Who has the best intern story?

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

born2record
audio school
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed May 28, 2003 9:17 pm
Location: Indiana
Contact:

Who has the best intern story?

Post by born2record » Sat Jan 14, 2006 4:19 pm

Here is the story of all stories! A year ago I agreed to take on an intern. He started out doing really great at the job. He had a great drive and he was proving his progress every day. We were even starting to pay him for sessions. To help support his internship, I had given him a part time job helping my mother take care of her yard and house. After being around him for many 14-hour sessions I started to see that his drug habits were becoming a big problem.

My mother went on a cruse to Alaska for 3 weeks. He continued to do some guarding work at her house while she was gone. I went over one day and noticed a bunch of plants in pots sitting out in the lawn. I quickly learned they were full of pot plants! 43 pot plants to be exact! Another employee quickly told me that he had been driving the lawn mower all over the yard throwing seeds out, then transferring the plants into pots when they started to grow! Needless to say I fired him from both jobs on the spot, and spent the rest of the day figuring out how to tell my mom not to stand too close when she was burning the brush pile. She got home the next day and I flat out told her on the way home from the airport. She immediately called the county drug strike force who come out to her house and spent the day pulling and spraying pot plants! It turned into a BIG mess!

So whats everyone else's story?

Jeff Anderson
Sound Logic LLC

theposterkid
gettin' sounds
Posts: 149
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 8:54 pm
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Post by theposterkid » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:39 am

haha

that was a good read

User avatar
KennyD
audio school graduate
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:21 am
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

Post by KennyD » Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:29 pm

We had a hard core stoner intern for a while as well, who eventually got fired for showing up to work, one too many times, way too baked to function effectively.

But one of his major mistakes:

He was asked by a visiting engineer to see if he could raise the near field monitors a few inches higher from the stands. When the engineer came back after lunch, he noticed the intern had indeed raised the monitors with 2" Tape Boxes from previous sessions, WITH THE 2" TAPES STILL IN THEM.

After being told that monitors had large magnents in them, he quickly took the boxes off. Luckily the tapes were from some really old sessions and I don't think were ever needed again.

-Kenny D

User avatar
AnalogElectric
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 12:36 pm
Location: Gilbert, Arizona
Contact:

Post by AnalogElectric » Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:45 pm

KennyD wrote:We had a hard core stoner intern for a while as well, who eventually got fired for showing up to work, one too many times, way too baked to function effectively.

-Kenny D
I had to gently "fire" an intern because of that as well. She preferred to hang out in the lounge and smoke pot with the band. She'd pop her head in to the control room now and again asking if I needed any help and I didn't know what to say. There's more than just plugging in mics, putting up a reel, and setting up a patchbay. I don't think she ever asked about anything I was doing. It was kinda sad. She was in it for the wrong reasons. Maybe she would've been good as an A&R?

-- Adam Lazlo
AnalogElectric Recording
Gilbert, Arizona USA
http://www.analogelectric.com
http://www.myspace.com/adamlazlo

User avatar
@?,*???&?
on a wing and a prayer
Posts: 5804
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 4:36 pm
Location: Just left on the FM dial
Contact:

Post by @?,*???&? » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:29 pm

I had an intern in a few weeks ago that made his first pot of coffee with my dual Bunn. I left him to do his thing and was in the other room when he yelled to me that it was leaking all over. Seems he filled it before he put the filter in place. The Bunn keeps 2 pots of water hot at all times for coffee and you merely flush it through with fresh water. He had pretty much flooded the back room and seemed flummoxed as to what to do next. It's pretty unremarkable from my perspective, but he will always remember his first day as a runner/intern I'm sure. What a classic memory for him. His first poorly made pot of coffee!

Autodidact
gettin' sounds
Posts: 101
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:35 pm
Location: Chula Vista, Ca

Post by Autodidact » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:51 pm

man, where do you find these interns?...

i would LOVE to find a place that would hire me as an intern to begin with...and then actually PAY me?

and i don't even do ANY drugs...i don't even drink and am pretty damn bright i would say...maybe slightly lacking in the terminology of the trade..but thats what interning is for right?


the people with all the opportunities throw all the chances out the window
Formerly known as 'Perranfulo'


Why do people find the need to use the word "anal" in day to day conversation?

User avatar
AnalogElectric
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 12:36 pm
Location: Gilbert, Arizona
Contact:

Post by AnalogElectric » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:55 pm

Jeff Robinson wrote:I had an intern in a few weeks ago that made his first pot of coffee with my dual Bunn. I left him to do his thing and was in the other room when he yelled to me that it was leaking all over. Seems he filled it before he put the filter in place. The Bunn keeps 2 pots of water hot at all times for coffee and you merely flush it through with fresh water. He had pretty much flooded the back room and seemed flummoxed as to what to do next. It's pretty unremarkable from my perspective, but he will always remember his first day as a runner/intern I'm sure. What a classic memory for him. His first poorly made pot of coffee!
Crap... sorry Jeff, I don't mean to reply to a lot of what you've been posting under "People Skills" but I think we're on the same page. I have the same Bunn Coffee Machine. I have a SIGN on my machine that says, "Ask Lazlo BEFORE making more coffee, it doesn't work like other coffee makers".

