Spotlight on Jim Yukich

Like many a young person growing up in the 1960’s, Jim Yukich was no stranger to music.

I started playing guitar in fifth grade and, like everybody else, I was influenced by the Beatles. Through high school I played semi-professionally in different bands.”

When he went off to college at Purdue University, however, Yukich had no intention of pursuing music as a career. “A friend of mine told me there was a jazz class you could take that taught jazz guitar. Since my early training was mostly involving jazz chords, I went for the audition and actually got into the jazz band.”

Soon thereafter, he met enough other like-minded musicians that they decided to put their own 9-piece band together and call themselves Chameleon. “Purdue, mind you, had about 48 different sororities and fraternities and they all wanted music for their parties. As a result, we had enough gigs going that it essentially paid our way through college.”

At the same time he was taking music classes in composition and theory, he also had an interest in television and film. “This got me thinking that maybe I could have a career in writing movie scores or doing jingles for commercials. Unfortunately, there weren’t any opportunities for that kind of work in my native Chicago and so I floundered for quite a while.”

He chuckles. “The ironic thing is that you almost had to hope for someone to die in order to get a slot in production because there were so few jobs. On top of that, the kind of counseling that students used to get in this field didn’t really prepare them for what kind of steps they’d have to take to break into the industry.”

What began as a summer vacation to California in 1980 brought a change of fortune. On a whim, he started applying at record companies and film studios and finally acted on the advice of his cousin to take a lower level slot that could at least get him in the door. “This is the same guy who told me I should call the personnel offices every day, learn some names, and get them used to chatting with me.”

After the fourth day of trying this strategy at Capitol Records, he landed an interview with the mail room. By coincidence, the hiring manager was from Chicago. “He liked that I was a ‘kindred spirit’ from the old neighborhood and not just another surfer dude. My cousin urged me to take the job because Capitol had really cool logo jackets!”

It was a chance for him to get to know everyone and learn what they did at the company. “Little did I know that a lot of people who worked there in high-level jobs had started out by distributing mail. This led to an introduction with the head of the video department. There wasn’t any money to hire me but he said that, if I wanted to, I come up and help out after work. I think I also endeared myself to him because he didn’t know how to program the VCR in his office!”

This soon segued into opportunities to edit music videos, shoot commercials, and do promos on bands being promoted around the country. “The development and expansion of our own in-house production company even got us our own building. For me, it was the best of all worlds – staying on top of music and also being able to use my degree in film.”

He reflects how 18 years managed to slip by since his band-playing days at Purdue. “Little by little, I’d discover guys in the community who had played just like I did and wanted to jam together in their free time. Before long we were not only practicing once a week but also attracting newcomers…and requests to play for local events and charity fundraisers.”

The popularity of “Palm Drive”(as they called themselves) grew quickly. So, too, did Yukich’s entrepreneurial passion for launching and jamming with additional bands, including his current one - an acoustical group called “Padres Trail”.

At one point, I had three bands going at once – no small challenge, considering all of us had day-jobs.” He points out that many people aren’t aware that doing gigs isn’t just about playing music. “It’s about the hours of set-up beforehand and loading everything back into trucks when it’s over. That makes for a long day, plus recruiting extra people – ‘roadies’ - to help out.”

For Yukich, one of the highlights of his musical career has been the chance to work with almost 90 percent of the popular artists he grew up listening to when he was a kid in Chicago. “Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, David Bowie – as a musician, it’s amazing how the doors opened that allowed me to hang with these guys, learn from them and get beyond just saying, ‘Hi, I’m Jim and I’m a big fan’.”

Yukich further divulges that his hands were Phil Collins’ keyboard double in a video for “Just Another Day in Paradise”. “Phil had to leave and we hadn’t finished all the close-ups but he said, ‘Hey, you know how to play it as well as me. No one’ll ever know.’” Yukich grins. “Who’d have thought?!”

These days, in addition to local gigs, he’s busy shooting concerts for broadcast and DVDs for Disney artists and “High School Musical” as well as comedy productions around the country.

His advice to the next generation of young musicians?

You’ve got to have a back-up plan to support yourself in a business as tough as this. The Internet has made it even harder for embryonic groups because so much out there is being given away and downloaded for free. It’s okay to put college off if you’ve got the chance to work with great people or travel around. Put as much time and effort as you can into it but don’t lose touch with reality. Last bit of advice? Be aware of the trends but strive to set your own and let others be the ones to follow you.”