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Tim Helferty

As a teenager growing up in the Bay Area, Tim Helferty got into music at 924 Gilman Street, a non-profit club in North Berkeley, where he mixed sound for a few punk and metal bands. "It was a similar venue to the WOW Hall," says Helferty, who left the music behind when he moved to Portland in 1991 to work in the plastics industry. He worked his way up to head tech engineer, then relocated to Pak Tech in Eugene for five years. "I was working 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week," says Helferty, who reorganized his life after heart and kidney failure in 2004. He quit his job and began volunteering at the WOW Hall, learning from the sound guys, picking up part-time paid work, and eventually a salaried position as office manager. "I'd rather be happy and make others happy," he says. "Everyone who comes here is happy to see a show." Helferty oversees building maintenance and ticket sales, with a work force of volunteers and teens doing community service. On the side, he and his girlfriend DJ KaatSkratch hire out as a sound and DJ team. See myspace.com/totalknockoutsound.

 

happening people

photograph and story by Paul Neevel

Eugene Weekly / 1 November 2007

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