Episodes

Glenn Roggeman is the CEO of The AED Group. He founded AED in Belgium in 1985 as a dry-hire rental company for lighting and sound equipment. Today, the AED group is a major player in the audio-visual market in Europe, employing more than 300 people in eight countries - Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy and United Arab Emirates. In 2013, Glenn acquired AED Studios and transformed it into the most eco-friendly entertainment complex, catering to film and TV production...

Talk about career spans - Dan Braun started his legendary career path more than 45 years ago. In fact this year will mark Dan’s 30th year working with mega-act, Metallica where he remains their Show Director today - while delivering the best show he can to their massive audiences around the world. Longevity in this industry isn’t by accident, and Dan is no exception. This episode is brought to you by ACT Entertainment and GearSource .

Matthias Hinrichs is a Product designer and innovator. Specializing in the Obsidian Control Systems for Elation Professional. Matthias has a focus on user experience, usability and workflows to make complicated tasks easy and fun for the user. As a product manager for lighting control systems he was tasked to analyze the creative process of lighting and visual design so it can be programmed into computer systems fast and efficiently. The challenge of managing tens of thousands of control paramet...

Richard Cadena is an ETCP Recognized Trainer, an ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician with over 36 years of experience in live event production. He is the author of several books, and the technical editor for Lighting and Sound America, Lighting and Sound International, and Protocol magazines. As a freelance lighting designer and lighting consultant he has worked on concert tours, television, theatre, motion picture productions, sporting events and more. His latest projects include supplying...

Josh Allen has been actively contributing to the lighting industry for more than thirty years. He held the position of principal consultant with Theatre Consultants Collaborative (TCC), where for over a decade, as member of the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC), he consulted on the design of hundreds of performing arts venues throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond. In 2016, Josh co-founded 3LR Design, Inc. His projects range from ship-wide lighting and controls systems des...

Thomas Kubik started his career 28 years ago and took the classic course from stagehand to behind the console and touring. He has been touring since 1999 with Euro and metal bands including InFlames, Nevermore, Arch Enemy, Fear Factory, Angra, Lacuna Coil, Moonspell and Chimaira. Thomas has been extremely lucky to travel to pretty much all continents. Thomas has been with InFlames for 25 years in June as their Sound engineer and Tour Manager or in Thomas’s words, the babysitter. Thomas loves cof...

We are very happy to have Mickey Curbishley back on the Podcast, the last time he was on the show was back in September 2019. You can listen to Mickey’s previous Podcast recording on Spotify episode #45 and hear all about how he got into the industry by selling t.shirts on tour with AC DC and his first Lighting Tour with Sir Elton. Stories from growing up with his legendary father who was the tour manager for The Who, Robert Plant, Jimmy page etc Five years later we are going to hear everything ...

Todd’s career spans more than 25 years with firms varying in size from $1M to $3B in revenues, with over 18 years in executive leadership roles, working with both startups and established companies to guide strategic and operational growth, acquisitions, turn-arounds, and business sales. Really smart guy with a very patient and collaborative approach to business. An asset to any company looking to grow, work through change management, and more. Episode 230 is brought to you by Elation Lighting a...

Marian Sandberg Started doing PR for Jack Kelly/Group One in 1996 and barely left the industry since! Marian has diverse work experience spanning several industries and is currently the Vice President & Market Leader for LDI, DSE, and XLIVE at Questex. Prior to this, Marian worked at Informa from November 2016 to December 2019 as the Content Director for the Live Experience Group, where she was responsible for digital editorial, content strategy, video production, and conference content. Marian ...

Rocko was Stage Manager for 30 Years for U2, recently visiting The Sphere in Las Vegas where he saw the gig from FOH. The first time he had ever watched a U2 show from the front, as a punter, as a fan and looking at the band’s faces vs their backs! Rocko has retired from the road since 2019 but has continued making music. His most recent video was a rendition of Sex Is on Fire by Kings of Leon, uploaded to his Facebook page on Valentine’s day. This episode is proudly sponsored by ACT Entertainme...

Paul established himself as an industry visionary, one of the early leaders in Fiber Optic lighting solutions and a go-to-source for high-tech, high-touch creative lighting solutions for, working with high profile jobs including the Grammy awards, Broadway shows and major concert tours. After selling his company in 2007, Paul reinvented himself as consultant, author and motivational speaker. He wrote a book, Blue Collar Buddha based on Winning Wisdom Gained on a Journey from Flight Attendant to ...

Creech has been in the industry for over 40 years. Steven started as a stagehand in Dallas and then his first BIG tour was with Motley Crew in 1985. Stevens' career just kept on getting better and better, working with incredible artists such as Metallica, Scorpions, Rush, Elton John, Bob Seger and Aerosmith to name but a few. Now with Premier Global Production Company for 24 years, Steven has applied a hands-on approach to each lighting project he has been involved with. Customer service is the ...

