Story by Collette Levesque
Photos by Mason Trinca
The venue opened at 7 p.m., but the first disk jockey set doesn’t start until 8 p.m. The dance floor won’t be fully packed until dark and it definitely won’t clear until 3 a.m. It’s a three-DJ rave featuring trance, dubstep, and ambient house music. If the location allowed, the DJs would play until sunrise, and at some venues, they do. The lighting and sound crews, who have been working around the clock, watch as crowds of people begin flowing into the theater. The night has just begun.
The lights, which are the show’s heart and soul, have been tested once, twice, and even a third time. They dim, and the crowd roars, signaling the start of the first DJ set. A flash of colored light explodes and it’s now up to two professionals: the DJ at the turntables and the most important person behind the scenes— the light producer, Michael Bowles, who alters the audience’s view of reality.
Bowles, who works with the Eugene-based Renaissance Raven lighting production company, says he lives for the moment the lights dim. For Bowles, lighting allows audiences to interact beyond just music, hopefully inspiring them to take a journey. He strives for a style that is interactive and psychedelic. “By being able to see what I can express through peoples reactions, lighting becomes more and more intriguing at every show,” Bowles says.
Lighting at electronic shows first became popular in the United Kingdom when warehouse parties dominated the underground scene, says DirtyElectroSounds music blogger Adam Doogan-Smith. These desolate warehouses often had no electricity, so organizers brought their own stage sets, lights, and generators. “Lasers and projectors were the perfect solution because they provided just enough light to see your immediate surroundings and to offer an awesome visual experience,” Doogan-Smith says.
Since then, music and lighting have become increasingly intertwined. Most audiences become absorbed by the music, although they may not understand that behind-the-scenes artists like Bowles make the experience more intense. He and Doogan-Smith agree that lighting is much more than a pretty display: Well-designed lighting allows people to interact with art and helps create a social atmosphere. “The lights aid in creating the atmosphere that audiences have come to expect at a show. There is an allure of walking into a partially lit room to dance with friends and strangers to music that you really enjoy,” Doogan-Smith says.
During an appearance at The Cornucopia Maize Lounge in Eugene, Bowles created a light projector that manipulated images of flowers. The installation wasn’t large, one could change the projector screen with just a few knobs, twist, and twirls. Bowles chose to use flowers because he believes people can connect with them and become intrigued with the idea of transforming an everyday object. “Lighting doesn’t need to be grandiose, but the best producers create deep compositions and engaging performances, which in turn, enhance the DJ set,” Bowles says.
The evolution of live performances has dramatically changed audiences’ interaction with music, Bowles says; people don’t go to concerts just to listen to music anymore. In some cases, he explains, “Shows have become so intense that you can’t even see the artists— they’re hidden by LED mats.” The mats, made of a LED matrix—a board with four to 10,000 or more lights—creates a screen of sorts that projects words or flashes, boosting a viewer’s eye interaction. Bowles’s stage setup typically consists of 48 LED bars, dimmers, strobes, and lasers. “Lighting really isn’t that tricky, but the emotion or the inspiration of a lighting designer can take something typical and make it an art piece,” he says.
Bowles, who is now 22, got hooked on stage lighting at age 15 during a visit to Portland, Oregon, where he was introduced to the band Four Tet. The band became one of his biggest influences and led to an interest in dubstep and ambient trance genres. “There is a sense of intelligence and awareness about electronic music,” he says. This newfound realization inspired Bowles to find new ways to apply lighting techniques, so when he moved to Eugene, he learned light production as a volunteer at Eugene’s historic WOW Hall. Since then, he’s produced lighting at more than 100 events.
In the past five years, the music festival circuit has expanded from small venues to mainstream commercial festivals around the world. Last summer, Bowles traveled to White River Canyon, Oregon, to build light sets at What The Festival, a three-day event exhibiting art, music, food, and workshops. Following his philosophy of creating a social space for partygoers, Bowles and a few coworkers created an ultra-scope—a light pyramid of sorts—that allowed audiences to control the lighting design with a Wii remote or steering wheel. The ultra-scope installation grabbed visitors’ attention because it let them alter and transform light, keeping their attention on the art, rather than on the performers. “[The best part is] I can leave the light board and go into the crowd and say, ‘Here play with this,’” Bowles says.
In many cases DJs or lighting producers create color themes throughout an event. Bowles often uses deep colors, such as dark reds, purples, blues, and greens, to saturate the minds of concertgoers. “Michael’s lighting matches the vibe of every musical performance I’ve seen him do, as well as amplifies it, making the whole experience ten times better,” says Alex Wagner, a Eugene-based electronic DJ.
When Bowles began working in Eugene, live performance lighting was often orchestrated by a team of venue promoters. However, times have changed. “We actually don’t light our shows [anymore],” says Brendan Relaford of Kesey Enterprises, the largest music production company in Eugene. “The tour hires its own crew and they do the lighting.”
In the past stages were typically lit by as few as 25 heat lamps and manually maneuvered by a light crew, but now, Relaford explains, a 200-light display connected to a panel can be controlled by one person using a computer program. This new type of display is more cost efficient because venues have fewer technicians to pay; rather than hiring a five-person band with a 30-person light crew, some DJs require as few as ten people to light their shows.
It’s 3 a.m. and the lights are back on. The show has ended as the harsh fluorescent beams hit the eyes of concertgoers exiting the theater. Backstage, crew members congratulate one another, and Bowles begins tearing down his lighting gear. On average, Bowles says it takes anywhere from one hour to two days to set up and tear down a light set, but all the hard work pays off: “I want to see people appreciate my love for lighting while giving them quite an experience. Producing these shows makes everything worth it.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Illuminating Music