Gerry and Lars and Mikkel Brogaard discuss groove

Gerry’s guests for this episode are the brothers, Lars and Mikkel Brogaard. Lars and Mikkel are not musicians in the traditional sense, but they have made incredible contributions to music through sound, amplification, design, and unparalleled technical innovations. You may not know their names, but if you have been to live concerts of icons like Ed Sheeran, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Robbie Williams or Prince, then you know their groove!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hey everyone, joy brought here on the Proved Live Podcast. Today is guests The Bro Guard Butters. They're not musicians. But that's toy. And some people make the music possible. From an early age, these Danish brothers found out that although they're not musicians, they would draw into the music. And through that, they discovered that sound itself can be an instrument and that the people behind the most important speakers can change the way the world experiences high performances. So without further ado, I get to you last Micko ProCard on the quote.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

The Broguard is the one and notice, yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Man, man, man. Boy, this is the BB and B show. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Yeah, yeah. Brown, brogar, broguard.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yeah, man. No. Brogar, broguard, and brown.

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Yeah, like dosh it, dosh it, on the dossier, and all DB.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yes, exactly, exactly. Man, gentlemen, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 2:08

We're doing very well. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

I'm doing fine, man. How was the how was the how was the drive from France?

SPEAKER_02 2:16

It was it was actually for the first time really easy, you know. Miguel and I would drive back and forth normally by ourselves. But you know what happens is you get worn out, but we took turns, so it was great. Stopped there in Switzerland, stopped in Germany, took our time, and it was no traffic gems. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Great, great. Well, that's that's good before you know the vacation.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Yeah, because you don't want to drive there, you just want to hide. You know, when the European vacation season starts, you hide.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

So and and and uh which uh automobile were you driving were you driving?

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Oh, in a very old uh horse can. Yeah, life's rough.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

That's that's still a badass car, man.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

It is a badass car, just beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Great, great, great. It's great having you here. This is this is beyond perfect. So I want to ask, I want to ask you.

SPEAKER_02 3:30

We have a guest artist performing here today as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Oh, Vera.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

That's Miss Vera, and this is because of Miss Vera we are in Denmark today.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

Miss Vera. Oh wonderful, thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

So well, you know Miss Vera from uh your time in a uh uh at Alstead House in England.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yeah, yes, I do. Yes, I do. And um I don't I don't know how how I I know I'm gonna be back in Brighton. I don't know if you're gonna be there, but anyway, I'll be close by. Yeah, you know, with with DR.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

I I think is that is that part of this thing? I hope not, because you know this should everything should be a positive in life, really.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

So yes. Well anyway, she's I I will say that she's very happy.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

Good. I will say that she was very happy.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

She's she's very happy, and uh she's you know, she has uh Rhonda out uh out helping her, and that that helps, you know.

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Well, I mean what what we what we did last summer, I mean, when Rhonda was there and when I was there and everything, I I I I enjoyed it. But I think she did some great performances, so you you can't knock it. But so it's all about everybody's you know, comfort zone in the end of the day, and and and some people, you know, that's been around for a long time have all that all those insecurities, you know. So something that feels homely and and and and and known, and you you really you relax more and everything becomes better, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

And that has all to do with the the people, you know, well, for the most part, the people that she has around that she can uh she can really trust, and she knows what's uh what she's gonna get, and she doesn't have to worry about that like uh a what if uh you know, those situations. So anyway, I'm so happy to have you here, you know, both here on the podcast. So I want to ask you, you know, since you're both here, I mean this is this is great site. Okay, so what kind of kids were you both? Like what what was was there how did music come in to your world? And when did and when and when did that happen?

SPEAKER_02 6:16

When you were younger or was it so I was born in 1955 and maybe in 1957. And we you know we grew up in Denmark and our parents I don't think there were really a lot of music in our family to my mom, yeah, my well uh our dad was very much into all the American folk music, you know, Pete Seeger and John Bayers was Woody Guthrie, or like all that. Uh our mum was very much into African rhythm music because she was doing all these uh a modern type of gymnastics where you were dancing and and things and and and it was quite a new thing in in schools in Denmark at that time. Uh and that all that came, you know, can you remember Miriam MacKeeba?