Jean has been in the business since the 80s, starting in theater and clubs. He was able to work under the tutelage of his very first mentor, Jacques Tanguay. It was with Jacques that he learned all aspects of fixing, hauling, hanging, and designing lighting. Life began to change when Jean was invited to work at a major club in the Czech republic, where he lived for 2 years. It was there, he became acquainted with the folks at High End Systems, due to his use of Intellabeams at the club. On an in...

Eric is the principal designer and creative director at Crossfade Design. He got his start in the industry at the ripe age of 14. His mom was a rock singer in the Dallas area and he would help in the lighting and sound booth at her shows. By 16, he was working for a lighting company, building dimmers and consoles from scratch, and renting his own equipment to local bands. At 18, he was the LD for George Strait. Today, Eric’s robust portfolio includes live events at arenas, convention centers, cr...

Marsha Stern is an award-winning lighting designer, programmer, technician and production manager who’s career began in NYC in the music business and spans the NYC Nightclub and Special Events circuit from the late 70’s through the mid 90’s when she began to pioneer using automated lighting and entertainment technologies in architectural lighting design. Today, Marsha continues to take on design projects, while also focusing on her work dedicated to Roy Thode, an iconic DJ from the glory days of...

Jim has had a nearly four-decade journey in production and project management roles within the live entertainment and music touring industry has had him working alongside artists as diverse as Linkin Park, Hootie & the Blowfish, Back Street Boys, the Bolshoi Ballet, Phil Collins, and most recently helping to lead the delivery of entertainment mega-projects inside Saudi Arabia including the first-ever international music festival in the Kingdom in 2018. He was on the stage in 1992 when James Hetf...

Matthew is a Boston Massachusetts native and resident of Astoria New York. He's a Lighting / Production Designer, Lighting Director, Programer and owner of MG Lighting Design. Matt holds a BFA in Lighting Design from Boston University, and throughout his career, has worked for various styles and sizes of shows including Theatre, Dance, Industrial, Corporate and Concert Design and Direction. This episode is brought to you by and .

Tom Stimson is a Business Advisor, Coach, and Speaker who works exclusively with hands-on owners and management teams that want to improve their decision-making and elevate their strategic thinking. His Intentional Success® framework has helped hundreds of companies remove the clutter of past decisions and focus on better goals with resolute efficiency. This episode is brought to you by and .

Jamie cut his teeth in the automated lighting field, first as a touring lighting tech and programmer, later working directly for a couple of lighting manufacturers. He took a run on cruiseships, and finally decided he wanted to operate his own business. Jamie's business' including lighting, staging and generators but a new hobby and new passion, coffee, eventually became his business. Today, Koffee Kult is a growing brand and its loyal drinkers include our host, Marcel, who drinks our own Geezer...

Exactly 5 years ago today, I launched Geezers Of Gear with a mission. Myself and an employee who would serve as the co-host, would be two old guys (Geezers) talking about gear. Hence "Geezers Of Gear". But then, something happened. People immediately started reaching out saying "I wanna be on Geezers Of Gear - I am a Geezer". The geezer tag shifter from myself to the guests! And it was SO much better than originally intended. Instead of talking about gear, we were talking about the incredible pe...

Nick and his company, currently being rebranded "Live Redesigned, formerly known as Fireplay - are innovators and leaders in the lighting and production design space. He's worked with Metallica, Coldplay, Carrie Underwood, Aerosmith, Billie Eilish, Justin Timberlake, Rihana, Beyonce and many more. This episode was brought to you by and .

Emily Bornt is a lighting designer, currently living in Los Angeles. She started her career in New York as a lighting technician, and moved cross-country to pursue her love of lighting design for concerts. She has kept a diverse resume and list of clients. Recent projects include lighting design for Demi Lovato and Brandi Carlile, and lighting programming for Idina Menzel and the AGT residency in Las Vegas. Previous projects include lighting designer for Lil Wayne, Perfume Genius, Falling in Rev...

George's career began in 1982 with his own "side hussle" while still going to school in his new hometown of Dallas Texas. Eventually, through a lot of hard work and chance meetings, George was able to land a gig at his only target, Varilite. He managed to turn that into a highly successful 22 year run with many roles and accomplishments, before moving in 2012 to ACT where he became the lead guy for Claypaky. When Claypaky and ACT separated, George continued on with CP where he remains today! And...

A pretty great collection of interviews beginning with Eric Loader from , then Daniel Anderson, , Ben Saltzman, , Brad Nelms, and finally, Rick McKinney from . Each of them shared their thoughts on the year that just was, and of course, 2024 as well. Some great business insights here. And of course, we're filled with gratitude for these companies, some of whom have sponsored the podcast since the very beginning. THANK YOU!!!