Like many of his colleagues, Mr. Roland stumbled into the audio industry from music, having been a talented jazz guitar player and composer since early in high school. Subsequent gigging provided the chance opportunity to become the de facto"PA guy", where a childhood interest in audio and acoustics was re-kindled.
As a sophomore in high school, Mr. Roland began his working life in Southern California. Simultaneously, Mr. Roland, already an accomplished professional musician and composer, began teaching at the high school level as a student teacher and privately with a full load of aspiring advanced guitar students. Thirteen years later new skills and first hand experience provided a foundation for what would become a long, diverse and successful career.
Mr. Roland moved his work to the Los Angeles market, where he began a focused regiment of work experience at the highest levels. As a consultant, designer and system engineer, Mr. Roland worked extensively with projects in performing arts, theme parks, museums, libraries, hotels, resort casinos, sports facilities, worship and presentation. While in Los Angeles, Mr. Roland discovered his ultimate dream of independant consulting, working on many projects within the design teams of talented Los Angeles-area architects.
While in Los Angeles, Mr. Roland continued to hone his audio skills, design chops and the process of documenting complex, engineered systems. Mr. Roland credits much of his success to one of his primary influences, Mr. Glen Glancy of Santa Clarita, CA. Mr. Glancy is a nationally recognized audio recording and mastering engineer with world-class ears and extensive experience in creating outstanding acoustical environments. Mr. Glancy became a major influence to Mr. Roland as he made the transition from systems engineering to serious electro-acoustical design and sound reinforcement.
In 1994 Mr. Roland moved to Mississippi to work on the ground floor of the industry's most innovative new technology which eventually became known as MediaMatrix. Launched by the Architectural Acoustics division of Peavey Electronics Corporation the following year, Mr. Roland became an integral part of the original MediaMatrix design, marketing and support team that forever changed the professional & commercial audio industry. His 11 years in the Architectural Acoustics and MediaMatrix group cumulated with the launch of NION, the second generation MediaMatrix technology.
During his tenure at Peavey, Mr. Roland held numerous positions including District Manager, Consultant Liaison, Operations Manager and Creative Services Manager for the MediaMatrix and Architectural Acoustics Divisions. Additional experience in Industrial Design, technical writing and marketing provide a rare level of diversity and in-depth experience. His accomplishments at Peavey are too numerous to list here but are highlighted by extensive project experience with consultants and system integrators world-wide.
Mr. Roland was educated with diverse coursework and auditing at Bakersfield College (California), the Cleveland Institute of Electronics (Ohio) and California State University. His coursework includes mathematics, electronics, business, music theory, jazz composition, jazz arranging, jazz performance and ear training. While at Cal State, Mr. Roland was mentored by world-renowned jazz composer Dr. Doug Davis, PhD. Mr. Roland was a first-call jazz guitar player in many of Dr. Davis's performance ensembles for many years. Continuing education and extensive self-study in architectural acoustics, AV technology, information technology and electronics over the last 12 years contribute to an extremely diverse and comprehensive background.
In his other life, Mr. Roland is still an active, professional jazz musician and composer, playing as often as he can. Mr. Roland plays plays guitar, electric bass and double bass (upright) professionally in southeastern Mississippi with local and nationally recognized jazz artists. In his spare time, Mr. Roland enjoys sailing and still finds time to officiate high school baseball. Mr. Roland is married to his soulmate, Cindy and has two incredible children, Christopher and Emily. The Roland family resides in Meridian, Mississippi.