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

That was she was a big hero for my mom, and so so yeah, there were music in the houses, but but not the type of music. I take a step back from that because when we grew up, my par our parents had no money. So we did we had a radio, maybe, you know, and we didn't have a turntable, we did not have a regular, but they came later on so around the time when I was maybe six or seven years old, you know, it's the first time you know we actually had a turn, and that's when my dad he started, uh my dad. It's a common thing with with with with with Mikkel and I actually says, your dad, and I says, my dad, but it's the same dad, you know. It's just it's some some some wordplay we would have forever. But our dad, you know, versus my dad and mickel's dad. He we got a piano turntable, and that's when he started buying up this American folk music. But and and but what he really had a lot of was also uh Scotty's backpacking. No, that no, no. He no, what he really had was this when I think we need we might have this on because uh like uh African-American prisoners uh singing songs in prison, like just you know, just them singing, performing the that kind of type of blues song. Yeah, but he was really into that a lot, you know, and uh and and so in a lot of ways, you know, we were kind of behind with a lot of stuff because everyone else was listening to the Beatles and the Kinks and the Rolling Stones. And Mill and I were not allowed to listen to that kind of stuff because they had long hair, so you know, so we had to listen to Pete Seeger, John Baez, and that kind of stuff. It was kind of you know uh like chain gang uh uh singing, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah, but but but yeah, but that's where RB and the blues came from, which is ironic. That's what you know the the Rolling Stones and all, you know, that's what they were that's what they were listening to, absolutely that's what they were listening to. So if your parents said, Well, you can't listen to that, but you listen to the other thing, it's like okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah, oh oh we could for our mom. Our mom was very open-minded with all that completely. Yeah, well, also letting us have long hair was okay by our mum. Not by our dad, but so he she won and we had long hair very early on when you could have long hair. But the first, so our our dad went some well, he was an architect, so he went to some studying thing with his pupils in in England, and he brought back an album for each of us. And he brought back for Mikko, Cream, uh, right, was it's Mikel's first was Disraeli Wheels. And for me was Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

I mean, that's that that that's that's like winning the lottery twice.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

So that's what that was the first two LPs we had, you know, Jimi Hendrix and Cream. So that that's where it all came.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

You came right, you came right in. It's like yeah. Oh here, well, here you go. Boom.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and then it went from there. And I was actually, you know, Megel and I have been I was analyzing it today for some reason, but Megel's music taste when we were young was very different to mine. And uh Megel was really listening much more to American music, uh uh whatever it would be, you know, he was really into the the like the birds and the Utah who you went to and not well the bird, armas and papas, uh the band, uh all that. Uh Linda Runster was also Linda Runster. I love Linda Runster, yeah. It was the Nazi light more the heavy, heavy metal type stuff coming out of England. Like Led Zeppelin, you know, uh but uh no, but also not necessarily like 10cc, you know, I was you know, I was so my thing was much. I think I was a bit of a wick when it came because I was I I loved the Beatles. I mean, uh to this day, I love the Beatles, you know. I was not I didn't love the Rolling Stones, I loved the Beatles, you know. I think that they were just fantastic, you know. So but we all loved a lot was of course a lot of you know uh oldest reading, sitting on the top of the bay. I remember as a kid when he when, because that was really we didn't have uh money for albums or what else, listening to radio when when he died, you know, and I mean, you know, and I was the radio kept playing, you know, sitting on the top of the bay, oldest reading, you know. So yeah. So we would go down to the record store in our breaks at school, pretend we would buy an album, then you could you could listen to it in a room, and we would sit in there for about 15 minutes listening to music. Two hours is now and I wasn't really us, and then walk away. But the the record store had like two rooms, but they also had headphones, which were like two headphones you would do like this with. So you go down there with one of the girls from school, and you had one, and the girl had the other one. So you whatever stereo was, they had to go through two heads, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Well uh and you know that you said, and I'm sure they were great uh when you said you got that first turntable, a B and O.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

It's like uh that's well, it had to be B and O because our dad was an architect, so it could only be B and O. It had to look good, didn't matter what it sounded like, it had to look good.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yeah, but but but but but that's a high level, man. That's wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

No, no, not that not the turntable we had, you know. That was just like it was a B and O, but it was not a high end. It looked good. Yeah, it looked good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:53

But it looked good. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

So I think we my uh our our dad passed away not so many years ago, and and that turn that original same turntable, I think, was still in the house. So this is like sixty years later was still it was still no it was still spinning, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Does does BNO know that you have have one of those models?