Ever since that I haven't had problems, in fact, regarding interns that's the first thing I show them how to use... other than my Brita Water Filter.

On a side note to Jeff:
Isn't that Bunn coffee machine awesome? I tell people, "when I need coffee, I NEED coffee". No time in waiting for the water to heat up, it's lovely.

-- Adam Lazlo
AnalogElectric Recording
Gilbert, Arizona USA
http://www.analogelectric.com
http://www.myspace.com/adamlazlo

User avatar
AnalogElectric
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 12:36 pm
Location: Gilbert, Arizona
Contact:

Post by AnalogElectric » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:08 pm

Perranfulo wrote:man, where do you find these interns?...

i would LOVE to find a place that would hire me as an intern to begin with...and then actually PAY me?

and i don't even do ANY drugs...i don't even drink and am pretty damn bright i would say...maybe slightly lacking in the terminology of the trade..but thats what interning is for right?


the people with all the opportunities throw all the chances out the window
E-mail resume... call a studio... be really forward, but not too forward... stroke the ego of the engineer... but don't be too annoying. I think it's more of a vibe thing regarding a studio taking on an intern. But yet again I've known people with a full 4 year degree in production/engineering only to be cleaning toilets in a major studio only to be let-go for no real good reason other than probably the people that made that decision didn't like that person for some reason. It's very cut-throat and it's best to keep hitting the dirt until you find the place/people that click. Sans drugs/drinking, it doesn't matter, it's a matter of "do they like you" or "do you fit the mold of the studio". Sad but true, even with me and 98% of the other studio owners I know... unless you have some ungodly connections and talent at recording but how would you even get to the point where you could prove yourself?

-- Adam Lazlo
AnalogElectric Recording
Gilbert, Arizona USA
http://www.analogelectric.com
http://www.myspace.com/adamlazlo

knobtwirler
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 464
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:18 pm
Location: NYC

Beat this one

Post by knobtwirler » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:37 pm

Had a Canadian intern, first time living in NYC. Seemed ok, but eventually you realized he was a lifetime intern. One day he came in to work with a cast on his arm and the story was that he slipped and fell into the subway tracks on his way home the night before. A little more time went by and it became apparent that he was becoming overly offended by his direct superior's tone of voice and sarcasm that had been a part of his personality with all the interns, who loved him like commanding officer in the armed forces. One night shift during a slow winter week, the intern got liquored up and went into one of the rooms and proceeded to record a rap song dedicated to his superior, which culminated into a raging freestyle screamfest karaoke event. He hobbled into the hall with his arm cast from elbow to thumb, bottle in the other hand, waiting to confront the embodiment of all his troubles, an awkward conversation took place when he saw him, and he was instructed to leave the premises immediately. He walked the length of the hall, turned around and reached under his shirt and tugged on a dark metal object as he darted for the man he just sang about. Everyone was convinced he had a gun and spread out before he pulled out a hammer and yelled descriptions of how he was going to use it. One quick thinking intern snuk up beside him and yoinked it out of his drunken hand when the tech in duty shouted that he was "so fired" and should "get the hell out" of the building before they threw him out. He left with tears in his eyes and never came back. A tote bag was discovered the next morning with various hammers and a machete in it, and no one laid claim to it. I kid you not. I have many other ones but this one is the first one that comes to mind.

User avatar
;ivlunsdystf
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3290
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:15 am
Location: The Great Frontier of the Southern Anoka Sand Plain
Contact:

Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:40 pm

You didn't save that rap song did you? If so, PUHLEEZ post it here for our, um, edificatin'.

knobtwirler
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 464
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 8:18 pm
Location: NYC

Sorry

Post by knobtwirler » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:01 pm

I wish I had it. I think someone erased it quickly due to its relative offensiveness and a lack of foresight to predict its maturation value.

User avatar
jmiller
steve albini likes it
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:53 am
Location: North Hollywood, on Radford near the In-N-Out

Post by jmiller » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:36 pm

Liquor, karaoke, weeping, and machetes. That story has everything. A future broadway production, perhaps?

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Tue Jan 31, 2006 9:45 pm

jmiller wrote:Liquor, karaoke, weeping, and machetes. That story has everything. A future broadway production, perhaps?
If they made a cheesy musical out of Wicked, they can make a cheesy musical out of anything.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

User avatar
digital eagle audio
pushin' record
Posts: 275
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2005 12:19 pm

Post by digital eagle audio » Wed Feb 01, 2006 8:21 am

dude, wicked was such a boring read.

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Wed Feb 01, 2006 8:30 am

Sure, it starts off slow, but I think it's an awesome book.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 78 guests