West Coast Sound and Light ower Paul Doty uses a laptop to program stage monitor mixes as he and David Anderson prepare for Stockton's recent Jazz on the Waterfront concert. ADRIAN MENDOZA/THE BEE

West Coast Sound and Light technician Reno Bianchi adjusts the microphone for Katrina Cooper, lead singer of the Modesto band Vicadus, during a sound check for X-Fest. Leslie Doty yells out instructions to a band as she runs a sound check and husband Paul shuttles between stages at the third annual Turlock Music Festival in September. West Coast Sound and Light technician Matt Morgan makes sure all connections are made for a performance of the Vinnie Smith Band at the State Theatre during this year's X-Fest in Modesto.

July 28, 2002 Posted: 05:35:08 AM PDT

By JOHN COTE
BEE STAFF WRITER

When REO Speedwagon and Air Supply were big on U.S. music charts, Paul Doty was handling the sound for garage bands and pool parties.

Now his Modesto-based company, West Coast Sound and Light, engineers concert audio and lighting for the likes of country outlaw Willie Nelson and the new wave/ska band No Doubt.

Doty has turned a basement hobby into a diversified concert production company that defies business trends.

While the national economy is anemic, his company is booming. Even his dot-com division is surging.

"We're at the speed limit right now," said Doty, 41. "We've got all the business we can take."

Over the past 16 years, he's turned his love of music and technology into a company with $300,000 in estimated annual revenues. Doty expects revenues to jump to $500,000 next year.

His company handles major events throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles, like Modesto's Xclamation Festival and Stockton's Jazz on the Waterfront.

Doty offers a simple explanation for West Coast Sound and Light's success.

"It's biblical principles," Doty said. "We treat people like we want to be treated. Honesty and integrity are foremost."

Rob McLaughlin, a former concert promoter and general manager of the Cadillac Club in Fresno, said Doty's ethics were a major reason West Coast Sound and Light handled all his Modesto concerts.

"He's grown the business in an area (of the industry) where there are very few people who have high ethics," McLaughlin said. "Sound companies have been burned by promoters. Promoters have been burned by sound companies. Bands have been burned by promoters. It's really not a smooth system."

But part of Doty's success could be attributed to his determination and business savvy.

"Paul is a good businessman," said Chris Gray, Doty's high school friend and original partner in West Coast Sound and Light. Doty bought out Gray in 1995 in an amicable split.

"He takes chances, and he's upgraded his business," Gray said. "It's a gamble at first, but it's paid off for him."

Two of those gambles were adding installation and online retail divisions to increase revenue during lean winter months.

Doty formed ProAudioDiscounters.com as his online sales division.

He had been selling used audio equipment through eBay online auctions, but sales were so strong it convinced him to start selling new equipment instead.

Now ProAudioDiscounters. com accounts for one-third of West Coast Sound and Light's revenue. Doty credits it with keeping the company afloat in the months after Sept. 11.

"In one moment, every show in the country was canceled for four weeks," Doty said. "It almost killed the industry. If it hadn't been for our online sales, we wouldn't be here."

Chris Ricci, a Modesto concert promoter who put on this year's Xclamation Festival, said he used West Coast Sound and Light because it had a better product at a better price.

"They have excellent sound and lighting at very competitive prices," Ricci said. "Part of it could be their low overhead from operating in Modesto."

West Coast Sound and Light just quadrupled its space by moving into a 4,000-square-foot office and
 warehouse at 1019 Emerald Ave.

Doty had been running the business with his wife, Leslie, out of their home, and the gear was stored elsewhere.

"It'll be nice to have everything under one roof with central air and heat," Doty said.

His accomplishments in the unpredictable concert business have not been easy. He had worked as a computer technician at Chicago Title and taught traffic school to support his wife and 16-year-old daughter, Ashley.

But for Doty, West Coast Sound and Light is about more than a business.

"I was a sound engineer before I was a business," he said. "It's in your blood."

Bee staff writer John Cote can be reached at 578-2330 or jcote@modbee.com.

AT A GLANCE

COMPANY: West Coast Sound and Light

OWNER: Paul Doty

WHAT: A diversified production company that handles concert audio and lighting, retails pro audio equipment online, and installs custom audio systems

STAFF: Four full-time, 10 part-time

ANNUAL REVENUE: About $300,000

CONTACT: 1019 Emerald Ave., Modesto. 522-4896. pauldoty@wcsl.org; www.wcsl.org; www.proaudiodiscounters.com.