Episode 54 - Steve Pigott - P1

ANNC: This is The Producers, a podcast. The biggest names in audio production, station sound, radio imaging, branding, and voiceover. Interviews, tips, tricks, advice. To be a part of the show, visit RyanOnTheRadio.com. Now, The Producers with Ryan Dreen.

RYAN: Welcome to another Producers podcast. In the interest of brevity, sort of cut down these intros as much as I can, and really, A lot of the things I used to talk about, I've been doing this now for, is it more than 4 years? Yeah, almost 4 and a half years. It's pretty crazy. You know, I used to have lots of jibber jabber in the front. Here's what this product you can check out and I want to learn about this and blah, blah. Basically everything's on the website and I've noticed, you know, the traffic continues to increase. So I think the people who are wanting the content are finding it. So really anything you want to learn about, promos that people send me, new talent, submitted content, tutorials, tips, you know, new products, etc. All found on the website in the convenient blog format, which is this new thing I've just learned about. So anyway, you can go check that out. I will tell you upcoming on the podcast, and then we'll get to the interview. We have John Carter, a voice talent I highly respect. Oh, I respect everybody I interview, but John's work ethic, his skill set, you know, just his talent as a voiceover artist is, you know, someone definitely I look up to. I will talk to him in the near future as advertised previously, but coming up� Yeah. Coming up, I believe it will be the next episode, will be a guy I've been wanting to talk to for a while. We know each other digitally via email. Again, another voice talent I respect. If you watch TV, listen to the radio, or go on the internet, you've probably heard him. Anthony Mendez. He will most likely be the very next episode I post. And then of course, if you ever have suggestions, you can always submit them on my website. There's contact forms and email and all that. Otherwise, I was very excited to get about an hour of time with Steve Pygott. You may know him from Pure Tonic in the UK, maybe way back in his KISS days in London. Also the ex-CEO of Real World. Pretty, pretty major dude here. And he's actually� I didn't know how old he was. He's a bit younger than I thought. So he's definitely done a lot in his life and we will discuss it all. And that interview comes in 2 parts. Here is part one for you with Steve Pygott.

ANNC: The Producers.

RYAN: And here we go again. This one's a big episode for me, a guy I've wanted to have a chat with for a while, Steve Pygott. Hi Steve, how are you?

STEVE: Hey Ryan, I'm good. How are you?

RYAN: Now, I've been aware of you, you know, for years now, and you've had some pretty major gigs. And I'd say most people in the world of radio imaging and/or production and/or jingles and/or voiceover aware of who you are. But give me like the, the 6 or 7 word answer onto, you know, what, what you are. What would you say you do?

STEVE: I am a creative person. I� my background is in radio imaging. Over the years, I have built my career at various stations, various top market stations, predominantly in the UK. From there, I built a business, Pure Tonic, in the UK, which eventually was sold to Real World. And then now And now here I am about to start a new period in my life.

RYAN: And we will definitely take the steps along your journey as we, as we do this interview here. But would you say, you know, is your heart and soul on the creative side, you know, getting into a Pro Tools rig and, you know, just sinking your teeth into a piece of production or music, or maybe on the business side now? Are you more, you know, into that end of things?

STEVE: You know what, over the last 2 years I've really moved more into the business arena. And I would say 85% business, 15% creative, which is something that, you know, I don't regret, but I dearly miss. I miss the day-to-day working on Pro Tools. It's what I got into this industry for. It's what drives me. It's what makes me get up in the morning and gets really excited about it. But, you know, you never plan how life's going to pan out, and, you know, my career has just moved more into the business side over the last 5, 6 years. Yeah.

RYAN: Yeah, so you already brought up a couple of the big ones. Again, for anyone who isn't aware, you were the CEO and co-owner of Real World most recently, but also, like you mentioned, you founded� you started Pure Tonic, which became just a great creative company. And you were the� were you basically the owner of that? Did you have co-owners? I honestly can't remember.

STEVE: No, I was the owner. Basically, me and my wife started the company in 2005.

RYAN: And so president and owner of Pure Tonic, which a lot of people have heard of. Before that, you know, in fact, why don't we just go all the way back? What was the, the job that got you going in this business where you decided, oh well, I guess I'm not turning back?

