By Steve Bornhoft
Chaos Audio CEO Landon McCoy likes to attend the NAMM Trade Show, conducted annually in Anaheim, California, as a way to connect with buyers, retailers and distributors of products of interest to musicians.
It is at one such NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) event that McCoy met Volker Buchele, the chief operating officer at B4 Distribution, a 35-year-old distributor of musical instruments and professional audio equipment located in Remagen, Germany.
Buchele immediately took an interest in McCoy’s product, the Stratus guitar pedal, a device that enables players to choose effects and presets via a mobile map, thus eliminating the need for multiple clunky pedalboards.
For McCoy, finalizing a U.S. distributor had to come first. But now, a couple of years later and following a second meeting at NAMM, the Chaos-B4 relationship has been formally established. Chaos has a presence on B4’s website and has furnished B4 with product. B4 has begun to push the pedal through stores.
For McCoy, who is his business’s only employee, having a European based pedal-pusher has been a big step. And he hasn’t stopped there. He has reached agreement with the MVM Company, which distributes musical equipment and software in efforts to “advance the music industry” in South Korea.
In a prepared statement, MVM enthusiastically described its relationship with Chaos.
“Imagine a world where learning guitar is as thrilling as performing on stage,” the statement begins. “At MVM, we’ve discovered just that with our latest partner: Chaos Audio.
“We’re not just excited; we’re honored to join forces with Chaos. Their cutting-edge approach is set to redefine the music landscape, and we’re thrilled to be at the forefront of this sonic boom.”
McCoy has good reason to be proud of Chaos Audio’s relationship with B4, a business that carefully chooses the manufacturers it partners with. In selecting brands with which to align, it places a premium on “innovation and quality,” its website emphasizes.
“The whole team at B4 Distribution looks forward to working with Chaos Audio and helping them achieve a successful future with their product portfolio,” Buchele said. “Their hardware and software will certainly find its way to many pedalboards, rehearsal rooms, studios and stages.”
