EDM’s Top 10 Lighting Designers in the game [Part I]
In the current era of commercial dance music, producers and DJs have enjoyed life at the center of the spotlight. But it wasn’t always that way. Before the early millennium aughts, producers took a backseat to pop performers, often relegating themselves to the behind-the-scenes technical work in the studio. They were busy mixing, mastering, and synthesizing the musician’s body of work to perfection as artists enjoyed a front stage life of fame. In turn, the producer’s work would make pop artists more famous and further push them out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
With the “EDM”-boom of 2012, however, that all changed. Now DJs and producers enjoy rock-and-roller status, celebrity levels of fame, and pervasive influence beyond the decks. Little times, though, do audience members and music fanatics pause to reflect on those responsible for creating our beloved dance music artist’s spectacle spotlights.
Nowadays, one particularly vital and often overlooked piece of the live music experience are the lighting designers, creative directors, and stage technicians. Without them, there would be no stage spectacle. Without them, sound would have no visual dimension, and artists would just be performing in a dark room. Lighting is magical—particularly, lighting musical performances is majestic.
Therefore, Conscious Electronic is paying homage to the people behind the booth, the mathematicians and geometrists, the energetic light workers and visible light benders, the movers and shakers of the visual wavelengths. This is an ode to the industry professionals who bring us the 400nm to 700nm dimension—in fully radiant display, full definition, along the full ROYGBIV light spectrum.
Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are CE‘s Top Ten Lightning Designers in EDM.
Table of Contents
Michael Smalley & Gabe Fraboni (PHNTM Labs)
Has worked with: Martin Garrix, Shakira, Alison Wonderland, Pitbull, Bassnectar
Words by: Ryan Morse.
Michael Smalley and Gabe Fraboni are names that reverb far and wide across the world of stage production. As award-winning lighting designers (LDs), they’ve worked with just about everyone in the music industry—often switching between Pitbull and Bassnectar to working with Shakira and Martin Garrix simultaneously. But Smalley and Fraboni are so much more than your run-of-the-mill LDs.
“It’s not a bunch of buttons. It’s listening and being open,” Smalley said in an interview with We Howl. “It’s about an LD opening themselves up to this greater energy and servicing the music industry with as little ego as possible.”
The two are also the brainchilds behind PHNTM LABS, a Los Angeles-based design firm creating immersive, story-driven experiences.
Between the two of them, Smalley and Fraboni have been Creative Directors on huge music videos for Martin Garrix and Alison Wonderland, helped design the Pretty Lights Episodic Tour stages alongside TheLazerShark, and toured the world with the likes of Mariah Carey, Die Antwoord and EDEN.
Smalley told CE,
“I listen to the music relentlessly, it becomes part of my DNA. That’s the root of it, I have to feel the intention of the music in my core and allow it to make the choices in the moment. That homework listening is important.”
In the broader festival landscape, Fraboni has designed installations at Day For Night. Smalley has likewise contributed to the stages of HARD Summer and Electric Forest. Show business came naturally for Smalley given how he grew up as a theatre kid, had college scholarships for choir, and describes himself as a Phish head. “Chris Kuroda, the lighting designer for Phish and other artists, has been a huge inspiration for me,” Smalley onced told Samsung Harmon. “When he builds a moment, it’s not just about the cue hitting on time; it’s about the journey as well.”
Before he starts setting up the lights, Smalley says he always closes his eyes, listens to music and imagines what it will look like with lights: “I communicate a lot of intention with the physical focus of the light. Then, color combinations on top of that seal the deal.”
Everyone knows that feeling of transcendence in the live music experience. The lights are so critical to this feeling. It’s as if all the physical senses perfectly sync up to move audiences onto the ethereal, other-wordly planes. When asked how he contributes to this feeling, Smalley told us rather point-blankly, “in all things I do.”
“I’m trying to serve the music and the vibe it elicits. You’re accenting as well as counterpointing what’s happening sonically. But you’re serving the music and that unique moment in time as truthfully as possible. For me, it takes me letting go of myself and my consciousness and allowing the energy and the moment and that ‘Magic’ to just do its thing. It’s as if I’m just a conduit. When I achieve this to the best of my ability, I can’t even remember what just transpired when I finish.”
Follow PHTM Labs:
Greg Ellis (TheLazerShark)
Has worked with: Pretty Lights
Words by: Chandler Hyatt.
Greg Ellis, more commonly known as The LazerShark, has gained quite a lot of popularity and traction after spending many years touring as a part of the Pretty Lights project – more specifically, as the one and only Derek Vincent Smith’s lighting designer. Ellis opened in one interview, saying,
“The Pretty Lights project started really small in 2006 with college parties and small bars. The biggest misconception is that Pretty Lights is named after the stage show. Pretty Lights is Derek’s concept of observing the beauty in life, noticing the little things. His idea was much grander and the stage show just sort of followed suit as his popularity grew.”
