The Campbell Reporter
News
Childhood friends started Sound in Motion
By Beth Hobbs
Tucked away in a small building off San Tomas Aquino Road is a very big sound.
"From day one, Sound in Motion has been in Campbell," says co-owner Raffi Nalvarian.
Nalvarian and childhood friend Adrian Cavlan founded the disc jockey and videography company in 1999. Their offices were originally located by the railroad tracks in downtown Campbell. The business has since expanded with offices in Monterey and Santa Cruz and this summer the owners will open an office in San Francisco.
The foundation for Sound in Motion began back in 1977 at Cupertino's Kennedy Middle School. Orchards were abundant, Highway 85 was a bike path, and soccer was a growing sport.
"We were playing against each other on the school field in a pickup soccer game," says Adrian Cavlan, as he speaks of his friend and then-competitor Nalvarian. "I was trying to slide tackle him, and he was just laughing at me."
No longer competitors, the two Cupertino natives never tire of telling the tale of how that simple moment set the course for their lives.
More than 30 years later they share not only a lasting friendship, but also a symbiotic partnership in their growing firm.
While their paths crossed in middle school, common interests drew both boys together at Monta Vista High School. Nalvarian says, they loved sports and were both huge music fans. Cavlan also played bass in punk rock band.
"The turning corner was punk rock. I could play and be rowdy. Punk rock told me I could be in the music business," Cavlan says.
At the same time, Nalvarian pursued his love of radio. "I wanted to do radio," he says. "Dr. Don Rose of station KFRC was my mentor. I would record his show every morning."
Following graduation, Cavlan enrolled in DeAnza College, played in bands and got his first big break from Read Zaro, president of The Entertainment Connection, where he began booking bands. Adrian Cavlan Mobile Music was his first big foray into the world of disc jockeys. The two men lost touch when Nalvarian headed to San Jose State University, where he broadcast on the school radio station KSJS-90.5 FM, featuring alternative and reggae music.
Nalvarian and Cavlan were destined to cross paths again. In 1993 Nalvarian was working fulltime as a DJ when he came down with chicken pox. He contacted his old friend Cavlan and asked him to fill in as DJ. Cavlan found he liked DJing and went on to work at the Blue Lagoon in Santa Cruz, winning several awards for best DJ in Santa Cruz County.
In the meantime, Nalvarian hosted a show on Live 105 in San Francisco, later moving on to San Jose's KEZR 106.5 FM, where he had the afternoon drive time show for five years.
This time the two teamed up and created Sound in Motion, which employs 14 disc jockeys and several videographers ready to provide a full range of services for weddings, dances, clubs, sports or corporate events.
"We've known each other since disco was popular," says Cavlan. To which Nalvarian adds, "Longer than most people have been married."
While shared interests built the company, the complementary strengths Cavlan and Nalvarian bring to the business make it work. Nalvarian "feels" the business and takes what Cavlan calls "detours." He patiently builds relationships, works with clients and relies on his innate sense of the business for direction.
Nalvarian never tires of the late evenings or uncertainty inherent in event planning.
"I walk in every weekend and go, 'Ah, this is going to be a lot of fun,'" he says.
Cavlan is the methodical and organized one. He prefers leaving nothing to chance.
"There is an awful lot of preparation to ensure excellent performance," he says. "That's what a great athlete is. That's a pro, time after time."
To that end, Cavlan has built a mix list containing thousands of songs and clips of music, rated for success in different venues and situations.
"That's typical Adrian," laughs Nalvarian.
Together, Cavlan and Nalvarian have won 17 "Best DJ" awards in the Metro and Good Times readers' polls.
There was still one goal the men hadn't reached. The two spent several years looking for a way to work with the San Francisco 49ers. Finally, "On a whim I just called a friend, and he happened to have a relationship with the person we needed to get to," says Nalvarian.
In mid-season 2006, Sound in Motion got the green light to do the music at a 49er game.
"I had their old computer and only three days to reconfigure it," Cavlan says. "When someone says, 'Go music', you had better have the right music ready to go. I'd wake up with nightmares of not being able to get the right music."
Today, they are in the big leagues, providing the music for all the home games. "You walk out of the tunnel, and all of a sudden you're on the field, Nalvarian says. "It looks so grand. As a kid it's where you watched Jerry Rice and Steve Young. It's amazing to see behind the scenes."
There may have been some luck in Nalvarian's phone call, but Cavlan says, "We didn't just bump into it. We prepped for three years and strategized to find a way in the door." While Nalvarian opened the lock, Cavlan pulled together a quality product.
Today, the business also provides the San Jose Sharks hockey team with custom-made music, and Nalvarian emcees the Stealth pro lacrosse games.
Over the years, Nalvarian has established long-standing relationships, and he still recalls his Campbell beginnings.
"Look what is happening in downtown Campbell," he says. "It has done a great job of really coming alive."
Cavlan adds, "It has its own feel, not just another suburb. Campbell still seems embraceable. We feel pretty tethered to the Campbell business scene."
Reflecting on their lives since that first soccer game, both men are genuinely astonished at where they are today. "If you had told me back then that we would be together doing what we both love, music and sports, well..." says Nalvarian shaking his head. "We work hard. It's not an accident how we got where we are."
For more information on Sound in Motion, 1554 La Pradera Drive, call 408.345.4050 or visit wwwsimdjs.com.