Steven Rochlin: How did you begin in the industry?
Richard Truesdell: Like a lot of us who are now in our forties, I got my
start in the industry installing a stereo in my first car which was a 1965 Rambler
American 2-door hardtop. I installed a Sony/Superscope portable cassette deck and using an
inverter, hooked it up a home Sherwood solid-state amplifier. There was a local store that
sold raw speaker drivers and I put in Peerless separates speakers, 5.25-inch woofers and
their dome tweeter, if I remember correctly, into each door. I remember installing the
board for the passive crossover behind each kick panel. It was pretty radical for 1973.
Later, I had the same tweeters in a pair of Infinity Monitor Junior home speakers since I
liked the way it sounded in my Rambler. In high school and my years in college, while most
everyone else had 8-tracks I had car cassette systems that was pretty cool. I sold hi-fi
equipment in collage which paid for a good portion of my tuition. Got out of school in
1976 and taught high school social studies while installing car audio in my parents
driveway evenings and on weekends.
SR: How did that work out?
RT: Worked out really good! I was actually making more money installing
radios in my parent’s driveway then teaching during the week. It was not uncommon to
have three or four people dropping off their cars Saturday morning to have installs done.
There were times that so many cars were parked in front of the house that our neighbors
complained. So this lasted until 1980.
SR: So what happened after that?
RT: By 1980 I opened up own store called Kartunes in Scotch Plains, New
Jersey. Like so many other retailers from that era, I started out small, a 10’ x
25’ showroom with two tiny, cramped installation bays. In the beginning it was really
a lot of fun with long hours just to make ends meet. I can say that I had a great eleven
year run. Two of the highlights were that the business became successful enough that I
could own a Ferrari 308GTSi and the other highlight was in June of 1990. An installation I
worked on with my senior installer at the time, Gary Garritino, was featured on the cover
of CSR!
SR: How did that make you feel?
RT: Top of the world! It was also in recognition that some of the
concepts that we promoted in the store, keeping the systems simple yet optimizing sound
reproduction without gimmicks, was seen by not only the customer but also the editors as
being the right way to go. While at Kartunes I started my "journalism" career,
contributing mostly for PR purposes for the store, to a trade magazine called Autosound
and Communications. My job with them was as installation editor. I worked with Joe
Palenchar who is now with Twice Magazine and CSR. Throughout my writing career, Joe has
been my mentor, responsible for telling other editors that I could contribute to their
magazines. That led to being asked by CSR’s founding editor, Bill Wolfe, to do the
column Truckin’ in CSR its first two years. When Car and Driver (CSR’s sister
publication) needed someone to do a car stereo supplement, Car and Driver asked me to
provide it. It was a huge thrill to have sixteen pages of my work published in the most
widely read automotive magazine in the world! This went on for two years until they
decided to no longer do outside supplements in 1991.
SR: So then what was next?
RT: In 1993 I was on-board (again at Joe’s suggestion) when Peterson
Publishing launched Autotronics magazine in Los Angeles. After two years, Autotronics was
folded into Motor Trend magazine. From early 1996 through the end of 1997, I wrote and
edited the Autotronics department in Motor Trend. Because of the fact that there was a
heavy emphasis on OEM, I got to drive a lot of pre-production cars like the Plymouth
Prowler. I believe that I was probably the first person, since I drove the Prowler so
early, to have driven it, the SLK and the Z3. While all this was happening, after CA&E
was sold to McMullen Agrus, I was approached to become an executive editor at CA&E. It
is important to say that I turned down that opportunity three times before I agreed to
take the position. I waited until after Doug Newcomb said that he was leaving before
saying yes to McMullen Argus. I was very happy with all the contributing work that I was
doing working from home that I was unwilling to give it up unless I could join CA&E as
Editor.
SR: And were you happy about this and/or scared at the huge
responsibilities involved?
RT: Both. Um, since I never edited anything more then four pages a month
in Motor Trend the thought of the 120+ pages in CA&E certainly was a scary prospect.
Especially given the fact that there was virtually no holdover staff members from the
prior editorial team. Bill Burton quit in March, just before the June issue needed to be
finalized. Bill was great to stay on as long as he did and together with John Jeffries,
the newly appointed managing editor who would later become Editor, together we got the
June issue out, just barely. It was made more difficult by the fact that I was commuting
back and forth to California every week from my home in Albuquerque and everyone else was
based in Woodland Hills and Placentia, California as the editorial offices were moved at
the same time. At the same time, MES was held in Atlanta so it was a difficult time for
me. Really, it was a miracle that it all fell into place. It was on-the-job training,
doing it all on the fly.
SR: And how much of a triumph was that for you?
RT: Well, I remember that I was on the road in mid-May doing the Corvette
Route 66 trip which would appear in the August issue. I saw my first copy of the June
issue in a stereo store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As pumped as I was in driving the Corvette
from Chicago to Los Angeles, seeing that first issue with me as editor was one of the
biggest thrills of my life!
RT: During the ensuing months I felt the magazine made great strides
editorially. For instance, the August issue was composed of material written entirely by
the new editorial team I had assembled. This included Rob Hephner, Derek Lee, Steve
Bentivegna, and Chris Tobin. With the exception of Chris, none of them had ever written
for a magazine before. It should be noted that that issue went to printer less than 75
days after I had arrived as Editor on March 4. I didn’t have the chance even to move
to Southern California until May 1.
SR: So great strides were made in relatively short time?
RT: Right.
SR: So then things evolved even further.
RT: I thought the security cover for the September cover was our best
cover which was exquisitely photographed by John Skalicky. Some of the readers referred to
it as the S&M cover.
