Knew Concepts Employee Spotlight

Hello there!

Tim Brady here, from Knew Concepts. I’ve been working at the shop since 2013 (that’s a lot of saws), and have witnessed it grow quite a bit. When I’m not assembling saws, I’m assembling songs, and for me that’s a 2 AM kind of deal. Luckily for me I’m on the 2nd shift! It’s great to work at a place that understands the “artistic” kind of lifestyle, and allows me to rearrange hours if I’m playing a show, or need to practice for one. My band has even practiced in the shop a few times. A flexible schedule is also great if I need to, say, travel to the other side of the planet.

Last August I had the opportunity to go to Malawi and Zambia, located in southeastern Africa, as part of a non-profit group working on humanitarian issues. My uncle Paddy Brady created the organization called H20, His 2 Offer, which is a Christian based project that works both locally and globally to provide support and opportunities to the homeless, hurting, and needy, with the goal to train people so they can in turn help others in the community. H20 projects include drilling wells, bringing solar technologies, educational materials and setting up training programs, medical supplies, farming tech, clothes, and the list goes on.

We did a lot of work at orphanages, prisons, women’s shelters, baby crisis centers, and let me tell you, it was profound. Most of our time was spent in Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. This was the first time I’ve used my passport. I’ve been across the United States, Hawaii, and Baja, but this was different. Since we were working with the locals, helping them tackle important issues, we got to see things firsthand. We walked with them through the villages, into their huts, and they would share their food with us. Malawians are extremely kind and giving, even with so little.

One job I had was to set up a sound reinforcement/recording business called H20 Sound. I organized all the needed equipment and we sent it over in a shipping container, to arrive before our group got there. In the sound world, to train people, you really have to physically show them, so we had a few gigs lined up. One of these gigs was at a huge maximum security prison in the capital city, Lilongwe, for a soccer (or football if you’re so inclined) tournament.

The prison held over 3,500 inmates, and our group was bringing a bar of soap and a toothbrush for each inmate (and prison guard), along with medical supplies and things of that nature. But I had to set up the sound system before the event. Which of course means being dropped off at the gate, alone, and directed towards the middle of the yard, unescorted. The guards with the machine guns stayed behind the fence. A sound system like this was never inside this prison before, and you better believe all the prisoners were interested. So it’s me and two of our African friends setting up this sound system powered by a generator in the middle of a maximum security penitentiary for 3 hours surrounded by thousands of inmates, just staring, standing a foot away. The razor blades on the ground were a nice touch too. During the event I got to go in the shade for a second, and someone gave me a coca cola.

Very surreal.

Another bizarre but amazing experience was when we held a surf contest with the local children on lake Malawi. Yes a surf contest, complete with trophies and medals. Lake Malawi is huge and full of deadly things, where one person a day is killed by a hippo. And they have crocodiles. And other smaller things just looking for a home. Inside you. So we went surfing! We set up the sound system and played half 60’s surf rock, half african dance music. We pushed hundreds of kids into waves for hours until the sun went down. We had it pretty organized surprisingly, structured so that the girls also had the same opportunities to ride as the boys. Every kid who participated got a medal on a necklace, the top two got trophies, and the winner got his own surfboard! It was amazing to experience the joy of surfing with all these kids, even if we didn’t speak the same language.

Anyway, I could keep going on, but maybe I’ll save some stories for another time. There is just one more thing I would love to share with you. One special person who helped us immensely out there is a young man named Peace Kapalo, who is a student at a college in Malawi. We couldn’t do what we did without his help, and now he needs our help to stay in school. I set up an educational fundraiser for Mr. Kapalo, and we’ll be doing videos as it goes along.

Please click on icons below to the right if you’d like to know more!

Thank you!

Tim Brady (with friend, Peace Kapalo)
Lead Assembly Operator,
Knew Concepts