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

They do. I mean, I I would think that you know that could be a museum piece, you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah. You could you come down my cell my cell and you'll see machine pieces of computers from the very first like computer IBM that was a fold out thing, the very first Apple, you know, that was ever made, that was like a laptop. I have everything of them stacked up down there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yeah, great, great, great. So so your parents were they were facilitating what you were what was coming in. So when did you start to see that it's you know, this is getting beyond getting beyond listening to to the music, but but actually starting to feel something that you know there there may be something here.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

No, really, really early on. I mean, I think we both love music so much, we we had to be part of it. And we had a friend of ours that uh living three houses down from where we were that we were really great friends with his name was Yepe. He was a drummer. He said, like, you know, you are the greatest drummer I ever worked, but Ye would have been excited. This guy was he no, seriously, he was he was very good. He was he was insane. He was he played with everybody in Denmark, but you know, he got into trouble with drugs, and unfortunately, he passed away at 33 or 34 years old. But he but we he I think he was only 13 years old when he he had a band with his big brother, and they there was a big amusement park not far from he was eight years old. He must have been more and they they they got a gig playing in this big dance hall there, uh made the news as well. This little kid was sitting up playing drums every Saturday and uh Friday and Saturday night. So so but also we went to a school which was very musical, and there was a lot of musicians coming out of there. The guy who teach was teaching music there was a very influential in the Danish uh jazz scene at the time. Apart from being a teacher at the school, uh he was he was involved with all the great jazz people coming to Denmark at that time because everybody was playing there uh in the 50s and and and early 60s. So so we had music from all our friends at school as well.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

So it was so music was coming from all sides. You had it at home, you go into school, you get boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Uh did I I told you the story before, but it might be good. I'll tell us that it so our friend Yeah is the uh we we would go to his house for lunch on a Saturday. Often he would come to my parents' house for Saturday. But so this one Saturday we're going to have lunch at his parents' house. Because Yeah's mother's brother, his uncle, he used to date El Fitzgerald. But way back in the day, right? So his parents had a call from the guy who was like the manager of El Fitzgerald because he was in town with Count Basie. Count Basie was playing on the lawn in Tivoli where you played last year with Donna Ross, right? So they invited Count Basie and his manager out for lunch at their house that David and Michael and I are there as well. So they put on this big spread, you know, of small good sport with like patties, herrings, whatever you have on open service, and you know, and and Count Basie is in there, and then he says, So, Count, uh what would you like? Because he's not eating anything. And he and Count Basie he goes, unlike what them boys over there having, we were eating hot dogs. He wasn't gonna have all that fancy stuff there. So Count Basie, he's in our friend Yeber's house, three houses down from our parents' house, eating hot dogs with Yebba, Mikkel, and I. You know, you couldn't you can't make it up today. That is like, and then that evening we went, we're invited into Tivoli Gardens and we're up backstage. Where we were with you backstage at you know at Tivoli Gardens, with count basses in this band, you know, they were there with the trumpets, whatever, warming up to go out and play on the lawn.

unknown 19:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

So so you're you're you're in in that world.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Yeah, no. Oh, well, we're in the world of music in Denmark then from an early age, and there was a wonderful club you might have played, Montmartre in Copenhagen. Yeah, we talked about it last time you were here. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, so we we would normally go in, we'll go out on the town on the front. Now we quite often start off by going to Montmartre first, and you have you pay like five krona, which is like not even a dollar, right? To get in. Five dollars, five krona, not even a dollar for a beer, whatever it is, and you have Ben Webster, because he was the Ben Webster playing. So you sit there, you listen to Ben Webster, you know, there's room for maybe a hundred people in there. And when the session's over, then you go out and hit some other places. You know, 20 Copenhagen is 24 hours, but so music, music, music all the time in Copenhagen in them days. You know, all our maybe and I didn't play, but we're always around, and we'll be the guys slipping around equipment, helping out whatever else. But all it's our friends that could really play, we'll be part of that scene, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

So you you were getting connected. I mean, you know, yes, you know, listening to the music, but you were behind the scenes, basically. That nobody, you know, very few people know about that. Yeah, so so for you you're just you're just enjoying uh being in this in this uh in this this area. And and uh yeah, yeah. So yeah, sorry about the police. It's not me. It's not me, man.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

But they'll come and get us all when too, don't we worry about it. But hey, there's you know, I was I don't know if I think I told you the other day I was I was doing an interview for for for my company, you know. And it was on because I wanted to put to put something on social media, whatever else, you know. The question was, you know, so why did you choose to be in the music business? And and my answer was music. Music is one of the most incredible things in this world, how you make sense smooths. How you make your, you know, and binding people together, you know, happiness, sorrow, whatever. Music is a language that is universal to anybody, you know. And it does, and there's there's no speed spoken words. It is just an incredible thing to be part of. And what I said to my daughter who works for me, and said to, you know, and I said, being part of it is just fantastic. Music is fantastic, but being really part of it says, where's the best place to see a concert? She said, at front of the house, yes. When you sit at front of the house, and you're you are you are in the you are part of the music. You can't get any closer other than being on stage and being in front of the house with music. Or sit up behind you, Jerry, and see you swirl stick.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Yeah, yeah, that's that's a different view, but then you it's kind of like I'm I'm I mean, everybody is important, but you know, from my position, it's like you you're driving. You're driving everything that's you know that's happening, you know. You look in here, you look in there.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