Although Ellis falls under the lighting designer title, he does so much more than just that. Geoff Hanson, a writer for the Telluride Daily Planet, said after interviewing Ellis that “He [LazerShark] is responsible for everything that is visual in the show, from stage design to video, lasers to set pieces.” Under Ellis, there’s an eight-man crew that works with the lights and stage production.
On average, it takes about three or four semi trucks to move all of their extensive gear around from place to place. It’s honestly mind-boggling just how much goes into the production, but the hard work so clearly pays off. The amount of time and energy that they spend making sure that these shows are as special as they are doesn’t go unnoticed, and as Pretty Lights gears up for a comeback Ellis will be right back to doing what he does best.
Follow TheLazerShark:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Steve Liberman (SJ Lighting)
Has worked with: EDC, Ultra, Coachella
Words by: Maggie Johnson.
Steve Lieberman, head honcho of SJ Lighting, is a true industry titan. Serving under the official production company for world-renowned festivals like Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Coachella, as well as iconic nightclubs from Miami’s LIV to Las Vegas’ Marquee, Lieberman personally designs more than 70 lighting setups a year.
It wasn’t always that way. Flashback to 1995 in New York, Lieberman would be tearing up the streets via rollerblades, knocking on doors for any type of back-of-house gig he could get his hands on. “I fought really hard to get where I am, nobody handed me anything,” Lieberman said in an interview with Vice. Little did he know, five years later he would sign with EDM giant Insomniac Events, striking the deal that would lead to his eventual empire.
The visual element of what’s going on creates a very tangible, emotional connection to the music. When things happen when they’re supposed to happen—the video, the light, those big drops and moments in the music—it means everything to the audiences. That’s what gives you chills down your spine. That’s what makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Some of Lieberman’s proudest projects have been for his longtime client Carl Cox, a pioneer of acid house and techno beats. While other artists have more singular tastes (take Knife Party and their affinity for red lights), this British DJ gives Lieberman the creative license to work his magic, as demonstrated in this video:
Follow SJ Lighting:
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn
Alexander Hesse
(A Light Production)
Has worked with: Swedish House Mafia, Kygo
Words by: Spencer Shannon.
From small underground warehouse techno shows to touring with Kygo, Alexander Hesse has had creative endeavors that both surprise and inspire. After starting off 2020 with assisting in the stage design performances at Disney World to designing lighting systems for names like Eric Prydz and Swedish House Mafia, Hesse has truly brought forth his creative dreams to fruition. Now serving as a media manager at A Light Productions, Hesse assists artists everyone across the dance music world knows and loves with taking their productions to the next level across the globe.
While oftentimes the main focus is on the artists touring during these events, the production requires extensive planning and coordination across all facets of the industry. Hesse gives us a glimpse into the creative process that goes on behind the scenes before preparing a production of this calibre:
We usually start with a creative meeting, discussing the artist’s vision. It’s an incubation process where I show pictures and movies from other performances and introduce new ideas and concepts. I usually draw my projects in CASTs Wysiwyg, allowing me to programme the lighting in a sartorial environment, complete with stage and everything. I edit in Photoshop and I also work with Vectorworks and SketchUp.
The fixtures were divided across eight screens known as “trusses”— all equipped with X4 S and LED panels. The fixtures were set to provide a smooth and beautiful viewing experience with an up-close-and-personal view of what Kygo was doing on stage.
All the fixtures were programmed by Hesse himself. “Having so many fixtures I could use them both for stage lights or crowd highlighting. I had a lot of options and the dynamic feel worked very well,” he stated.
Follow Alexander Hesse:
Website | Facebook | Instagram
Ian Davis
(Voyage Productions)
Has worked with: GRiZ, Jack Ü, ODESZA, Will Smith
Words by: Emily Mullins.
Most sets aren’t complete without an incredible display of lasers, visuals, and synced lights at varying speeds and planes that can seem out of grasp to the average human. In spite of how unbelievable some live production appears, it’s all very real and very intricately designed by passionate, technologically savvy artists. One of those talents is Ian Davis, an employee of Voyage Productions who’s landed time working with many of the best musicians in the electronic sphere.
The Denver, Colorado based creator has been working on well-known productions for over a decade. He’s hit major festivals like Spring Awakening, Sonic Bloom, and North Coast as well as doing individual projects for artists ranging from Skrillex to Bassnectar to Diplo. After attending art school in Chicago, he went on to do video design and visual jockeying for several years before graduating to where he is today: as Lighting and Video Designer for fan-favorite funk/bass artist GRiZ.
Davis and GRiZ have been paired up for over eight years, growing immensely together throughout the scene. Anyone who’s attended a GRiZ show can attest to the spectacular and flawless designs in his visuals and lights, and how well they often complement each other.
In the past, GRiZ was more dubstep heavy, and Davis used less LED screens with a focus on dominating light fixtures. More recently, though, GRiZ’s sound is known for being psychedelic, positive, and highly upbeat. and Davis evolved right alongside him by playing into this vibe with bright, high contrast colors and specialized features like LED bars.
