Jack Garratt [2019] - Live Rig Designer, Ableton Programming
Jack and I have worked closely together for several years now.
This year, Jack came to me in advance of an intimate 'preview' show he would be doing to tease some of the upcoming album and to get back on stage after a good deal of time away.
Using Jack's collection of analogue, and digitally-controlled analogue synths, we built an intimate, wrap-around multi-instrumental rig that gave the new songs their own platform, different from what's been done before.
This time, instead of meticulously planning the rig, we got all the toys in a room and started from there. After a few days of solid engineering and gruesome Ableton programming we had a show, and what an amazing show it was too.
The next mission: to get the 2020 touring rig nailed down and ready to face the road!
Back in 2017, I was sat in Tel Aviv working on some software development when I got a very coy phone-call from probably the loveliest man in showbusiness; Mr Alex Vargas.
He asked me if I would consider coming out of musical retirement to play a 'little bit of keys' ready for his busy festival season, and I could do nothing but say "Absolutely F*cking Yes".
Not being a 'proper' keys player, this gig was an amazing kick up the butt, but we went on to grow the band with me as MD, adding new elements and in 2018 I was flexing all the creative muscles I have; playing Drums and Keys in the arena show. Not only that, I got to do it with the loveliest touring crew I think I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Alex Vargas [2017/18] - Keys / Drums / MD
In 2015 I began working with Jack amidst - what quickly became - an incredibly busy summer festival season. As his popularity sky-rocketed and the demands of his stage show and touring schedule meant it was time to build a more robust rig, I began by reworking Jack's stage-set-up ready for his first headline tour of the USA, and our working relationship blossomed.
From there I stayed on as monitor engineer and technical manager, working closely with Jack and equipment manufacturers in early 2016 to build his custom wrap-around instrument rig. Its associated MIDI processing and audio systems are vast and complex and include custom-built auto-switching facilities as well as state-of-the-art broadcast-quality equipment.
Jack Garratt [2015/2016] - Live Rig Designer, Monitor Engineer, Technical Manager
Recently I have taken on some exciting fledgling projects, such as this band; Jagara.
As well as working with the girls as musical director in order to shape their live show and indeed hire the right session players, I actually tour-managed and mixed FOH for their shows supporting Bastille on their UK Arena Tour at the tail end of 2016.
It was the first time the band had played to such large crowds and it was such a pleasure to work with them and guide them through the process; from first band rehearsal to the O2 arena in under two weeks! Check them out; they're a fantastic band writing incredibly catchy tunes.
Jagara [2016] - Musical Director, FOH Engineer
One of my first ever gigs in Professional Live Music Touring was working on the 3D Film production of Jennifer Lopez' Tour Film for her Dance Again world tour.
With 22 3D camera positions and a remote 'convergence' engineer for each camera, the film unit communications requirements were enormous and it was my gig to make sure every operator could speak to each of their grips, their convergence engineer in the truck, their camera engineering team (for painting) and of course hear their director, cues and music tracks in an arena full of 50,000 screaming fans. Perhaps one of the toughest gigs I took on early in my career but none-the-less one of the most rewarding.