One cannot do without the all the end of the day, you know. But it, you know, the chicken and the egg, you know, but it it's it's amused that you guys have to be the first, and then we can do our very best to enhance that. That's what we can do. But talking about what Megan says, sitting behind you swirling sticks, which is wonderful, uh, remind you again of that time when we were doing that with auditioning musicians in New York, and you and we had Ron Jenkins come down to do the stuff with Donald Ross, and you and him, you found the groove. Right. And I was sitting at the front of the house. I left front of the house, and I sat on the stool between you and Ron, you know, just to feel this. I was I wanted to be as close as possible, and it was insane. I mean, it was you know, it did, you know, you know, you you're in a vacuum, you know, and and when you can be part of that is incredible. Nobody, you know, uh people love whatever art she's there is that they listen to music, you know, most of it is not so good, but um, but being being that you know when it really when it when it's when it's like that is insane. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

So all this is happening in Denmark, so who was who was first between you that decided we need to, okay, we're doing all this, but we may need to get to America. Or or who made that who made that decision?

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Last it. I did. I was not it was not part of my plan at all. He wanted it, I accidentally ended that. What happened was I, you know, as I I we went to school with these really talented kids, right? He just didn't I wasn't talented to play. So I mean, I could probably have bullshit my way through, which I've done with most of the things in my life, you know. But I I wanted to have a rental company of of sound, which is I had figured out all these international bands that came to Denmark. They didn't own any of any of this stuff. I thought I would have myself a little rental business in Denmark. So I would go to England and learn how to do that. And Megel, for some reason, had found this company in England that, you know, that provided sound and lights for. So I sent them a letter saying, uh I'd like to get a job with them. Uh will they give me a job? And I they were very polite because you know, there's no, there's no, there's no computers, there's no internet, there's no, you know, fax machines, there's no nothing. So you send letters, right? Very politely. They actually sent a letter back saying they were not in a position to take any new staff on. So uh I wanted to do this. I sent another letter, you know. Uh, you know, I understand you don't have any time to put in and take any new staff on what else, but I'm coming anyway. So I just moved to England, went down and knocked on the door, and uh they took me up to the top floor to where they managed to call Brian Croft, was a wonderful, wonderful man. And he said he was the original production man there for Rolling Stones. Yes, yes ago, yeah, for a long time. Yeah. Uh and he came from the Royal Shakespeare uh company. Uh and he told me I said, Well, if you're that persistent, we better give you a job. This was on a Friday. So I started on a Monday, you know, and I it cost me money to go to work every day because I just wanted to learn. And I was always going to be there for three months, and I'll go back to Denmark with all my knowledge and start my own company. I never made it back, and I'm still learning every single day, you know. So, yeah. So that's how I started. And then so I was working in in England for uh a couple of years, and Megel came over and started working there as well. He got a job with uh Rod Stewart really, very early on uh and toured with him for a very long time, before I toured with Rod Stewart. And then I I ended up with I was working with ARPA, I was mixing the monitors for APA in in 1979, and then went to Japan with them in 1980, and after that tour in 1980, the the equipment from that company we were working for came out of California, and I've been in California for months prepping it to send it to Japan. I then stayed in California and got a job with the American uh side of that company we started with, and then Makel came out and we all lived together in California for a while. Well, I stayed there for a lot longer than Makel did. Yeah, I got I was there, but then I got offered to work with Rolling Stones that brought me back to Europe and uh just stayed there. I actually enjoyed Europe more than America. Lars enjoyed America, you know.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

No, I loved America because I met Jerry Brown, you know, 19, you know uh yeah, that you know, uh if people don't know, yeah, Lars and I have known each other since 1983. Yeah. And um what was what was uh uh uh interesting about that, and I I don't know if you know the story, but uh just make it brief. So uh I uh I was uh in eighty two and eighty one, I was living in uh like Hamburg and I was working with uh N D R and I was doing a lot of uh music projects like that. So uh I uh come home in maybe the the the the begin maybe in June of of nineteen eighty uh eighty three and there was a gentleman uh uh Wilbert Tyrrell who was uh I had met him with the brothers Johnson. I believe with them. So he evidently he didn't have my he didn't have my phone number, but he had my my parents' phone number. So I'm I don't know this, but I'm I'm coming home from from Germany. Uh so this is probably in you know in June. And uh so my parents picked me up at the airport, and my mom says, Oh, by the way, uh this gentleman Wilbert Terrell called and he left. You know, we spoke and he said he wants would you please give Jared a message to call him? I said, Oh wow, you know, Wilbert Terrell. So we get home, I call him. Wilbert, how are you? He says, Hey, hey, um listen, I'm sure you've heard that uh Lionel Richie left the Commodore. So I said, Yeah, I heard about that. He says Lionel's he's gonna start a band. Oh would you be interested? Yeah. Could you come out for an audition to California? Yeah. Can you come out tomorrow? I can make that happen. He says, Okay, Joe, listen, this is serious. I believe that you can get this gig. So I'm gonna get you a one-way ticket. Went out the next day, three auditions later, ten days later. I had the gig.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

