Every industry has amongst it people who have made their mark and have paid their dues, sometimes for decades. The ones that endure in people’s minds are often fondly thought of as “the good guys” and their companies grow steadily and successfully with little upheaval. In our industry here at the Southern tip of Africa I can think of several but one that sticks out in my mind lately is Steve Moss of Mtshali Moss Projects Africa or MMPA
Moss started in radio broadcast engineering by studying RAB (Radio and Broadcast) courses at the SABC which eventually landed him a job at Springbok Radio around the close of the 70s. He then joined Prosound in 1981 and enjoyed an illustrious and innovative 13 years with them, at that time one of the biggest professional audio companies in the country There, amongst other things, he helped with the development and manufacture of loudspeaker drivers, which greatly reduced importation costs and positioned Prosound as the premiere audio equipment supply company in the region. Prosound also developed quality control test systems for drivers at that time and were the first to bring in a Techron TEF system for similar testing
“Still, one of the best ways to get into this industry is to go through sound hire; go through rigging of equipment,” remarks Moss. “I toured in my early days and later on I was more based at the office at the [Prosound] hire company From there I got into sales but none of us were salesmen; we were all engineers In those days it was with Terry Acres and Simon Oates and in fact the person that employed me was Tony Oates, who is legendary in the world of live audio I also worked very closely with Mark Malherbe and I absolutely enjoyed my time at Prosound.”
Moss is of the opinion that learning curves in the industry are directly proportional to the evolution of technology.
“That’s why you can get an app that can do something ten times more powerful than you could do thirty years ago but you can learn it ten times quicker,” remarks Moss. “However, saying that, the one thing that hasn’t changed is the basic laws of physics.”
Moss left Prosound in 1994 to start his own company, Steve Moss and Associates. This was not an easy decision and it took a considerable amount of time for him to make the move due to his partiality for Prosound and his colleagues there.
“I still remember having that chat with Terry Acres,” muses Moss. “It actually took me three months to make my decision to go on my own. I said ‘I’ve decided I want to leave the company and start my own’. He listened to me for about three minutes and he wished me well and said we’d work together in the future.”
Steve Moss and Associates was a consulting company that worked mainly in the live sound industry. Moss then took some time off to hone his skills in acoustics, thereafter moving into the broadcast industry, coming full circle from his early days. After about a year Moss employed Karen Toffoli who was working at a company run by Dennis Feldman called EMS Africa. She eventually became his wife. They are still married to this day.
The company grew and after about three years Moss met one of the most influential people in his career: Robin Prior, who was involved with RCS playout software used in radio studios. “Robin is probably the single hardest worker I have ever met and a first class person,” says Moss.
Moss ended up project managing a few of Prior’s projects when Prior approached him and said that he was moving to New York to take up a position as vice president for the parent company of RCS. Moss was slightly dubious about this at first but decided in the end to give it a try and the following years saw Moss start a consortium of companies with his colleagues under the umbrella name of Otech Media Technology.
These companies included Steve Moss and Associates, specialising in acoustics and project management; RCS, which handled playout software; a sales company called Tavo, run by his colleague Sean Long; the Digital Edge, run by Greg Mynhardt that dealt with digital studio technology; and NIC, run by Karl Britz and Jaco Cillier.
In three years this consortium oversaw the construction and installation of several radio and recording studios such as Jacaranda, East Coast Radio, Radio Pulpit and Radio Algoa. Despite the good business and the growing success of this consortium, in the absence of Prior, Moss began to take strain under the heavy work load. This caused him to reassess his situation.
“I was never cut out to run a big company,” says Moss. “I thought the rest of the companies would do just fine without me and I guess I was getting homesick for my own. It might have been different if Robin had been here.”
Moss took the decision to sell Otech Media’s shares in all the companies in the consortium and a deal was struck that Moss would mothball Otech Media for three years while running his own company in the meantime. In time, the only companies left were Steve Moss and Associates, RCS Africa and NIC, as the others had either sold up or moved overseas.
“I look back and think that it could have been different but the fact is, financially, it was a highly successful business. It just became too much for me,” admits Moss
Around this time, Moss took on a partner and opened up a new company called Mtshali Moss Projects Africa, the company he trades under today eleven years later.
“MMPA has been a very successful and steady business through the years,” says Moss. “It’s taken on many high level projects such as stadia, theatres, recording, radio and television studios.”
Moss defines MMPA as an acoustic and system engineering business that specialises in acoustics, project management, hospitality entertainment technology and live sound venue design. In his words they are “entertainment technologists.”
“The word entertainment could also quite easily be exchanged with media,” he adds
Moss has built his business based on a firm belief on keeping his staff count low – around 12 or so – but highly skilled and consistent, resulting in a very low turnover. As a result of this and his high level of experience, MMPA’s job count is well over a thousand, ranging from small to very large.
The wrap
The one thing I learned from Steve Moss is that hard work, loyalty and keeping relationships consistent, professional and amicable is key to growing not only one’s own personal reputation but the success of any business. Combine that with a high level of skill and a dedication and passion for technology and you undoubtedly have a winning formula for success. MMPA and Moss’s story is surely a testament to that and it is indeed interesting to see what the future holds not only for them, but for the sectors they service here in South Africa.
Written by Greg Bester
