofers, 15" woofers & built some cabinets to house them all in. Through the next several years, I kept updating the cabinets to make sure that what I had would do the job that I wanted. "There was allot of "crap" that I built but I was leaning & getting better at it!" I ended up with a small but quite powerful system and was doing sound production for area church functions and local bands...................and in 1986 I took my skills and ideas to L.A. where I worked with numerous local and national bands. I also worked as a production assistant on numerous music video productions....Ratt, Cinderella, Phil Collins, Poison, Huey Lewis & the News, and K.K.Wilde just to mention a few, through a music video production company located in the Studio City, California area.

     In 1992, I unfortunately became a diabetic, had lost a considerable amount of weight & my health had become a major issue. I moved back to K.C. Missouri & spent over a year getting my health back to the best it could be for the situation.

In 1993, I moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C. area to work as house technician for "Southern Country Nights", a local country show in Surfside Beach, S.C. Although that show closed it's doors a year or so later, I still focused on live shows with local bands and found myself mixing as house technician at a local club where all the local bands would play every week. As if that wasn't enough, I started subcontracting for area contractors where I was involved with such projects as : The Ronnie Milsap Theater, The Palace, Broadway at the Beach, The Louise Mandrell Theater(Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), and numerous sound systems for churches, miniature golf courses, home stereo installations and let's not forget the all mighty "Hard Rock Cafe" of Myrtle Beach, S.C.