STEVE: You know, bizarrely enough, I started radio imaging before I actually knew exactly what it was and knew that there's a career in it. I used to record football play-by-play commentary, or soccer as you guys call it, right? And basically I would, I would record these, these commentary and I would I would cut it up, I would mess with it, I would add music to it, and basically making what I would then learn to be promos. So I started doing that, and then at 16, while I was still at high school, I worked as an intern at a station called Hallam FM in Sheffield. I worked Saturdays earning £10 a week, which is around $15 for a 10-hour shift. So it wasn't very lucrative at all, but it was kind of foot in the door. And then once I was in there, they really couldn't get rid of me. I pretty much learned everything there was to know about radio broadcasting in the space of 2 to 3 months. And the staff there were really amazing to allow a 16-year-old to just wander around the station and in the studios and play with that expensive equipment was really great. And it's something that, you know, I'll never forget. And I'm really thankful for them for.

RYAN: Is that where you're from? Like, were you born and raised there?

STEVE: Yeah, so Hallam FM is in Sheffield, which is in the north of England. And that's where I was born and raised. So I, as I say, I started there at school as an intern, and then a full-time position came up there in the commercial production department, and the role was actually specific for university graduates. It was a scheme that was put in place by EMAP at the time to give students out of college the first gig in radio. Obviously, I wasn't at college, I was in high school, but somehow beat the system and got the job without the 3 to 4 years of college.

RYAN: And, uh, you know, real quick, do you have any regrets about not going to college, or did you eventually go to college, or are you perfectly fine with not having gone to college?

STEVE: I didn't, and I was perfectly fine with it because, I mean, I wanted to do this after college anyway. So it was like, why waste 3 to 4 years in college and then maybe not have that opportunity after it anyway?

RYAN: Yeah. So again, yours is a great story because you're� I've, I've talked about on this podcast multiple times, there's basically 2 kinds of people. You start kind of out of the womb, or you do something else for a while, and it might be college, and it might be music or whatever, and then you get into radio later. You're obviously one of these ones that started early and stayed with it. Talk about your, your next move, or maybe even, you know, kind of how much stuff was there in between that and then when you ended up at KISS 100?

STEVE: Okay, so basically working in the commercial production department, it was amazing being part of a large market station out the gate, and I love being part of that team, but I really didn't enjoy producing commercials and I really just took that job because it was a foot in the door. You know, my goal was to be part of the imaging team. So I really, really spent time working on imaging in my spare time and I got to the point where I could knock out commercials in like 10 minutes. So I would do that and then switch gears and concentrate on the imaging. And at the time, a guy called Matt Lomax, not sure if you're familiar with him, he was the imaging guy at the station. We actually formed quite a strong friendship that still lasts today. In fact, he was� he actually ended up being the best man at my wedding a few years back.

RYAN: Cool.

STEVE: So then in 2001, Matt got his big break and he was hired at KISS in London, which was owned by the same company as Hallam. And the program director at Hallam at the time was a guy called Anthony Gay, who bizarrely I ended up hiring at Real World as a European director last year. And Ant really seemed to like me for some reason. He liked my work, he liked my work ethic, and so I moved up the ranks and became the imaging guy at Hallam. From there, things really started to take off. I was given free rein over the station sound and really started making a name for myself in the industry. Bagged a bunch of awards for my work and caught the attention of a guy called Andy Roberts, who was the program director at Kiss in London and the person who hired Matt Lomax as well. So then from there, 2 years later in 2003, I was actually hired by Andy. Left home, I was still living with my parents at the time. First move was to the capital of the UK, London, and that really would become the making of my career.

RYAN: And did you have to steal your friend's job to get that, or how did that play out?

STEVE: No, so they decided that they needed an HD imaging guy, so they brought me on board and we worked there as a team. And Matt and I created a pretty awesome partnership there that landed us a bunch of Sony Awards, which are a huge deal in the UK. And plus in the UK, plus in London, you're exposed to like the best talent in the country, anyone from programmers, presenters, to producers. So my work got picked up by a bunch of industry magazines, peers started hearing stuff, I started doing interviews, university lectures, and really pushed me into that, what you would probably call the celebrity imaging producer arena.

