Karma Samtani

As an electrician by trade, Leon Doyle quite literally keeps Bowdoin running.

Having worked at the College’s eight-person electrical shop for the past ten years, Doyle plays a crucial role in repairs, maintenance and responding to the not-infrequent losses of campus power due to inclement weather in Maine. Doyle’s path to electric work started through a vocational course in high school; after graduation, he spent some time “soul-searching” before returning to the trades in his mid-twenties.

“I was working two jobs, and when I had free time, I was studying for my electrical license,” Doyle said. Since passing his master electrician’s exam, Doyle has worked as an electrician, first at a hospital in Maine, and, for the past decade, at the College.

At Bowdoin, no two days are the same for Doyle. From 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., his job takes him from the heart of campus to the Schiller Coastal Studies Center as he completes work orders, supports the College during events and makes sure that the electric infrastructure that sustains Bowdoin remains operational. His typical jobs vary—from inspecting and fixing bathroom fans in student dorms to setting up temporary power sources for large-scale events like Commencement and Lobster Bake. To put it simply: “If it has a wire or any type of electrical energy to it, chances are we’re involved,” Doyle said.

Doyle’s job doesn’t just bring him all around Bowdoin’s campus. It’s also given him the chance to connect with employees across various departments.

“Every shop uses electricity,” he said. “[So] you get to meet people in different areas with different strengths.”

For Doyle, this diversity is a highlight of the job.

“Somewhere else, [you’d] be crawling through a basement, talking to spiders. Not that I don’t crawl here, but [there’s] the opportunity to meet the sound guy. He does a job that I have a great interest in.… I think maybe that’s what I like about the job—the opportunity to see something different,” he said.

When he’s not working, Doyle is still forming strong connections with students and staff.

I first met Doyle when I was practicing at the Bowdoin Music Collective (BMC) for a performance with my band later that week. We spoke about our shared passion for music, and he listened and offered me pointers as I stumbled through chord progressions I had yet to memorize. As we spoke, I learned that he was in a band of his own, and that he’d frequent the BMC during his lunch breaks to work on shuffles and stick control.

But Doyle’s passion for music long predates his time at Bowdoin. He recalls starting to drum when he was seven or eight years old.

“My first drum was a GE washing machine,” he said. “I remember being a kid and hitting the side of the washing machine, and it sounded like a really big drum to me, so I used to play that. I think it kind of drove everybody nuts.”

At age 12, Doyle upgraded to his uncle’s U.S. Mercury Pro set from the ’60s and also began to explore music more, drawing on artists like Chuck Berry, Kiss and Led Zeppelin as early inspirations. A couple of years later, he joined a band called Rapture the Deep with fellow Mainer Marc Rodriguez.

“We used to sneak into a bar when I was underage and on open mic night,” he said. “It was a good time.”

After Rapture the Deep, Doyle was part of a number of other bands, playing both covers and originals, before he decided to take a break from music for a while.

“I got a bad taste in my mouth because they were drinking too much and all that. That’s not where I’m at when I play,” Doyle said.

But after being approached by an acquaintance to join a yacht rock band in 2019, Doyle decided to give music another shot.

“The first time I played with him, we were actually in the studio of a guy who was a founding member of Depeche Mode,” Doyle said.

Since that first practice, Doyle has recorded and toured with The High Road as their drummer, playing venues like Cadenza in Freeport.

Doyle is a man of many talents. When he’s not drumming, he’s dabbling in another art form—teaching shotokan karate and jiujitsu four times a week at the Wu-Hsing Shan School at Brunswick Landing. While he teaches all age groups, Doyle said that it’s “easier to teach kids traditional martial arts…, because they’re not so set in their ways.”

In the winters, Doyle supplements these classes with boxing lessons he teaches at the Bath Area YMCA.

When speaking about music, martial arts, his work or his family (Doyle has two daughters: According to him, “arguing with them really stinks because they’re very smart”), Doyle’s care and dedication are evident.

Perhaps the clearest example of Doyle’s commitment to his community and craft was when our conversation turned to the music scene in Maine.

“There’s plenty of really original people out there with great takes on things, and views and visions that never see the light of day,” he said. “It’d be nice to see nice people make it instead of the cutthroat ones. There’s a lot of cutthroat out there.”