I thought it might be fun to explain part of my profile today. What does "Psychostick Live LD" mean, anyway?
Well, it's simple! About two years ago, the band I was roadie-ing for, Psychostick, decided they needed someone to handle lights at their shows, and they promoted me from "roadie" to "Lighting Designer."
For context, these guys play small-to-medium venues, like large bars that have a stage and a big empty floor for the crowd. And lights, of course. Each of these venues has a completely different setup--different lights, different controllers, different commands on that controller.
Some bands travel with their own LD and "stage package," or lights and rigs that they bring along to each show. Psychostick is not one of them. Instead, it's my job to learn a new light setup during the few hours before the venue opens its doors, and between the setup/teardown/soundchecks. So "a few hours" can very easily become "30 minutes."
I sometimes compare it to a drummer not having their own drum kit and playing whatever the venue has. Sometimes, I have a basic kick, snare, and hi-hat. Other times, I have a broken kick, one-half of a hi-hat, and the snare is on the other side of the room. And very rarely, I have the full Danny Carey setup that I have to be lowered into via a crane.
To further demonstrate, I included a pile of pictures I've taken of the different consoles I've had the (sometimes) pleasure of working with.
And here's a video of the lights I did for these guys about a year ago. It's not often that I find a GOOD recording, so apologies for the sound quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgL-qwixU0g
#lighting #lightingdesign #stageproduction #theaterproduction #livelighting #livemusic #avolites #chamsys #grandma2