Working out of his garage in Everett, Washington, Mark Carlson began Carlson Audio Systems in April of 1986. Less than two years later Mark and Jonathan Myers found themselves working together in another sound company refining their audio skills. They spent years dealing with the challenges of touring and an endless chain of “one-nighters.” At one point Jonathan expressed his intentions to finish college then start his own pro-audio company in Spokane, Washington. Mark’s response to him was “you are going to starve, and have to work a day job to make the payments on your equipment”. Jonathan listened to Mark’s advice and soon afterword they combined their resources and began a partnership that is going strong to this day.

In the late 1980’s the greater Puget Sound area was in need of a good professional sound production company and Mark had established himself with a small, but loyal local client base. Seattle and Tacoma had a number of companies that supplied services to large-scale events however these companies were not interested in servicing the smaller venues. From the very beginning of their budding partnership these two young professionals set a goal to provide sound production services to venues with 3,000 seats or less. With a clear target in mind the two spent a couple of weekends a month strategizing. From these weekend sessions they put their equipment, resources, and contacts together to form a real partnership.

They quickly learned that many of the smaller music venues housed bands that would hit the stage with a potpourri of mismatched equipment that would cause horrible problems. Knowing that the bands were using whatever they had in poorly matched gear, the two worked to design well-suited sound systems. These systems were used to furnish local festivals with the equipment and services that helped correct prior issues, making events run smoother and sound better.

In 1990 Carlson Audio Systems was hired to do the Fremont Street Fair. This was one of the first local events that allowed the company to demonstrate its chops. Back then, the Fremont Street Fair had only two stages – the Main stage and a Children’s stage. Again, Mark and Jonathan worked long hours insuring that everything worked perfectly. They got the most out of each stage and their hard work paid off. The Fair was a success that year and 2009 marked Carlson Audio Systems 19th year of service to the Fremont Street Fair.

Mark and Jonathan set their goals on a market niche and had realized those goals in two short years. They were now regulars in the Moore Theater in Seattle and at other various venues and events in Bellingham, Spokane, and Yakima as well as doing sound production for the Winthrop Rhythm & Blues Festival in northern Washington.

In 1995 the company took a huge leap of faith and decided to take on a significant financial commitment. They felt they were ready to invest in a world class touring sound system. The project was started in February with completion date set for June 1, 1995. During that time the company put in countless hours completing copious tasks to beat the sands of the hourglass. Their duties involved building cases, building cables, and wiring equipment. Every day they would meet and assess their progress. The project was on schedule when they received a call and was asked to provide services for an Earth Day concert at Seattle’s Pier 48. The show would have an appearance by The Love Mongers featuring Ann and Nancy Wilson, among others. The only problem was it required the work to be completed 30 days earlier than the original deadline.

It was at that point that the ludicrous hours they were putting in increased to a new level. They would work from 6AM until 8PM break for dinner and back at it until midnight. Then they’d go to sleep, wake up and do it again. The breaking point came when the speaker system arrived from the east coast two days late. The driver for the freight company would not unload the truck without payment for shipping that had already been paid. After repeated calls to the trucking company supervisor, the manufacturer, and anyone else they could think of the issue was finally resolved. The system was set up and tested in the alley at the front of the shop at 8 PM the night before the show. Much to the surprise of any and all that were in a two-block radius, the system worked perfectly. Needless to say the Earth Day event concluded with great applause.

That investment became the first of many that would bring the company to the forefront in sound production on a national level. The company was awarded the contract for Summer Nights at the Pier in 1996 as well as providing services to Bumbershoot’s Main Stadium Stage, The Bumberella stage, and two other stages since that time.

Carlson Audio Systems moved the operation to Seattle’s SODO district in 1997 and has been a Seattle company ever since.

In 2003 the company was picked to be a vendor for Pearl Jam’s Riot Act Tour. This would take Carlson Audio from the garage in Everett, Washington to sell out crowds at Madison Square Garden shows. Carlson Audio Systems embarked on an 11 month REM tour that would take them across North America, England, Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia, Ireland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. It must be noted that it is not the hundreds of shows that you hear about, but rather the thousands that you don’t here about that are key to the success of this company.