RYAN: Yeah, absolutely. So I'm curious, it seems like this is moving relatively fast. I mean, how young are you when you go to London?

STEVE: So I went to London at 21.

RYAN: Yeah, I was okay, 21. I mean, how many people� first of all, you already had 5 years or so under your belt, but you know, how many people get that type of a, of a gig that young, right? I mean, that doesn't happen often.

STEVE: Absolutely, yeah. And you know, I really made a point of, of blowing my own trumpet, so to speak. It's like when I created something I was proud of, really putting it out there and sending it to people and, and getting the recognition for what I was doing.

RYAN: Yeah, tell me, tell me some more about why, you know, obviously you're talented, you know, everybody knows that, but, but, you know, there's a lot of talented people. So what else did you do to really set yourself apart and to get seen? I mean, and it's also the people you know, I realize that, but what are some other strategies you employed to get that major gig at such a young age and then be so successful?

STEVE: I think a lot of it, you know, is down to, to Kiss 100 in London, the fact that it really is a unique station. It's a youth brand that focuses on dance music and hip-hop and everything everything really that shapes popular culture. I mean, the station gained huge industry recognition for its innovation, both in programming and more importantly, imaging. There was a huge emphasis on imaging, and it was a place where people were looking to for inspiration around the world. So you were getting people in the US, people in Europe, everywhere in the world basically was listening to KISS and listening to what it's all about and then finding out who's behind it. And that's how it kind of gained the recognition for that.

RYAN: And Kiss 100, um, was it essentially a direct competitor with Radio 1 at the time, or was there some major changes since then that have�

STEVE: So Radio 1 is, is a national station in the UK, so you can hear it everywhere in, in the UK, whereas Kiss was at the time just based in London. So in London, Kiss was the more popular station because it was the local choice.

RYAN: Local, yeah. Do you think, um, the fact that KISS 100 eventually becomes more of a national brand, correct? It definitely expands to more than just London, right?

STEVE: Correct, correct.

RYAN: I guess I understand it that over time, this sort of the KISS 100 brand or that station just decreased in its prominence against Radio 1. Radio 1 has by far become sort of the pop station, and I'm just wondering how important or how powerful that local angle was or how negative losing the local angle was?

STEVE: Well, KISS really developed a brand. Um, it was developing more than just a radio station. Um, I mean, the programming on there was very different. I mean, it had a lot of specialist programming. You would have high-profile DJs on there at night, um, these superstar DJs that would play in the clubs, and then they would do a show on the radio. So it really gained recognition as a brand, and it would release CDs, it would release, you know, merchandise. And KISS really became a voice for the dance and popular culture in London. And, um, so it really got to a point where, you know, it's competing with Radio 1. Radio 1's got this huge exposure across the UK. People outside of London had heard of Kiss, but they hadn't heard the radio station. So that brand needed to expand. Um, and then, uh, there was the opportunity for Kiss to buy, um, 2 other stations in the UK, which were placed one in the east of England and the other one in the west. And combining all those 3 made it almost a national brand.

RYAN: And yeah, I don't want to� I didn't want to stay too much on this. I probably have already spent too much time. But in your opinion, since you have left KISS 100, what has the station done since then?

STEVE: I mean, the station has gone through A lot of transition. It's really done a 360 since I left. I mean, when I left the company, it was at a time when there was a huge transition. There was a change in management. There was a change in direction where they decided that they wanted to be more hip-hop to�

RYAN: Yeah.

STEVE: Compete with a station in London called Choice FM, which over the years has proved to be a bad decision. They've actually gone back to their roots as a dance station. So yeah, it's gone a full 360, but now it's back to its roots of what it is. And it really is unique in the fact that what you hear on there, you don't hear on other radio stations. Like, you hear remixes or mashups or, you know, stuff that you can't go and download from iTunes. And that's what makes it really different.

RYAN: And just real quick, because I don't get to talk to a lot of professional, you know, UK radio folk, but the commercial radio versus non-commercial radio, you know, I mean, can commercial stations really compete, or is the audience over there just, just into the fact that, you know, the BBC doesn't have commercials?

