At 34, Tyler Elich has already crafted fresh looks for projects that range from theater to comedy to huge arena pop shows. He has lit artists ranging from Bob Dylan, Janet Jackson and comedian Eddie Izzard to Fun, Sugar Ray and Everclear. He divides his time between drawing event renderings, corporate shows and designing and directing touring projects. He has been drawing for LD Paul Normandale for more than 12 years, and last summer he got a “dream” assignment: serving as lighting director for the Nine Inch Nails tour.
PLSN: You’ve been down a long road in a few short years it seems, but tell the readers how you first got started.
Tyler Elich: After getting involved with theater in high school, my first serious decision was to attend a college that could teach me fundamentals. So I attended Ithaca College in upstate New York and got a degree in Theatrical Lighting Design. Upon graduation, I knew I had to get my foot in the door, so I returned to my native Chicago area and applied for a job at a local lighting vendor.
So they hired you as an LD straight out of college?
You’re obviously kidding. I pulled cable, built touring rigs and did the manual labor that comes with being a lighting grunt. For five years, I served as a tech and crew chief on numerous trade shows and concert tours. Networking along the way, I finally got my first role as a designer and touring LD for a major act, Bob Dylan.
How did that work out?
He was an interesting man to work for, and I spent five years honing my craft. One day it was about 5 p.m., and Bob called me up to the stage. He said to me, “You see all this color surrounding me?” I replied “Yes,” and remarked that his scenery looked lovely, and the colored beams really accented his show. I’m not sure he heard me, because all he said was, “Get rid of it all.” Apparently he wanted black and white looks only. That gave me one hour until doors opened that night to fix all my cueing. After five years, I needed something more challenging and moved on.
I understand you’ve developed quite a reputation for your CAD drawing and rendering art.
I love to draw, and rarely does time go by when I am not immersed in drawing up visualizations for my projects as well as many other designers. I do a lot of work in Maxon’s Cinema 4D program. My job is fueled by passion. I try not to let money influence my decision on what gigs I take. And, of course, doing drawings for other designers feeds this passion, as I get to see how other like-minded people operate. For instance, I have been drawing for Paul Normandale for a dozen years now. I have learned so much about client relationships and lighting styles from him.
Paul is unique. I imagine he opened a few doors for you.
He has. At times I have found myself dealing directly with a band because of him. Years ago, I was doing renderings for a stadium tour. I did countless revisions and kept sending them to management for approval. This went round and round until it was all agreed on. I just assumed the band was looking at the revisions and making comments. Upon my arrival at rehearsal I met the band, and we chatted about the renderings, only for me to find out they claimed to have never seen them. They were fascinated that what I drew looked exactly like what was there on stage.
I understand you delved into comedy for a while. How was that?
Different than most people would think. I toured with Eddie Izzard, and just being around him, on the stage and off, was wonderful. He wanted a big rock show for an intro. So we had quite a bit of moving lights and trusses with a little video. For instance, the opening segment was a two-and-a-half-minute piece with over 150 light cues run via timecode. After that excitement, I would settle into a look for 10 minutes before the next change. This happened a couple times during the set.
Where else did you learn your chops?
After Dylan, I had the experience of directing a tour with Janet Jackson. Here I was going from a folk hero in intimate theaters to a full-on dance production in packed arenas with all kinds of scenic elements. For the first time, I had control over media servers and the content. Turns out they didn’t fabricate any new media for the tour, and I ended up choosing whatever I wanted from stock stuff I could get my hands on.
After that, I found myself as a designer for three bands on one tour using local gear. Punting for the likes of Everclear and Sugar Ray was fun as I learned the art of busking daily. Following that, I was a video programmer for the band, Fun, as well. Then I got my dream job. I worked last summer as lighting director on the recent Nine Inch Nails tour.
Tell us a bit about that.
Jason Baeri programmed the NIN show lighting, while the video was programmed by Loren Barton. They both give me a well-programmed show, yet still very easy to work with. Everything on the console was meticulously labeled and organized, making it very easy to quickly make changes on the fly when needed. The show was timecoded, but Trent [Reznor] would test us constantly, so it was necessary to do stuff on the fly to keep up with him. The grandMA2 is my console of choice, and seeing how others had programmed this show was very intuitive.
What’s next?
I like to divide my time between touring and doing corporate work. I love traveling and the people I get to add as friends, but when that starts to get old, it’s great to be able to light corporate events and sit in one place for a week. I’m excited to be in the midst of relocating to Silicon Valley with my life partner Jaysen. In my dream world, I envision setting up a collaborative design studio with a few like-minded professionals.