That was great. But I think he just to put into perspective who Wilbur Torrell, is he still alive? Is he still with us?

SPEAKER_00 32:06

No, he's he's not with us anymore.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

No, no, so Wilbur was married to Tammy Torrell. Yes, a big, big, big, big star on on Motown Records. And he was a big part of Motown Records, Wilbur was, yeah. And he was a lovely man, yeah. He was so smooth and charming you couldn't make it up. He was something else, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

He was boy, talk about smooth and charming, yeah. You know, so and um it was uh very yeah, there I didn't know I didn't know it at the time, but when they were doing the We Are the World thing, uh at uh um Herb Albert uh A M studios. Yeah, and so this is in '85 uh and uh I played on the the American Music Awards uh in eighty-five. And then after that, went to the stu went to the studio. I was invited there, and that's when you know Diana, Stevie, all these people, you know, who are the world. So now to see the that video, and then near the end of the video, there are a couple images, and there is Wilber Turo.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

It's a real hard to go look back and look at it.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

It's maybe in the last five minutes or so, and you'll see him walking around and stuff. It's like, wow. So, anyway, it's like who's the who's this Danish guy who's doing the front of the house? Oh, oh, well, that's uh Lars Bogart and stuff. And here we are 43 years later.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

Yeah, and that tour just blew up to be the biggest tour in America that year. And the album was the biggest album in the world. I think we sold uh he Lionel, he didn't say Lionel sold 18 million at the time, and it was only knocked off when Michael Jackson came with off the wall a little until that point, it was the biggest selling album of all time, you know. So yeah, that was it was it was special to be part of that. That was great.

SPEAKER_00 34:19

It was great to be a part of that.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

So and and the musicians you had in that band. I mean, you had some serious, I mean great feeling gains, you know, on keyboards, you know.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

Uh I know, and Carlos Rios and you know, and uh uh Sheila.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

On the precaution, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Before before Prince grabbed her.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

No, hey, she came. No, she was already no, she came off tour with at that time, but I think she already been involved with Prince, but she came off tour with uh uh the world, oh my god, come on, now let's get it together. Um she heard through the grapevine, Marvin Gay. Marvin Gay, she was she came in late rehearsals because Marvin Gay was suspenseing at the his tour at the time, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

So and so Mikkel, you were in LA at the same time, yes?

SPEAKER_02 35:17

No, because before you joined uh Lion Ritchie, I toured with him and the Commodores in Europe.

unknown 35:26

Oh god.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

So before we left that, he'd already toured with me in Europe.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Yeah, see, I didn't you learn something every day. I didn't know I didn't know that. So uh I mean this is a legacy conversation, man. This is a legacy. I mean, I mean, you know, people don't know this. So you both you both you know, you you you are in this, you know, you you're in this business, and you have a business.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

We're in a business I think since childhood, you know. It's a way of life, you know, and this it in a way of life, you couldn't wish to be in anything better, you know. You know, you can go to the stock market and you can make billions, whatever. That that's not interesting. You can work in a factory making plastic pockets, not interesting. You can work in an assembly line making cars, not interesting. You are in a world of creativity, you know, and that is what is a great thing to be. And as I said earlier, it sets moods, it makes people feel things, and that's it makes you feel things, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

And every day is a different day. Yeah, things are never never the same. And when you uh being on tour and you come to a city, it's gonna be different. And you're actually bringing your own city into that city. Yeah, you're bringing your own world there, and and you do your show, and then and then guess what? That that world leaves.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

No, but I was saying uh my dear friend Dennis R for the world's greatest agent. He would also say it takes a village. We bring our village to the city every every day, right?

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Brings the village to the city, every every day, every wherever it is.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

Well, yeah, we make fields, we make stadiums, everything into theaters, you know, within days.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

It's incredible. So when did Digico and Major Tom, how did you know, so you you you're doing all these things. You've been you've been in business.

