This year marks the 40th anniversary of Solotech, a company started by two audio guys from Canada. While neither of the original owners are involved anymore, the business has thrived, branching into lighting and video over the years to become a one-stop shop.
The first three offices were in Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City. Over the past 10 years they have located offices in Las Vegas and Nashville to further suit their clients with gear on both sides of the border.
The recent addition of the new 167,000 square foot building in Dekalb, IL, 65 miles west of Chicago, represents a dramatic expansion in the Canada-based company’s ability to back U.S. tours, starting with 80,000 square feet devoted to video production.
And it opened just in time to give a boost to the curved video looks that are a key part of the visual design for Chicago native Chance the Rapper’s current “Be Encouraged” trek (see “Designer Insights,” this issue, page 34). The design team was able to set up and program some cues before the whole production moved 20 miles down the road to the Sears Center for proper production rehearsals.
Tighter Border Restrictions
Lee Moro, head of the Nashville operation, spoke about the need for this facility. “We started as a Canadian company. But I have been in Nashville for eight years, and Dean Roney has been running the Las Vegas location for longer,” he began.
“Neither of these locations are close to our Canadian shops, so when the idea of opening a shop centrally located in the U.S. came about, I knew it was a good decision. While the people at the border are certainly aware of Solotech as we cross so often, we do believe that borders have become a concern in recent times and they will get tighter. To have a hub that is still in America but centrally located to all of our facilities was a smart choice.”
The company’s video operations are already filling close to half of the new facility’s space. Moro expects lighting and audio gear to be filling much of what’s left by year’s end. “Half of the place is sitting here empty, and we figure to fill it sooner or later. But what we enjoy at this facility is having the space to fly and tech a whole system — even do rehearsals.”
Non-Virtual Previz
While the trim height wasn’t quite high enough to hang the full production for Chance the Rapper’s tour, it still worked well for what the group wanted to do — put the lights and video through their paces, with the audio setup off to one side.
PLSN asked Chance the Rapper LD Michael Apostolos about his experience in the facility. “Everyone there was amazingly helpful and the gear was all reliable,” Apostolos says. “Anything we needed, they had, or obtained quickly, and there was a lot of things we did that couldn’t be done in most other lighting shops. The place is massive,” he continues. “I bet five acts could be setting up there at once.”
As for the trim height, it “really wasn’t an issue for me, as we tucked most of it in and I can imagine what things will look like at full scale,” Apostolos adds. “I did not want to do previz on this show,” he continues. “I wanted to program the looks on the actual rig and nail it the first time. I was able to program the entire show at Solotech, so by the time we got to rehearsals all I had to do was some focus and run throughs/edits with Chance as stuff changed. I have to commend Lee, the Solotech account rep, for taking care of us so well.”
We asked Moro how Solotech became involved with this artist. “Jeff Kicklighter is working as their production manager. His hiring is a story in itself, as he works for AEG as a promoter rep in Chicago and knew the act. He and I have worked on events for a few years and always enjoyed working together. He called me to chat about production options and the fact that we could solve all his audio, video and lighting needs with one phone call certainly helped facilitate the process. When I mentioned that we were opening a new facility where we could tech all the gear close to the artist’s hometown, it was appealing. So here we are.”
But Why Dekalb?
How the specific location for this facility came around can all be attributed to a well-known account rep named Todd LePere, a state university in their backyard and Upstaging (another great production company) across town.
Todd ran the main Nocturne Productions office in Dekalb from day one in 2005 when Bob Brigham decided to move everything from San Francisco to where his family resides, where the land is cheap and where he could affordably expand this great company to what is was when sold to PRG. It was a cramped old building that cranked out video systems, “and we were damn good at it, too,” said LePere.
When Nocturne was acquired by PRG in 2011, several of the old guard were kept on board for five years to smooth the transition. After that time, decisions were made for the touring division to go in a different direction than already established and, according to LePere, “it was time to move on to the next opportunity with hopes to keep all our great touring staff working.” Since LePere was not on any contract or a non-compete agreement, “It was time to try my talents elsewhere.”
Suddenly unemployed, LePere thought about friends and options. After 11 years looking after tours and crewing, he knew quite a lot of people. The entertainment business is fueled by relationships a lot more than gear specs. Knowing that Todd had their backs for so long appealed to a lot of production managers as well as LDs.
Todd had known and respected Dean Roney for some time as an associate in the same business. Todd reached out to him offering Solotech his services. As it often goes, the old clients were calling Todd directly, asking for help with quotes on shows and gear. Despite the fact he left his old cell number behind, his contacts still managed a way to search his new info and continue business moving forward.
Staffing Up
With all the extra work LePere would be bringing to Solotech, the company, naturally enough, would need more employees. When the idea of opening a new facility in Dekalb was brought up, Todd knew there was great talent in this small college town, and to leave would be foolish.
“The transition over to Solotech was seamless, the support from Canada and now-quickly-expanding U.S. has been amazing, and it all could not be possible without the touring crew and support staff,” LePere says, clearly happy with his new digs.
“I can definitely appreciate the quality of work again, now that it’s not just about the quantity,” he says. “I was also very happy and relieved to find out from day one at Solotech, that they consider their touring staff and shop support staff their most valuable assets.
“We would be nothing without them,”
LePere continues. “Every day they are the ones on the floor with the production manager, and if you don’t have the right people, you won’t be asked back.”
Moving Forward
Lee Moro chimes in at the end. “Every week all of us that lead one of the shops have a conference call. We discuss how to serve our clients better. Todd has been a great asset. He will run the Dekalb office now, and we can use that facility as a central hub to all of our other locations. Having a facility here, where Chance could get a head start on his tour, was something we are proud of,” Moro adds. “That whole camp, well, they’re just sweet people. As for their LD, for 22 years old — the kid is sharp and doing some cool stuff out there. It’s our honor to assist him in any way we can.”
For more information from Solotech, visit www.solotech.com.
