Monitoring the Artists' Monitors: IEM Wisdom from Kevin Glendinning
Gig Gab - The Working Musician's PodcastShow Notes
In this episode of Gig Gab, you get the full story of how Kevin “KG” Glendinning cold-emailed his way from a Chicago suburb into a 25-year career mixing monitors for Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Lorde, and more. You hear how a kid sweeping floors at dB Sound ended up on a Metallica tour bus with one piece of advice ringing in his ears: ask questions, stay late, and get a second job because you’re gonna need it. Kevin walks you through migrating artists to in-ear monitors, managing talkback culture for everyone from Eddie Vedder wanting baseball scores to Lorde’s tight production team, and what it takes to help reluctant guitar players finally ditch the wedges. If you’ve ever wondered what separates a good monitor engineer from a great one, this conversation lays it out.
You also dive deep into the art and science of making IEMs sound right in every room, every night. Kevin shares his process of minimal reduction: fixing a bad mix by figuring out what to take away, not what to add, and explains why tuning for in-ears is just as critical as tuning a PA. You learn why he flies 4,700 miles for a single gig, why the best mixes sometimes come from a throw-and-go, and how setting up dummy channels lets you experiment without wrecking the artist’s mix. He and Dave talk hearing health, audiograms, the DPA capsule as the only open mic on the Lorde stage, and why knowing your own ears matters more than knowing your gear. Whether you’re mixing monitors at an arena or running sound at a club gig, this episode is packed with wisdom you can use tonight. Always Be Performing, folks!
00:00:00 Gig Gab 528 – Monday, April 6th, 2026
April 6th: National Siamese Cat Day
Guest co-host: Kevin Glendinning
00:02:25 Hotmailing his way into a career
Watched the credits of a Metallica documentary, realized DB Sound was near the house, emailed Harry… “Hi, I’m Kevin, and I’m interested in audio…” and the rest is history!
00:07:58 Got put on the road as an audio team assistant
Trial by fire
Advice from the team:
Here’s what to do
Here’s what not to do
Ask questions, stay late, and get a second job because you’re gonna need it
00:11:22 Learning the personal touch parts of being on tour
00:12:52 Being the stage left PA tech, Kevin gravitated towards monitors
00:13:50 Talkback Culture
Eddie Vedder wanted baseball scores in his talkback
SOMBR for Coachella 2026 (Chris Rabold at FOH)
00:16:18 Managing multiple talkback channels
00:18:08 LORDE on Talkback
Phil Harvey on FOH
Sarah Parker is LD
00:19:00 Talkback stories
Jaret Reddick’s use of talkback mics in Bowling For Soup
00:20:51 Migrating to in-ears
IEMs can preserve your hearing, if done right
Future Sonics uses dynamic drivers
00:25:09 Helping guitar players to IEMs
Mike Dias on Gig Gab
Sensaphonics 3MAX IEMs on LORDE tour
00:32:08 SPONSOR: Gusto. Get three months free when you run your first payroll when you start at https://gusto.com/giggab
00:33:44 Back to helping guitar players with IEMs
Problem: when a vocal mic is downstage from a guitar amp
Ian Beveridge with Foo Fighters
Paul Simon prefers wedges
Always be learning
First: Learn the human being you’re going to be mixing for
00:41:27 The differences between mixing monitors for Miley Cyrus and Ella LORDE
00:42:48 Monitoring the Artists Monitors
TX1 Wireless Transmitters
REMI with Brad Madix on Gig Gab
00:47:50 Different rooms sound different on IEMs
AFAS Live (formerly Heineken Music Hall) in Amsterdam sounds great
Dave says Alamodome in San Antonio is one of the worst-sounding
To fix IEMs in a bad-sounding room: what can we reduce to make it sound better?
Last night it was a bongo mic that was making the drumset sound too washy in the IEM mix
“The process of minimal reduction”
Ella’s DPA capsule is the only open mic on-stage on the LORDE tour
Tune for the IEMs, too: listen to something you know, and EQ it
Tuning the podcast for JH Audio Laylas
01:04:06 Learn your own ears (not
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