EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: James Bobel, Class Of 1987

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A member of the company that developed the groundbreaking audio technology that was key to the performance of the famed new Sphere arena in Las Vegas is proud to call Evergreen Park Community High School his alma mater.

“Evergreen Park had pretty much everything,” said James Bobel, a 1987 Mustang alum who now works as the director of sales in North America for the Internationally-based electronics manufacturer Holoplot, a company that bills itself as offering “unparalleled sound experiences through sound control.”

“(EPCHS) had all the sports, and a really great band program and arts program,” added Bobel, who was a member of the school’s jazz band under Mr. Rob Fund and played football for one year at EP.

Bobel’s auto shop teacher, Mr. Swan, Bobel remembers as having “the most commanding classroom presence I’ve ever seen in a teacher.

“No one could command teenage kids the way he did.”

But even after graduation, Bobel didn’t have a clear idea on a career path.

“I didn’t do particularly well in school until senior year,” he said. “So I didn’t go to college right away and worked for my father as a machinist.”

A few years later, Bobel decided to enlist in the U.S. Air Force, where he spent six total years on active duty and in the National Guard.

“The Air Force was amazing,” Bobel said. “The biggest thing I got out of it was that neither college nor the military is going to hand you a career. But I walked out of there with an incredible amount of confidence that I could do whatever I wanted to.”

At that time, that was a career in music. Bobel worked for the Guitar Center, a national company with many locations across Chicagoland, for 12 years. In this role Bobel said he had the chance to travel the world and was introduced to a number of connections in the sound industry.

So in 2007 he made the jump to that industry, and he’s never looked back.

He joined Holoplot earlier this year after working for other companies in the industry.

“Right now I’m working with some of the smartest individuals I’ve ever met,” Bobel said. “They are really cutting edge technologists, a really smart, kind and great group of people.”

He was part of Holoplot landing the sound deal for The Sphere, a circular-shaped entertainment venue that opened this year and was featured on the cover of Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2023.

It's an experience he described as "absolutely incredible."

"Being at the opening of Sphere of course was a big highlight; it was like witnessing the first space mission," he said.

While working for professional loudspeaker manufacturers, Bobel is grateful to have been involved with many other cool and interesting projects.

"I've been involved in a number of professional sports arenas including the White Sox and the Cubs," he said. "Tom Petty's last tour, Broadway tours including Hamilton. and a number of theater and venue installations."

“It’s not often that I’ll go into a place where I haven’t done sound for,” he added.

It’s a career he’s proud of, and one he would recommend in a heartbeat for current EPCHS students involved in music.

“The music technology industry is really looking for people, and we are really short on women in the industry,” he said. “For all the kids in band and theater, there are so many jobs out there. And the way into those jobs can start with volunteering at productions.

Working in the industry is so fun, he said, “I tell my friends that my weekdays are better than their weekends.”