Matthew Perrin talks about achieving amazement.
Plenty of people in our industry wanted to be an actor, yet ended up studying technical theatre. But not many have toured as an LD for one of the biggest bands of the ‘70s, then quit to play in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And what if someone were to do both, then ended up working for a mouse? That’s the story of the multi-talented King of Congo Blue, Matthew Perrin.
PLSN: How did you get started in the lighting industry?
Matthew Perrin: I went to Bradley University, in Peoria, Ill., right after graduating from high school and elected to take theatre as a major. I started out as a carpenter building really nice sets. We built a special set for The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail that I will always remember because it had 22 different levels.
That got me started in the tech side, because I figured I wasn’t a very good actor, and we started playing with lighting as well. The next thing I know, I’m working for a rock band. They asked me to do their lighting, so I took it and ran with it. That was in 1971. By the end of 1972, I started using PAR Cans, 1000-watters, and I had to figure how to wrangle power. I ended up getting my own dimmer rack. And for a distro, I was using alligator clamps to hot panels to grab power and run all the PAR 64s. [Do not try this at home! – ed.] I probably had one of the largest systems anyone had seen in the bar scene. I had that maximum approach — I always put as many things together as I could.
That’s when Cheap Trick discovered me. I was working for a ‘50s revival act that was incredibly theatrical and really successful. We had shows where Bob Seger and Cheap Trick opened up for us. Our booking agent, Ken Adamany, ended up being the manager of Cheap Trick. For contractual reasons, and in order to work for Cheap Trick, I stopped touring with the revival group and went back to school in Madison, Wis., at the University of Wisconsin. There, I got to study under the late, great Gilbert Hemsley. Gilbert was the guru of Broadway lighting. It was a fantastic opportunity, and I learned a lot.
Finally, Cheap Trick got a recording contract and asked me to go on tour with them. I went to Gilbert and asked him if I should pass on the opportunity to stay and study under him. He told me that Cheap Trick was a great opportunity and I’d probably not get one like it again. He said, “You go and report to me, and I’ll give you all ‘A’s in your classes.”
Was your approach to concert lighting more theatrical because of your training?
Absolutely. I learned a lot about color. I studied the psychology of color when I was with Gilbert, and he was very good at teaching the fundamentals. The thing I still try to tell LDs that are learning is to pay attention to the basics. General illumination is your first job, the first element. The second element is specific lighting — areas, specials. The third element is color and special effects. I try to keep them prioritized, and that’s what I did with Cheap Trick. I applied a lot of what I learned theatrically to what I did with them.
At the University of Wisconsin, we had a color lab where you could just play for hours. I would go in and try different colors at different angles and intensities with different instruments. We’d study the elements of the light down to transmissivity, or what we called translucence — the “wow factor,” or chroma, to be exact. We’d break that down to chroma elements, or the relationship of intensity, color and saturation. I don’t think there are a lot of LDs around anymore that are aware of that relationship and try to use it. Those are the tools that I brought with me from my studies.
You are the self-proclaimed Congo blue King.
[Laughs]. That was what I got to be known for — it was my signature. When I started using Congo blue in the concert scene, other LDs told me I was crazy because they felt it took too much power to push enough Congo to make it useful. I found that Congo blue was that incredible link between colors that shouldn’t work side-by-side. It’s a double spectrum color; it has got red and blue in it. It’s warm and cool, and it can become a link. For me, it was the key to my palette.
Where did your career take you next?
I toured with Cheap Trick for five years. In the very beginning there were the bars, then the arena circuit and then outdoor stadiums. Of course, there was Japan and “Live at Boudokan!” We were doing outdoor concerts for 45,000 people. We played a show with the Who, in Nuremberg, Germany, for 85,000 people. I was production manager as well as LD. At one point, we had the world’s loudest P.A. and the largest indoor lighting rig ever. We had over 120K on the floor alone and a million-watt button.
Unfortunately, Cheap Trick got into some legal issues that forced them to stop touring, so we went our separate ways. Then I toured with Grand Funk Railroad for a comeback tour in ’81 and ’82, which was a fun experience. And after that, I got into production management. That took me into being a company manager for a ballet tour, for an organization called Columbia Artists Management, in New York. Our office was across the street from Carnegie Hall. I took out the Royal Ballet of Flanders, and we toured the nation, coast-to-coast, on a truck and bus tour. I ended up marrying a ballerina and moving to Belgium for 11 years.
Did you work in Europe?
I ended up being a musician over there. I was lead singer in my own band called Smoking Beaucoup. We really had a good run. We were the house band at the Hard Rock Café in Antwerp, Belgium and made a CD. We played all over Holland, Germany and France.
What brought you back to this side of the pond?
Divorce. It was time to come back. I had a kid, and the plan was to bring my son back to get an American education. I came back to Florida and figured I’d end up back in the industry. I thought Orlando would be an easy place to get back into the industry by working for someone like Disney. I was totally wrong about that, because when I first came back into town, it was tough to get any doors to open here.
How did you finally end up working for Disney?
I went to go see an Eddie Money concert in Orlando, and I was visiting with Eddie because we had a personal relationship. Eddie’s people urged me to get back into the business and to go work for this company in Orlando. So I went out and started doing a little rock ‘n’ roll and got up to speed on moving lights and Hog programming. Since we have the biggest convention market in the world, I started doing corporate lighting and tours. Then, this opportunity with PSAV (Presentation Services Audio Visual) came along last February. The Disney Event Group turned over the lighting and audio visual to PSAV. They approached me to be one of their lighting designers, but during the interview process, they found out my background in production and asked me to be a project manager.
And that is what you do today.
I am a project manger for PSAV at Disney Event Group. I work all the Walt Disney World owned and operated hotels. We’re doing shows for a lot of Fortune 500 companies, and we get involved with Disney’s creative process. It’s a wonderful opportunity. They’re probably the largest production house in the world. It’s non-stop, and I think I’ve done 40-plus shows since February of 2006.
What do they involve?
Not only the audio-visual presentation that we all do in the corporate world, and seems to be endless, but there’s also the entertainment and creative element. We just had Seinfeld, and we’ve done Aretha Franklin, Eddie Money and a lot of very special motivational speakers. It’s been a great experience.
Is it your job to coordinate the design team and act as the production/project manager for people that are coming into the hotels, ballrooms and convention spaces?
That’s accurate. We do a variety of productions. There are two sides: retail and internal Disney shows. The varying degree of creative depends on the event, of course. Sometimes, it’s simple — we have Mickey Mouse on the stage introducing the CEO of a corporation, to full blown theatrical production with scenic elements, orchestras, coordinated video, dancers and singers. And then you’ve got choreographers involved, directors, producers, music directors and pyro, all under one roof.
What best prepared you for this role?
The sum total of what I’ve learned over my entire career. This job taps our resources to the max. From my past experiences, I’ve learned how to plan, troubleshoot and run a crew. When you see the potential for failure, it makes you plan much harder to avoid it. Knowing lighting, rigging and a good deal about audio and video doesn’t hurt, either. It’s about bringing something with you to the party.
Now that you’ve lit the band, you’ve been in the band, you managed the production-side of the band, where do you see yourself in 10 years?
That’s a tough question to answer. I’d like to end up moving from project manager into a producer position of some sort. And it’s still hard not to do lighting — it’s hard to go to a concert and not say, “I want to do that” or “it can still be better.”
Any last pearls of wisdom?
Alice Cooper used to love to ask, “What can you do that’s amazing?” It makes you think.
