“I’m going through security, can I call you back?” asks Michael Souder as he jettisons his bag into an x-ray machine at LAX. Souder is currently catching a flight for a Jimmy Eat World gig next day in Chicago, but ten minutes later he calls back, business as usual. This is Michael Souder’s life, and he’s got it under control.

Not quite three years out of Full Sail’s Show Production & Touring program, Souder has already built a solid touring resume working for bands like Weezer, The Donnas, Sparta, Lollapalooza, The Ataris, OK Go, and A Fire Inside (A.F.I.). He’s also taken to the road to work on 2003’s Lollapalooza tour, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Saturday Night Live, the MTV Spring Break Tour, and The Roots Tour.

All that time on the road has given Souder plenty of time to define his career, and he’s settled comfortably into the role of monitor engineer – the live sound expert with the responsibility of making sure the band hears exactly what they need to on the stage. “I like that gig,” Souder says. “A lot of engineers just do monitors until they can find a front of house gig, then they switch over, which is cool. But I like the rush of [doing] monitors... you have to build a trust with the band. Somehow you have to find a connection with them, so that they’ll be confident you’ll do everything you can to make them sound good.”

Souder’s career shifted into high gear last summer, when he landed work as the monitor engineer for A.F.I. He had been working for The Donnas when he got a call from A.F.I.’s production manager. “[That was] the big jump,” Souder says. “[I went] from a management firm that had one band, to a giant management firm [Silva Management] that has big name groups like the Beastie Boys, Beck, Jimmy Eat World, Sonic Youth, and the Foo Fighters. I got a pay raise. It was a good move. I went from doing clubs to working arena venues, large venues.”

But Souder has been both lucky and smart in his choice of gigs – seeing the world without burning himself out. “Like right now, I’m with Jimmy Eat World and we’re going to Europe for 28 days,” he says. “There are four shows, and a lot of radio station and promo things. Lots of random down time – we always find things to do. After a month of touring, you become like a family and you hang out a lot.”

Although he loves his job, Souder knows that it’s his passion for touring that makes it all possible. “It’s one of those things where you really have to want to do this,” he says, “and you’ll find out real quick if you’re in it because you love it or because you want to be a rock star yourself.” He advises aspiring touring engineers to find an internship like the one he landed at Rat Sound and “be really open to do anything. Come out of school with the idea of [working as a tech], because there’s still so much to be learned there before you start mixing. The nice thing about teching is you can go out and learn on the smaller opening bands where it’s not quite so crucial to have a perfect mix.”

Souder looks forward to many more years on the road, and he remains excited about his accomplishments and the opportunities ahead. “You never know what you’re getting into,” he says. “It’s an adrenaline rush.”