STEVE: Uh, that's, that's a huge win, obviously, for the BBC, is the fact that it doesn't have commercials. Um, but where it does lose is the locality. I mean, what you're hearing on there is, uh, like generic stuff. It's� they can't pinpoint any point of the UK. I mean, obviously it's a small country, but things like news, for example. I mean, if you're in Leeds in the north of England, you're hearing news bulletins that, you know, contain stuff that's happening in Bristol or Cornwall or something like that. You're not getting local locality. And, you know, people really need that local aspect.

RYAN: And okay, it's always good to get opinions on that. Obviously, in the States, it's a major debate� well, not even a debate, it's just what's been happening. localization has been decreasing and the national companies are just making their generic formats and programming across the nation. But�

STEVE: Sure.

RYAN: And maybe we can get into that later. I did want to take a step back a little bit before you move on into the even bigger things of your career. At this point, you already mentioned Mr. Lomax, Mr. Roberts. Who else influenced you in your job and maybe more on the creative side? who influenced you to become the producer and the creative guy that you are?

STEVE: You know, that's a tough one, and that's something that I'm always asked. And I've always intentionally done my own thing, created my own style, which I believe has really enabled me to gain the reputation that I have. I've purposely never tried to emulate any one person. But if I did need to say what my influences were, I think in the early days, as I mentioned, Anthony Gay, who hired me at Hallam, He taught me a lot about the foundations of radio imaging. His roots was an imaging producer, and he got me into creative thinking and making sure everything was technically sound, from EQ to levels to making sure everything is trimmed to perfection. And then Matt Lomax, as I discussed, hearing what he was doing at Hallam at the time when I was an intern, that was really inspiring. He came from what was Galaxy at the time, which is now Capital. Yeah. Which was another dance popular culture brand, and he really had a unique approach and a different style of imaging. But I think the first person to really impress me was probably Eric Chase, and I was exposed to Eric through his work as a subscriber to Chase Cuts. I subscribed to Chase Cuts when I was at KISS, and hearing his stuff really inspired me to try new techniques.

RYAN: And let me, let me bring this up, and you can tell me if I'm just wrong or if it's something that you agree with, but sometimes it's not so much the people that you look up to. I mean, you look up to Eric Chase. I mean, almost everybody does. But it's, it's also sometimes that you listen to others, and then you make sure you're not doing that. Is that, is that something you've ever thought about?

STEVE: Yeah, exactly. And it's, it's good to hear how different people approach different things. So you hear one thing, you go, right, That sounds cool, but how can I do it in my own unique style?

RYAN: And let me ask you this real fast because I'm just curious. Have you ever actually had to� because you're, you know, you're a lot younger than maybe even some people would think� have you ever had to actually cut tape, or have you been 100% digital in your career?

STEVE: 100% digital. However, when I started on the sports program when I was back at Hallam, we did record on tape, but there was no splicing involved. So no, all my editing's always been on digital.

RYAN: That's cool. Uh, yeah, we'll get into the technical stuff in a little bit. So Pure Tonic, man, let's talk about that. Did you start that, uh, while at KISS, you know, as a side project, or how did that come about exactly?

STEVE: Um, so 2005, um, as I mentioned, came back� came off the back of a huge year at the station. Um, I really thought I was at a point where I'd done everything I could at the station. Um, and as I said, it was going through a transition that, you know, wasn't exciting me. So I decided to take the plunge and go solo. I've only really stayed somewhere if it really excites me. If I'm not waking up each morning and looking forward to going to work, then, you know, it's time for a change.

RYAN: Right.

STEVE: And right at that time as well, I just met my girlfriend Suzanne, who is now my wife, and she was also in a point of her life when she was wanting a big change in career. So, you know, we decided to quit our jobs and start Pure Tonic. And initially, it was just meant to be like a small company to accommodate freelance projects. So after I quit KISS, we actually� Suzanne and I, we actually moved to southern Spain, and I began picking up freelance work here and there, channeling it through Pure Tonic. And fortunately, that proved to be really successful, and pretty soon there was more work coming in than I could cope with, so there was a need to start expanding and building what Pure Tonic has become.