SPEAKER_02 38:08

I don't know if you remember, but you know, I went on and up and bought a bunch of of AKT 414s, really, where the greatest condenser mic kind of, you know, from normal people. I had them on every fucking sorry, take the F out. I had them on every every one of your drums. I mean, I think I bought eight of them, you know. You know, that's where I started the whole thing, but by buying microphones to have a better sound, you know, on Lionel. And that was with you. And then, you know, in 85, I was doing um, I got a chore to do Al Giro and with David Sandborn opening. I was doing a sound for both of them. And I'll uh the sound company that went that was doing it, I said to them, I like to have a Lexicon 224 XL and an AMS RMS 16 reverbs, two reverbs. And they said, Well, we don't have them, but if you buy them, we'll rent them off you. So they cost $8,000 each, and this is 1985, it's a lot of money, it's all the money I had. So I went out and bought these two units from a friend of mine who worked at Westlake Audio called Scott Esterson. And I rented them to the company, they paid me for them, they paid me $500 per unit per week. And the tour was 16 weeks until they were paid for. So now I had eight great microphones and I had two great uh uh reverbs, and every tour I did after that, I would put them on a tour and make money. And all the money I made from that, I would make buy more equipment. I kept buying a little bit more equipment, just not to make money off, but to make myself be better at what I did and get a better sound. And then I um kept doing that, and then in uh in 86, there really wasn't a great live console on the market. I designed a new console with some guys in London, and all the money I had earned off Rod Stewart in '86, I put into that project. Uh, this console, it was called Champion. We put on a big, you know, one of those trade shows, and Midas mixing consoles came and looked at it and they copied it. Well, what they didn't realize is there were some few hidden tricks, like in an ethio, your your armrest was all the assigned bodies, all that kind of stuff. So that there was a few faults in the in the Midas mixing console. And they went to me and they said, afterwards, would you take one of our consoles out? And you know, and I didn't have the money to support what I had started, to be honest with you. So I said, yes, but you need to give me a console. So they gave me a console, and they and I needed three of them, and I bought another two consoles of them for very little money. I rented out to the sound company to the tour I was doing. Now I had three consoles, right? And that's how it all started. So for years I just built up and built up, and then the same thing, you know, with the speakers, you know, about by speaks, uh, line array systems. I was the first one to person to embrace line array systems from L Acoustics. I put L I had an L acoustics out with Daniel Ross, Rod Stewart, Supertramp, you know, you know, beef, Eras Rama Sud in Italy, you know, so it really did big with that. But I was then invited because of my association with now to the next generation of MIDIS consoles, they asked me to design that. So it was called the XL4. I designed the XL4 with Midas. Later on, in 10 years later, from that, I was approached to see if I could make this digital console into a live console. It was a common called Soundtracks. And so I went to them, they gave me a we'll give you three hours after 15 minutes playing around with you know digital console layers or whatever else. Yeah, I can do this. So I took that on with uh with uh with soundtracks to make this console. Now, soundtracks owner all of a sudden did not want to be a part of it, he didn't want to finance it, whatever else. So I said, okay, I buy the prototype. I bought the prototype and and and built this prototype up and redesigned what was going to be the first Digico console together with a guy. My my front of the house table was got Titus Valandi. He did a lot of work on this as well. Anyway, I financed the whole project, got this thing up, and got up and going. And together with some other guys, we got investors in and we started, we bought soundtracks and renamed it Digico. And the first console that came out was a D5. And so I started my financing, my design, my concept, started Digico, and that's how Digico exists to this day. And Digico today is the world's biggest manufacturer of mixing console.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

It's incredible, man. Yeah, well, I mean I mean, you know two kids from Denmark.

SPEAKER_01 43:45

Yeah, well.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Well, I mean, you don't even know that Denmark is the center of the universe and it's the oldest country in the world.

SPEAKER_00 43:54

It is the happiest country on the planet. And it's and it's and it's been

SPEAKER_02 44:00

Way. For a very long time.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Yeah. For a very long time.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

And but we do we do some crazy stuff sometimes. And I said that we are, you know, a couple of boys from Denmark. And I, you know, when I was, I got the contract to do Michael Jackson the final This is it, or whatever. The last show he ever didn't do. 50 shows at the O2. And we're putting this show together, you know, in my barn in England. And I'm I mean, as the world's biggest artist gonna do 50 shows sold out at the 02. You know, in I got that, I got that from Randy Phillips when I was doing the Liner, the a line, a line, a Lionel Richard tour. Many, many, because I went back and did Lina a couple of times uh after you and I did it back in 83, 84, you know. So yeah. Uh so that that was um that was well, that's you kind of have to like what's going on here? What's going on? You squeeze, you know, you you pinch yourself, you know. You know, how did that happen? I did do the sound for this funeral though, but uh you did? Yeah, we didn't do it personally, but we provided the sound for it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

I mean uh there could be a documentary about you about you both. You know that.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Oh, that's what you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

We're working. We're we're we're we're there will be another conversation after we record this because I got I got some I I got something to I I I want to bring it to you.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

Okay, you'll do it.

