In PLSN’s quest to track down the next shining star in the live event industry, we point the spotlight on Matthew “Matt” Guminski, a New York City-based lighting designer, director and programmer as our next Parnelli NextGen candidate.
Right place, right time. There’s much to be said about that. But being prepared makes those moments happen, according to Matt Guminski. It was a “Dracula” theatre poster in his Catholic high school hallway that bit him (with the theater bug.) Soon, this teenage football player would trade the pigskin for production classes. “Pyro, beautiful sets and costumes,” Guminski recalls. “The lights spoke to me, moved me.”
He soon became the school’s in-house LD. Designing the rig and helping fellow student LDs program their shows lit the spark. “It was the perfect case of my career choosing me,” he says.
But first, he capped off his Boy Scouting career by achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout, completing wilderness survival skills and community service. “It teaches partnership, community, faith and support,” which carries through to his work ethic. “It means you commit to a project and give it your all. You may have 20 hours a day of programming, but you are committed, so you finish it.”
Knot tying aside, he really learned the ropes, so to speak, at Boston University. By sophomore year, he was an assistant master electrician/programmer. A year later, BU’s affiliated Huntington Theatre upgraded with an ETC Obsession 2, a Hog 500 and High End Systems moving lights. The fixture variety taught him how to select the right light for the job and turned him on to the Hog console.
During college, after a Dave Matthews Band concert, he introduced himself to LD Heath Marrinan at the FOH. “Heath gave me his card, and I reached out with general questions about concert touring and the Hog, to which he graciously answered,” Guminski says.
“I’m glad he appreciated my advice,” Marrinan says. “Words we say to young people can have a big impact on how they target their dreams.”
Targeting his Dreams to Concerts
Graduating in 2003 with a BFA in Lighting Design, Guminski immersed himself in a slew of theatrical shows and tours. From 2006-2015, he earned eight New Hampshire Theatre Awards for Best Professional Lighting Design. But passion doesn’t always pay the bills. He was working himself to the bone, burning out from low theater wages.
Matt found a new gig in a Boston theater that hosted concerts. There, he met Dave Wentling, production manager at South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA. Dave liked what Guminski was doing and needed an in-house LD. Was Matt interested?
“Learning proper touring etiquette and assisting touring LDs was an amazing experience,” he says. “However, busking a show for bands without an LD was what I lived for.” His busking is boosted by his bass-playing talents, as he taps into the rhythm section to feel where the song is leading. One evening of harmony happened with Robert Cray. “It was a hot steamy night, and the haze was perfect,” Guminski recalls. “I was so locked into what Mr. Cray was doing. I remember that feeling that I nailed that perfect show, and this was it! I had to pursue this.”
Shortly thereafter in 2011, a friend called. Alt-rock band, Neon Trees, was losing their touring LD and needed someone now. Was Matt interested? Matt had never worked for a band before, but he flew out mid-tour. Neon Trees opened up his world, and his next touring band was MisterWives in 2015. Same situation. Was Matt interested? “My first concert touring experiences were taking over for another LD, so, in the words of Rob Koenig, I learned some decorum!”
Guminski recalls more “right place, right time” moments. “In early spring of 2018, Matt and LD Marty Postma were on the Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas in France while it was finishing construction. Matt was working in the theater while Marty was designing and programming two ice skating shows. During that time, LD Dan Hardiman contacted Marty to ask if he could jump back in with Evanescence for the summer. The two had been switching in and out for a couple years at this point. Marty was already booked with Alice In Chains. Was Matt interested?
“Matt had impressed me with both his eye and programming skill, so I recommended him to Dan for the Evanescence tour,” Postma says. “Matt did a fantastic job stepping in.”
Says Hardiman, “He knows the Hog 4 inside and out, and that’s the most important qualification for my needs.”
As fate would have it, during Alice In Chains’ tour Postma was approached by Robe to join their team. It would mean stepping off the tour before it was done. Again, was Matt interested? Matt wrapped up Evanescence and picked up the reins for Alice in Chains.
Postma says. “I caught up with Matt and the tour again later in 2019, and it was awesome to see how it had evolved.”
Another right place, right time moment occurred during a Nashville dinner in 2019. LD Sooner Routhier was talking about needing a Hog console programmer to help with a cruise line gig. Across the table, Matt was pointing to himself. Was Matt interested! And the two started a new working relationship. “So this was kismet,” Sooner says. “Matt and I got along famously, and it felt like a good personal connection.”
Since his first Neon Trees tour in 2012 — whom he would work with for six tours — there were a string of others besides Mister Wives, Evanescence and Alice in Chains. He was lighting director for Maroon 5, Bush and Tesla, and lighting designer for CeeLo Green, Nick Jonas, David Garrett, Young The Giant, Percy Hill, Jon Bellion, JoJo, Tesla, and The Cult. Along the way, Guminski developed a relationship with High End Systems, becoming a Hog 4 beta tester and a certified trainer for ETC/HES.
Vision for the Future
The cruise ship project with Sooner Routhier is in a state of suspended animation due to Covid-19. LD Dan Hardiman had him lined up for some Evanescence media-server programming in Nashville, again just before the virus struck and the tour was postponed. For now, Guminski has been helping out in training webinars as the industry slowly opens up.
“I am grateful to be in this industry,” he says. “My favorite feeling is that moment when you get the ‘go for house lights’ — the crowd goes nuts, and I would get butterflies every night. I miss that rush going into the first down beat of the show. Hopefully we’ll get past all this and get there again soon.”
And here his Eagle Scout teachings come into play on as he finds new ways to offer community service. “Now I reach out to industry friends in the city, and I’ll cook quality meals for them,” Guminski shares. “In times like this, we need to be helpful in giving and loving. I don’t want to see people leave the industry.”
Guminski is preparing for whatever happens next. Whatever that may be, he’ll be in the right place, right time. Check him out here www.mglightingdesign.com.
