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Live Sound

Jon has enjoyed mixing live music since his first house sound job at a roots music club, while attending Ohio University in 1991. After school, Jon moved back to Columbus, Ohio and became the sound tech at famed punk rock dive Bernies Distillery, where he mastered keeping a balance between loud amps, terrible acoustics, and extremely rowdy crowds. Eventually his talents were in demand in regional recording studios and Jon  receded into the sunless world of recording. In 2002, Jon recorded a last album for punk rock icons The New Bomb Turks, and set off as live sound engineer for their farewell tour. The excitement of the open road renewed his interest in live sound & since has been serving as tour manager and Front Of House Mixer for some of the more successful studio projects he works on. His experience includes mixing shows in every major city in North America, working venues of all sizes, ranging from coffee houses to baseball stadiums to internet, radio and television shows such as Regis & Kelly. When Jon is not in the studio, chances are, he is enjoying the world from the window of a tour bus or the standard-issue Econoline van.
Pictured RJD2 at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC (2007).

“While studio mixing has become easier with advances in computer automation, reproducing the heavily edited and processed sound of a modern record live, has become more demanding, challenging, and exciting for me.”
-Jon Chinn

“There are rare occasions in the music industry when you come across someone who does what they say they are going to do, acts professional, gets the job done with great results, and you walk away thinking how easy it would be to hire them again. As a studio engineer, Jon was my go-to guy in Columbus. As a front-of-house engineer on tour, Jon was an added perk on the first day of tour. By the last day, he was an indispensable part of the show. One of the hardest workers i've ever met, easily.”
-RJD2 (Producer, Turntablist Extrordinaire)

"Jon is one of the most professional, competent sound engineers I have ever worked with, both in the studio and in live venues...I never worry when he's behind the board. ”
-Marti Dodson (Saving Jane)

“If Heaven doesn't sound like a Jon Chinn live show mix, I don't want to go there.”
-Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks, Gaunt, The Sun)