SPEAKER_00 46:01

It's a concept, it's it's a concept, yeah. And I got it and I got a map. I got a map.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Okay, good. You got the roadmap, good. Because I told you, you know, we can tell you stuff, we can use you you too, but we can there's I mean it's an incredible journey, and there's some incredible stories to tell you, yeah. Like the one I told you about the Mongolay, right?

SPEAKER_00 46:25

Yes, um uh and it now was was was Mikkel there at uh the uh with the with the yeah was at the Mongol, yeah, at the stadium, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:36

When we're when we're held prisoners, you know, in in Italy. Yeah, Migla, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:44

So so so so Mikkel, you were were you in the stadium and couldn't? I was in the stadium.

SPEAKER_02 46:56

Okay, so just a little one of my it was one of my truck drivers that got hit with a steel bar across his head trying to drive a forklift when we were not allowed to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 47:10

He got hit in the head.

SPEAKER_02 47:12

Yeah, by the promoter took a took a this guy Chicho, he took a big old like a one and a half meter long fucking steel ledger for banging him in the head with it. Yeah, no, it was it was uh it wasn't too much fun, you know, but it was exciting. That was a thing, it's it's crazy. It's it is a serious business. You're held hostage by the Casanastra in in Car Mediterranean, just outside of Naples for like three days. So, ladies and gentlemen, whoever hears this, this shall we shall we I think this is to be continued because I think you can, you know, this is a this is a whole chapter on its own.

SPEAKER_00 47:56

Ladies and gentlemen, you'll just have to just hold tight. Just hold tight. We'll we have we have assets that we we we have we have a we have a lot of assets. I mean we have incredible assets. And I'll I'll I'll s anyway to be continued.

SPEAKER_02 48:27

All right, sounds good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

To be continued.

SPEAKER_02 48:31

So you know you better stop it now because it's gonna be too long.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

No, no, no. Well, hey, as as a matter of fact, you know, you know, you said this, and so I I I told Gary McDonald, I told Gary Mac. Yeah, I said, Gary, uh you know, I I I I want to have you on the on the podcast, but uh meaning today, I said Lars, Lars is gonna be on, and and maybe his brother Mikkel. I said, I don't I don't know. Mikkel's gonna be there, but I'm gonna be there with Lars. And and Gary's response was oh, really? Uh you may have you may end up having six episodes. Something like that. You know, the Broguard chronicles.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

Yeah. So well, I think Gary Mack and Mikle to Gill be great because they're kind of much tighter than Gary and I. I mean Gary is lovely, you know, but yeah. Gary came up here to make us where we are right now for for for lunch. Yeah, for barbecue. Yeah. Really?

SPEAKER_00 49:45

Yeah, he's yeah, I I I mean, you I mean, Michael, Lars, you guys are great, and then to me, Gary Mack, by the way, Gary Mack is a chef on many tours. As a matter of fact, Lars, isn't it you? And maybe Mikkel was was probably involved. I'm sure you both talked about this. That you both pretty much started like the the touring catering business.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

No, not no no no no not at all. No, it was actually the touring catering was started by two guys named they had a company called Bob and Squeak. And they're uh no, they were the first one, and then it all added on to there, but and it was when and it was it was okay. It was it was better than having to wait for some to bring the stuff around, but it then became much more sophisticated with a with a uh a girl called Debbie Sharp. She took the it to an with a Eat Your Hearts Out. She took it to another level, Debbie did. And she had real chefs, real, it was real good food. The stuff you get now when you have real good food, like where Gary is now working out there, you know. So there's lots of companies out there now doing it really, really good food, you know. But it but it was actually bobbling squeak with the two original guys. But I was the first one to bring European uh catering, because out of Britain, into the US. Because in the US, you there were no touring catering companies at the time. And it was uh all the venues had contracts with different uh concession catering companies to do the food, and it was terrible. It was terrible, terrible food. You come around, you know, Thanksgiving, you have turkey, you know, with cranberry sauce for a week, you know, that kind of stuff, you know. Vegetables that were spoiled out, you know, you know, it was white bread, you know, and margarine or whatever. You couldn't make it out how bad it was. So we'd I like to think we had a part of changing that to have good food first touring, and now lots of vendors actually have really good catering with outside catering from a catering company that cares.

