Thomas Kihntopf:
CLASS OF 1974
West Milwaukee High SchoolClass of 1974
West milwaukee, WI
Thomas's Story
Life
Pretty much since the day I left high school I've been involved in radio, audio, music and advertising on the professional level. After starting my career in radio and moving to audio production, I've managed to stay on top of alot of technological developments in regards to computers and the ushering in of the digital age. From a humble beginning as a radio DJ to now being a full fledged audio and production engineer, I've have been a producer and recording engineer for bands, colleges and their music departments and the advertising world. I've also taught recording engineering classes, training young ears how to listen to the real world and incorporate that experience into studio and live recordings. During my time I've won numerous ADDY awards for my production work and developed a following among composers and musicians and advertising executives seeking quality studio production. In 1994, I was nominated by Billboard magazine for the engineering work I did on a syndicated radio program called "Jazzin' up", heard primarily in the southern half of the country. Outside of a 3 year period when I left the industry because of burn out, I've managed to return and stay in the audio industry lending my experience and skills to a new generation of advertising executives and musicians. Presently I'm plying my trade in Asheville NC. After a dozen years of producing audio for two companies in Virginia, I decided that a change of scenery was again needed. With today's technology and with audio studios being able to connect to each other through ISDN lines and the internet, being in a large market to produce quality audio is no longer a necessity. Now, I can connect to talent and clients all electronically. The talent reads in LA, the client sits in Atlanta directing through a phone patch, while I sit in my studio in North Carolina recording the audio and producing and mixing while enjoying an incredible mountain view out my window.
During all this time I've managed to join the American dream by getting married and staying married to the same person. Unfortunately, however, after a short but intense illness, my...Expand for more
wife, Toni , passed away in 2014, 3 months after celebrating 30 years of marriage of love and life. Now, I have to learn how to be single again and try to get back into the world and continue to live. I'm the father of two grown children, and still have a cat and am now down to one dog, having just recently lost my 14 year old Lurcher to old age. I still swim and stay in shape and have been accused of suffering from Dick Clark syndrome, although my hair is starting to become streaked with swatches of white in among the old black hairs. We had lived and loved n Madison and Milwaukee WI and surrounding area, Atlanta GA and Virginia Beach before finally settling here in NC. In spite of living in Panther country I remain an avid Packer fan as well as the Brewers and Bucks and University of Wisconsin sports. Thanks to the internet, I never miss a chance to watch the hometown teams play. I do my best to stay active in as many things as I can and refuse to believe that age should slow you down. I still maintain a 20's attitude and have more energy and optimism then some half my age. I do believe that you are only as old as you feel and always surprise my children's friends when they find out that I know as much or more about the modern music and technological scene than they do. Consequently I have been roped into more weekend recording sessions then I care to admit. I also do a lot of freelance script writing, primarily audio dramas and mysteries and produce my own work using the professional talent I work with on a daily basis. It's become almost like therapy and it's amazing what you can get someone to do when you promise them a six pack to read into a mic on a Saturday afternoon. And it sure beats sitting in an office pushing papers or working in a factory. My life and career has exposed me to incredibly talented writers, musicians and actors who all share the same joy and fun of working in a very unusual industry that many would love to join but few actually get to do. My life is far from boring and I enjoy going to the studio each day because there's always something new happening that keeps me wanting to do more.
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