The Music & Sound Retailer: Who was your greatest influence or mentor and why?
David Marsh: Is it cliché to say my parents? Both of my parents were extremely hard workers and reached the top in their fields while starting at the bottom. This is something that has always reverberated in my life: If you want something badly enough, you must put in the effort.
The Retailer: What was the best advice you ever received?
Marsh: I have been focused on a quote from Benjamin Disraeli: “One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”
The Retailer: What was your first experience with a musical instrument?
Marsh: Outside of the various instruments you play in school, the guitar was really what grabbed my interest.
The Retailer: What instrument do you most enjoy playing?
Marsh: Anything really. I enjoy fooling around on guitar, bass, drums, piano … and have yet to master any of them.
The Retailer: Tell us something about yourself that others do not know or would be surprised to learn.
Marsh: I’m a huge motorhead. My brothers and I all owned Mopars — a 1970 Dodge Charger, a 1970 Dodge Super Bee and my 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner.
The Retailer: What’s your favorite activity to do when you’re not at work?
Marsh: I would say photography. I have always been drawn to it and have dabbled around, but I am looking to get a bit more serious about it.
The Retailer: What is the best concert you’ve ever been to?
Marsh: It’s hard to pick just one, so I’m going to cheat a little. Any Foo Fighters or Metallica concerts always seem to get my energy up.
The Retailer: If you could see any musician, alive or deceased, play a concert for one night, who would it be and why?
Marsh: Two bands I always wanted to see but never got the chance to are Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. Both bands left a legacy for the music that followed.
The Retailer: What musician are you hoping to see play in the near future?
Marsh: Sting is starting his residency next year in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace, so I believe a trip to Vegas is in my future.
The Retailer: What song was most memorable for you throughout your childhood and what do you remember about it the most?
Marsh: “Rock, Rock” by Def Leppard. I wore out two cassettes of Pyromania cruising in my 1970 Roadrunner in my high school years … good times.
The Retailer: What are your favorite songs on your smartphone/iPod?
Marsh: All of them, right? Or they wouldn’t be on my iPhone. I have a diverse selection, from rock, to blues, to jazz, to country, to movie soundtracks, which sometimes causes people to raise an eyebrow because they don’t necessarily all go together.
The Retailer: What’s the most fun thing you saw/did at a NAMM Show?
Marsh: I attended the Spinal Tap concert. I’ve always been a huge fan of that movie.
The Retailer: If you had to select three people, past or present, to have dinner with, who would they be and what would you ask them?
Marsh: Abraham Lincoln, Nikola Tesla, Andrew Carnegie. What one decision in their life changed everything for them?
The Retailer: Tell us about your most memorable experience with an MI retailer (without naming them).
Marsh: Let’s just say there were about 40 of them on a trip to Cancun, Mexico, one year, when a little Hurricane named Wilma decided to spoil our fun. During times of disaster such as this, it really tends to pull people together, and it is something I will never forget.
The Retailer: What is the best thing about the MI industry?
Marsh: There is a community aspect to MI, and it’s great to build relationships that benefit all of us in this industry.
The Retailer: Who do you admire most outside of the music industry and why?
Marsh: People like Richard Branson and Elon Musk. I am always intrigued by creative thinkers and change advocates. There is always so much to learn.
The Retailer: What technology could change MI down the road?
Marsh: That’s a tough question, and I feel that the wireless technology that all manufacturers are currently working on could be the biggest change for the MI industry. As the Federal Communications Commission continues to shrink our bandwidth, being able to compensate with more frequencies in less space will be a big part of the future technology for this industry.
The Retailer: If you weren’t in the music industry, what would you be doing and why?
Marsh: A photojournalist. I love the creative aspect of photography and love to travel, so it makes sense to me.
The Retailer: Tell us about your hometown and why you enjoy living there.
Marsh: My new hometown, Wilsonville, Ore., is just such a beautiful part of the country. I am only two hours or less from the mountains, the ocean or the dunes depending what I’m in the mood for. Who could ask for more?
The Retailer: What are your most prized possession(s) and why?
Marsh: I wouldn’t call them possessions, but my son and daughter are the most important part of my life and always will be.
The Retailer: What’s your favorite book and why?
Marsh: There are so many. I am a huge bookworm, but I would probably say “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. Written in 1937, the insights in that book still hold true today, which is amazing.