(Laughs)
RT: Most people, at first glance thought that it was a PhotoShop
composite. Actually it was a 1/18th scale Burago Dodge Viper wrapped in a chain and gold
padlock. Ann Marie Whaley and Verna Loughran-Baz did a great job with the concept, design
and execution of that particular cover. By that issue I got the feeling the worst was over
and that the magazine had a fresher identity. Probably after the cover (September), I am
proudest of the fact that the staff I had assembled had the ability to deliver news and
event coverage faster than ever before. The best example was the IASCA Finals coverage
that appeared first in the January 1998 issue, certainly before any competing magazine.
This may have been a contributing factor to me ultimately being asked to leave CA&E.
SR: Why would this be problematic?
RT: Because it put the staff under a lot of strain as the events happened
almost simultaneously with the previously established deadlines. This was complicated by
the fact that IASCA was eight days late with the final results which came in two days
after the deadline for the January issue. We had to delay the final sign-off on the
January issue and barely made the press on time.
SR: So just being a few days late to offer the most up to date
information on one of the biggest events of the year got you fired?
RT: The pressure that it placed on the staff was cited by a senior
McMullen manager as a reason for terminating my employment. This manager also listed three
other reasons in our short December 4 meeting. I believe that there’s more to it, and
in the 60 days since, I’ve learned a bit more, some political issues that
unfortunately I can’t really comment on at this time. Obviously I was disappointed as
I felt the magazine was heading in the right direction. I know how hard that I was working
and how hard everyone had as well. This was confirmed by my daily phone conversations with
the readership and with principals at many of the manufacturers. It’s safe to say
that there’s a lot more to this story that I know. It didn’t take long, thanks
to a couple of strategic postings on the Internet in rec.audio.car, for many people to
know what happened. The bulk of the readership will find out when the March issue comes
out in mid-February. I’ll be curious too to see how the abrupt transition is
explained to the readers by the new editorial leadership. I never believed, and I said it
in one of my Driver’s Seat editorial, that who was editor made much difference, but
that whoever is the editor needs to listen to and communicate with the readers. I think
that I did that as well as could be expected. The interplay with the readers was
absolutely the best part of being Editor of CA&E. Certainly it recharged my batteries
and raised my enthusiasm level two or three notches.
SR: What happened next?
RT: In less then two weeks after I was pushed out at CA&E, Mike
Mettler asked me to re-join CSR. I’d felt I had come full circle since CSR was the
first consumer magazine I’d written for. Like Mike, I was one of the original members
of Bill Wolfe’s team. In addition to CSR, I’m contributing to Mobile Electronics
Retailer, Audio Video International, InCar Entertainment (Australia), and will also be
contribution to a new Peterson magazine called Truck Trend. I’ll be writing about new
mobile electronics products and doing something I really love.
SR: And that is?
RT: That is taking new vehicles on extensive ride and drive evaluations,
like I did with the Corvette for CA&E. That was an editorial experiment, and I’ll
admit, an editorial indulgence. It was part of my effort to expand CA&E’s appeal
beyond the die-hard car audio enthusiast. It was my hope that a typical car buff, someone
not a traditional CA&E reader, could pick up that issue, thumb through it and say,
"This is really cool." And then they would see all the great products the mobile
electronics aftermarket has to offer. Unfortunately some short-sighted people in the
industry didn’t quite see it the same way. They seemed to think that I was selling
out to the OEM interests that I had made friends with while at Motor Trend. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Look back to my earliest days in the industry, I’m as
aftermarket as anyone, I believe in the continued viability of the aftermarket. But I also
feel that for the aftermarket to again grow, it has to appeal to a much broader audience
and customer base.
SR: You really seem to have an enthusiasm for car audio.
RT: And I’m really excited at all the opportunities that have been
presented to me. I feel I have the best of all worlds as I now get to pick my projects,
yet for the most part work out of my home in a more relaxed environment. I find that the
quality of my life in the last sixty days has improved dramatically. I love to write and
am working hard to improve in many different areas. In addition to all the on-going
magazine work, I have two book projects in development, one is a history of American
Motors Corporation, the other is a general book covering car audio. In addition I’m
finally finishing a novel that I’ve been working on for almost ten years and have
started to convert it into a screenplay so I can be like everyone else in Southern
California and can boast of having written a screenplay. I can tell you that I do miss the
daily phone calls from the readers who share many of the same passions that I have for
mobile electronics and great cars. Any of my Internet friends should feel free to contact
me anytime at Autotronic@aol.com . I was really
flattered by all the support in rec.audio.car I received when I was pushed out at
CA&E. I have a feeling that when the March issue comes out, some of it will start up
again. As down as I was in those first two weeks in December, I never got depressed,
mostly due in part to everyone who wrote or called me.
SR: Any plans on competing again?
RT: Last year I really got the bug to build a car and compete in
sound-offs, something I’ve not done since 1987. Times have changed, as have the
rules, and I would like to prove that it is possible to build a great sounding car with
off the shelf components and not have to take out a home equity loan to finance this
undertaking. Maybe I’ll be successful, maybe not, but I intend to have fun. Fun is
what its all about. If I compete, it will probably be in some sort of AMC vehicle.
Ramblers, not Ferraris, are my passion now.
SR: What did you see at winter CES that you are really excited about?
RT: Convergence. Cars, audio entertainment, navigation, and computers.
Clarion’s alliance with Microsoft on the integrated Auto PC concept is great. And it
looks like Intel is working on a similar architecture that may be a bit more skewed
towards the computer side of the equation. Both are exciting developments that merit our
attention. I think that convergence will redefine and revitalize our industry. I think the
shift will be similar to the shift from cassette to CDs in the mid-eighties.
SR: Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview. You are
truly a very busy dude with much knowledge to share.
RT: Thanks Steve, it was a genuine pleasure to talk with you and I wish
you much success on all of your endeavors.
Click here to send
Richard e-mail.
