interview: Constance -- the lights
At a recent gig by Suicide Mstation happened to be standing next to the lighting person and noticed that she was jamming with the band rather than just giving presets a press. This happens all the time, we guessed, but we hadn't noticed before. So, we thought we'd ask Constance from Washington, DC, a few questions.
How did you first get interested in lighting?
The lights I'm doing for bands is not something that I started off with, I have always wanted to work in the concert/rock industry. I began with crew work for a few companies outside of my degree course for Production Management and I enjoy doing lights on the side to keep things interesting and to add to the creativity of the shows.
Did you take any courses, or did you just start fiddling with the gear and go from there?
I guess I answered some of that in the first question- a bit of both I've had a lot of people helping me along the way.
Who was the first act you did lights for properly? How did it go?
Properly..? ehh..Can't remember! But Suicide was definitely one of the bigger ones. I thought it went well- but I think I made my self a bit motion sick with all the strobes...hah
Is lighting in the rock/pop world enough to keep you going or do you have to do other things as well?
Money wise-As a student I have to do other things as well. But there are people who make a living in their profession.
At the gig I saw you at, you were jamming on lights with the band. Cool! I guess with smaller acts, they might not have had a chance to even think about it and you're it. Have you had a mix of gigs where some are totally up to you, and others are rigidly pre-scripted?
Yes, this happens all the time, when you're not sure if the band has their own Lighting Engineer. But usually people are all pretty cool to get on with and we help each other out. At the end of the day we all have the same goal in mind for the success of a show.
Tell us about your favorite gig so far?
That's hard to say which one sticks out the most in my memory. Each gig to its own i suppose...depends how much preparation you put into it and the people you're working with. And it helps to know/like the band's music.
Some people go on about the different affects of different colors on people. Do you use any of that at all?
There are a few general rules of thumb out there when it comes to skin tones. I like to work with the mood of a song and the overall feeling I see/hear a band come across as while on stage
Could you run through the lighting board you used the other night and tell us what its capabilities are?
From what i remember it was an Avolites desk Pearl 2000. And from what you saw in the rig that night, it did not do justice to the capabilities of this desk. Youll find it used at large scale festivals and to small venues.
Thanks a lot Constance.
You can book Constance for lights/crew work at redevil715 *at* yahoo.com She's in England/Europe right now.
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