David Stewart

Although I did play in bands in my youth, my heart is more in the technical side of music-making. I studied electronics at the University of Louisville and spent the mid-1980s touring as a live sound engineer. I experimented with whatever equipment I could afford, including “programming” a synthesizer using a small Radio Shack computer (with 2.5K of memory). I loved the control of producing music and bringing the essence of the artist to the audience. By 1987, I had acquired enough equipment to start recording my own music, but I found myself spending more time recording other bands instead. I stopped touring and ran DSL Studios full time. Then I got a phone call offering me a position at Sweetwater. I moved to Fort Wayne in 1992 to become Sweetwater employee #20! I moved from Sales to Service, to Marketing, and then co-managed a growing team of hundreds of Sales Engineers until taking on the CMO role in 2016. Along the way, I developed the Service Department into an authorized service center for most of Sweetwater’s product lines; expanded the Sales department to over 400 Sales Engineers; developed Sweetwater University, which is a training program for new Sales Engineers; and helped create Sweetwater’s first catalogs and website, the latter of which has now expanded into a full-blown digital enterprise.But I haven’t forgotten my technical roots: I continue to be involved with my Louisville recording studio, and I’ve been an instructor in live sound production in the music technology program at Purdue University Fort Wayne. And of course, I still play the bass every chance I get. Besides music and sound, some of my passions include travel, auto racing, photography (another technical art form), aviation, cycling, basketball, tennis, and volleyball.***BUSINESS INQUIRIES*** I get many, many solicitations via LinkedIn, and I apologize if I'm unable to reply to all of them. To help you be more efficient, consider the following before reaching out:1. Do your due diligence to make sure I am really the correct person to talk to. We have over 2,500 employees and a lot of specialization (e.g. our CIO, who handles our digital/data-driven marketing).2. Tell me the details of what you want in your written message. I am not likely to "hop on a call" without a lot of substance being presented beforehand.3. Substantiate why I would want to work with you. Proof (not just claims) of past results is a basic way to do this. All the best,DavidP.S. Sweetwater is growing and hiring. Check here: https://www.sweetwater.com/careers/