Meet Brian Trujillo | Entrepreneur & Audio Visual Production Company Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brian Trujillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
This would be officially business #4 for me. I never liked showing up to the same place everyday to work for the same people. So I got into being a private contractor and it really clicked for me. I started small with no resources, just working in a field I enjoyed. From there I set goals to achieve each year, including never to back track. Eventually I knew year after year these yearly achievements would snowball into a business eventually.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well I’m an audio engineer by trade, I have taken music classes ever since 4th grade following my passions. In high school I would get into music again and buy my first audio mixer and DJ setup. Right after graduating high school I would get a job as a CD DJ for Arizona High School Reunions and other events. This would eventually lead to me starting my first official business which was a mobile DJ business, while I was going to school for audio engineering. I decided to go to MCC instead of a trade school so that I could learn a wide variety of subjects. I originally had the goal of getting into the studio side of things and was not shy to jump into internships to test the waters in as many areas as possible. When in the internship phase of one’s career, there is a lot of opportunity available that will not always be there later in life. Eventually I would find my passion to be LIVE sound. Which would eventually catch my attention and cause me to never look back. With my foundation being rooted in the local Arizona Music & Art Scene, after graduating MCC I would open up my second business which was a brick and mortar. It was a local lifestyle music, clothing and art store. Destroyed by the recession I found myself back living at my moms, car repoed, no job, filing bankruptcy and an unorganized mess of inventory all throughout my moms house. I wish I had a picture of us sitting in the living room with piles of inventory all around. I took a break for a while and enjoyed it rightfully, as I planned my return. I told myself I would take things slow but I basically turned the lifestyle store into a hobby. I kept it alive by attempting to turn it into an online store that really went nowhere. One of the few things I had left from the shop was a silk screen print machine. So since I was running sound at so many venues and my friends were too, as well as in bands. I shifted my LLC to a t- shirt printing business. We had some pretty good orders come through but it was a lot of work and something we did not have a whole lot of passion for nor did we have a proper setup. We had just about the cheapest setup you could get. Everything would come full circle as my internship at Hollywood Alley would lead to a job offer at one of the big local Hotel A/V companies. I worked there for a few months+ before opening my shop and working at the local music venues at night. In that time of working there I got my friend a job who quickly developed in that industry and would later help me get my first job in freelance corporate A/V. Which would ultimately be the changing point in my life forever.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would start off with a dinner at my cousins Alex Trujillo’s restaurant Jt’s Prime Kitchen in Old town Scottsdale. Then I would go check out the night life of Arizona filled with live artists and music. 1st Fridays in Downtown Phx is always key. Check out Cobra Arcade Bar, Angel’s Trumpet Ale House, Trill Life Style Shop, The Rebel Lounge, The Valley Bar, & The Rhythm room. If we went to Tempe I would go to Shady Park, CASA, & Electric Bat Arcade.

Arizona is beautiful when you get out of the city as well like Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Dinosaur Tracks and of course Flagstaff. Sedona is home to world famous Brazilian Artist Porangui and Flagstaff has Arizona’s premier music venue Yucca North, where we designed and installed the the sound system.

Don’t forget to checkout Tarbell’s Tavern in Phx as well.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Well of course my family for being supportive of my hairbrain ideas as well as everything that is involved in that. The universe for putting me in the right places and the right times. My economics teacher in high school is Mr. Jim Ball. Maricopa Community College would open the door for my education into my preferred field and provided networking and friendships that coincided with my world still to this day. My friendships and networking abilities have always pathed the way. But if I had to pick any others to highlight as a special shout out I would have to say Fun Bobby in the Hollywood Alley section. They accepted me when I was young and always pushed me to succeed. I still believe that there is not one music venue that will ever have as much style as they did packed inside 4 walls. People in this industry strive to be cool and this place was owned by “Grandma”. Grandma had more style in her pinky than most do in their whole body. It was this stage in my life where youth meets adulthood that I will never get back. So shout outs to Ross Wincek, Steve Macdonald & Mike Hunt. And of course Casey Hamilton manager and co- owner of the Yucca North. And in semi chronological order: DJ Steel, Miguel Horowitz, Pickster, UM, Dumperfoo, Doug Quick, Cut Throat Freak show, Fiyah Station, G- Owens, Dr. Delicious Band, Porangui, Fred Green, Kirk Reznik & Joe Soulman from Phunk Junkeez, Guitarzan, Joe’s Grotto, Stray Cat, Red Owl, The Rhythm Room, DL Harrison, Arizona Urban Arts, of course Tempe Art A Goghgogh, the Show Services Corporate Audio Visual Teamm, Brain A & The DM Crew. Check out this music video I helped push into existence with Kirk Reznik from the phunk Junkeez, I make a quick appearance.

Website: Tnpav.com

Instagram: instagram.com/tnpavaz

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/briantrujillotnapvaz

Twitter: twitter.com/tnpavaz

Facebook: facebook.com/TNPAVAZ

Image Credits
Tyler Cruz