DATES: Feb.-Oct., 2017. “A weekend-warrior schedule.”
THE DESIGN: “As we do festivals, fairs and clubs, the design needs to stay flexible, so I look carefully at fixture types, placement and purpose.”
“I carry a 40-foot mid-stage truss filled with profiles, beams and LED strobes to integrate with the house rig. We also carry five pipes of four small wash fixtures each to create moving ACLs and add those to the house upstage truss. Adding an upstage ground row of washes, profiles, strobes, riser toners and hazers helps keep a consistent show that merges with any house rig. Upstage, we use a video wall or go ‘old school’ with backdrops on traveler tracks.”
THE PHILOSOPHY: “A wise, exceptional LD (whom I call ‘Papa Nook’) once told me, ‘Let the band play the music, we just help emphasize the mood.’ This logic is perfect, especially for a classic rock band like Skynyrd, who could play with just the house lights on and fans would still love the show. I just help create the mood.”
BACK STORY
HOME BASE: “Cape Girardeau, MO.”
WITH THE BAND: “Since 2009.”
CAREER SPARK: “It sounds strange, but I’ve always been able to hear colors. I can almost taste mellow Congo blue and red combo along with those big hits of no color and ambers. I also play piano by ear with pretty good timing, so this helps in feeling and running the show. Once I realized how much lighting meant to me, I needed to get serious and learn how to make this visual yumminess happen. In 1999 I started working for a reputable lighting company and worked hard to climb that steep, vertical ladder, learning from as many as I could.”
FIRST INDUSTRY JOB: “As a bartender-turned-lighting ‘go-fer’ in a nightclub in Los Angeles in 1993. The nightclub was just being built, so I helped with the lighting install.”
FIRST GIG AS AN LD: “As a lighting director (not just a board op) with James Taylor, I was thrown in the fire to cover for his then-LD. The show was one big punt page on a console. Mixing lights was really what I was used to anyway from my club days.”
OTHER BANDS: “As an LD, I’ve operated for Puddle of Mudd, James Taylor, Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd.”
HEROES/MENTORS: “Patrick Woodroffe, LeRoy Bennett, Peter Morse, Marc Brickman. ‘Papa Nook’ (Richard Schoenfeld) was the first to ask, ‘You want to learn how to push buttons?’ ‘Really? Heck yeah!’ He explained what the buttons would accomplish and, more importantly, why.”
DESIGN INFLUENCES: “My heroes/mentors (above), and also Robb Jibson, Charlie ‘Cosmo’ Wilson, Oli Metcalfe, Steve Owens, Paul Hoffman, Libby Gray, Chris Kuroda and Bryan Hartley. I’ve picked up something from each.”
BEST ADVICE? “Pay it forward, treat people like you’d like to be treated!”
MAJOR RECENT LIFE EVENT: “My wife, Rebecca, and I had our first child in September (Rachel Vegas Tosarello), so now my time at home is even more precious than ever!”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?