SPEAKER_00 52:26

Well, you know, I I can't say you know, about what what was happening. Uh maybe I can, you know, just how one was feeling, and you may not have had good food, but I mean good food for musicians and and and for the crew and the truck, you know, if if you eat well, then you can do your job. Yeah, you know, it makes it makes a big difference, you know.

SPEAKER_02 52:55

If if the shoe if the food is is crap, it's like yeah, yeah, no, but that food is like music, it's a feel-good factor, isn't it? Make a cooked a wonderful dish tonight, you know, it feels good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:14

Did you eat you put on it?

SPEAKER_02 53:16

In the old days, all we we would get the only food we would get in Germany, like that was Wienerwald. Wienerwald, that was like some kind of fried chicken, rubber eagle, we would call it.

SPEAKER_00 53:31

Wienerwald, oh at the at at the at the at the uh at the truck stops. Yeah, you remember I remember I yes, I remember.

SPEAKER_02 53:40

I I I remember, I remember, I remember, but that wasn't so an awful lot of uh gulas soup and yeah, but gulas soup's nice, yeah. Vienna was horrible. I don't think it exists anymore. No, probably not, and then and and and the only salad you could get you could get was was what's it called the cucumber with some vinegar, very sour. Very sour cucumber salad. That was what you could hear.

SPEAKER_00 54:09

Yes, uh uh. Yeah, we we we've we've seen we've seen the the the bad times. We we we remember that. Uh the kids they have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 54:24

Well, we also had a good time at the same time. We I actually think, you know, a lot of ways, it was so much easier, so much less stressful. The food was not good at times, but you know what? The camaraderie and and the simplicity of it was so much better. It is so complex what we do sometimes now. The amount of people involved to put a show on, which we like, you know, we did not have we did not have the communication skills that we have nowadays with technology, you know, and we still manage to show up and do a show.

SPEAKER_00 54:56

I I I I was just gonna say they're they're like people have no idea of what it takes to build a show, absolutely and and and and to s and to sustain it. And and everything is a groove. You gotta be in a groove. The truck drivers gotta be in a groove, the musicians, the the production managers, the local crews. It's all about groove, it's all about their timing, and you have to be fed. You gotta be fed, you know.

SPEAKER_02 55:40

Well, an arm in matches on the stomach.

SPEAKER_00 55:49

No truer words.

SPEAKER_02 55:52

Look after that, you know. Your stomach needs to needs in your stomach needs it, you know, feeds the rest of it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 56:00

So if if there is if there are you know some gems that that you both know that that you could say to whoever's you know whoever's listening, and and whether they're a musician or into production or or things like that, you know, things that that you you know you have this experience and it's priceless. And nobody, nobody could put a you can't put a number on uh what you two have experienced, but you know, this is a lifetime, you know. So yeah, it's one thing to come come into it, you know, you know, maybe in twenties or thirties, but you've been living this since you were young lads.

SPEAKER_02 56:59

So have you if you think between the three of us, we have been in the music for 150 years. Well, we don't want to think about it. That's a lot of things. No, we don't want to think 150 years between the three of us, plus probably, yeah. That's a lot of it. Yeah, more than more than a lot of them. More like 200. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:30

Well, ladies and gentlemen, all I can say is, you know, when the programs come out, you'll have to watch because there are gonna be many, there are so many gems. And no, this is not this is not one season. No, you can't break this down into a season. You this is gonna be seasons.

SPEAKER_02 58:00

Well, you know what? 150 some years, you cannot just do in a day or two, can you? So no, you can't. No, you can't take a long time, so uh, we're gonna keep on going.

SPEAKER_00 58:10

We just keep on going. So, anyway, to the Brogar brothers, I love you. It's so great to see you both, and we love you. I love you, man.

SPEAKER_02 58:25

Listen, so one thing I was gonna say, your heart is incredible. When I was telling you about my problems, you started crying, you know. That was beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 58:34

Hey, man. It it you're but you are family to me.

SPEAKER_02 58:39

Love you, baby. Love me too.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

Miko, so great to see you, man. Thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_02 58:43

Great to see you again.

SPEAKER_00 58:45

All right then. Cheers. Cheers, cheers. Really want to thank Lars and Mikel Brogard for sharing their time on the Groove Online podcast. And uh incredible, compelling, lifelong story about music and sound. And it's still going as we speak. Larson McCool. We thank you for being on the Groove Dolly Podcast.