THE DESIGN: “Greta Van Fleet is influenced by the music of the heyday of rock ‘n’ roll. I went into the design with an old school vibe in mind — not a lot of movement, but relying on intensity and color. For the initial leg, I’m using five pipe and base towers with zoomable LED pars toward the top and LED battens at the bottom. Between the towers are old school style big round studio lights supported by grip stands. Some hybrid beam spot fixtures remind us we’re in the 21st century.”
HOME BASE: “I have been back where I grew up in Kansas City, MO for some years now.”
INDUSTRY YEARS: 26
CAREER SPARK: “Initially, I just wanted to be on the road, not really sure how, why, or what. At first I thought I wanted to be a sound guy. After working as a hand for a while, the lighting guy at a benefit concert let me mash some buttons and I was hooked.”
FIRST INDUSTRY GIG: “I received a call in my dorm room when I first went away to college from the TD of the new PAC. They needed bodies. A high school friend told them that I was the guy that was always up in the catwalk for school plays and musicals. The first production to come through was Lyle Lovett. I had no clue what I was doing, but loved it!”
FIRST GIG AS AN LD: “Asleep at the Wheel, 1995.”
HEROES/MENTORS: “The last handful of years have allowed me to grow my friendships with amazing designers such as Paul “Arlo” Guthrie, Susanne Sasic and Dan Hadley. They always seem to be working on projects in which I’d love to be involved.”
DESIGNERS WHO CATCH YOUR EYE: “I recently caught Gigi Pedron’s Queens of the Stone Age show and was blown away.”
BEST ADVICE: “If you want to be a designer/director, don’t rush it. Let it happen organically. The fact that I spent the majority of my career as a tech has led me to where I am today. I look back at some of the choices that I made when I was younger when I ‘knew everything’ and want to kick my own butt.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? “Just that — I like that I like what I do, and I am thankful every day to do it.”
