LUCE estratti LUCE 323 _ Filibeck _ Steve Lieberman | Page 7

Lighting up emotions:
light in the world
of electronic music
An interview with Steve Lieberman, SJ Lighting Inc.
S
ince about ten years, the world of electronic
music is the protagonist of a constant
expansion, in terms of popularity and of the
business that is connected to it. Not just the
record industry in this sector is decidedly more
healthy than the other music genres, but also
the market of live events continues to grow
incessantly. The more famous international
festivals attract tens of thousands of spectators,
who are ready to watch the performance of their
favourite DJs in the midst of an atmosphere
created with gigantic stages, scenographies,
images and powerful lighting, and filled with
incredible colours. The enormous economic
value that this sector can generate (6.2 billion
dollars according to recent estimates) has
allowed the organizers to invest huge resources
in the production of their shows, contributing
to the success of new forms of entertainment,
new artistic languages and new professional
figures. Among them we find Steve Lieberman,
founder of SJ Lighting Inc., a leading company
in lighting design and production design
for the most important electronic music festivals
in the United States and in Europe. This is what
he had to say:
The world of electronic music shows is still
unknown to many, and new professional
profiles and also new creative languages
have evolved. To start with, could you define
your work?
Production design, lighting design, video
design: these disciplines blend together
in the creative arena. My work is defined by the
environment that I am working in; constantly
changing and adapting to current conditions.
First and foremost, I am a production designer,
putting forth my concepts and ideas for the
jobs I work on. My office produces technical
documentation, including CAD files, 3D models,
photo renderings and video previews.
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Once a design has been completed, we follow
through all the way till the end of the show.
This includes programming and operating.
Let us talk about you, how long have you
been working in this sector? Have you had
any master or mentor who has helped you
to grow as a professional figure?
I started working in nightclubs in 1987. In the
early Nineties, there was an expansion in the
entertainment sector in the United States,
in particular for underground and niche events.
I had a friend who used to programme the lights
for these shows and I had the opportunity to
assist him in his work. It was my first experience
in this context and from 1995, it became my
profession. In those days the community was
very small, and the “mainstream” productions,
as for example the rock shows, were not
interested in figures of this type, and so my
training was completely individual, on site,
in a period that was very different from today,
where everything was smaller: the size of the
stage, the available equipment, the public
attending the shows…
Your work identifies a new way of producing
a show, where the use of lasers, moving lights,
LED walls and fireworks is now a consolidated
standard. I believe that the introduction of these
scenic elements has contributed to the creation
of a new artistic language, do you agree?
I fully agree. The experience I have accumulated
over the years, in the beginning as a participant
and then as an organizer, have offered me
first-hand experience of the evolution of this
sector. Before the show world of electronic
music expanded, the professional technicians
in this sector did not follow a tested formula
or recurrent guidelines when planning the
event, they were exclusively inspired by their
own sensitivity and personal taste: for me it was
EDC, New York 2013
that way, and fortunately my vision and my
ideas were approved by the public, which
therefore enabled me to grow as a professional
figure. I believe that the new form of language
that you were talking about is exactly this: the
great freedom of artistic expression guiding my
work has become, during the course of the
years, a custom for professionals in this sector,
and has made my environment more innovative
and avant-garde, compared to the “traditional”
concerts.
Do you believe there still are differences
in the European and in the American scene?
In the past, events in our Continent were
mostly circumscribed by the size of the clubs
and discotheques (with the exception of
festivals organized in North Europe), and
the visual component was not so relevant.
Things changed when electronic music
gained the popularity it has today…
In the past, the layout of the venue was not
built around the figure of the DJ. The position
at the console was often confined to a corner
in the hall, and in general, the DJ did not get
the same attention as today. Usually the DJ had
a contract with the club where he performed
regularly every week, and for the whole evening.
Over the years, the line-up (the list of DJs at
a festival, Ed.) became a determining factor
to attract the public to an event and increase
the appeal, and consequently also the position
of the console gained importance in the
preliminary designs. Unlike in the United States,
in Europe the festivals market has always
had a greater credit from the point of view
of professional profiles, and therefore for
the business it has been easy to expand.
For this reason, I do not believe the United States
have influenced the evolution of the way
of organizing major events in Europe, but I do
believe that both scenarios grew following
their own course.
After this short panoramic view of the world
you belong to, let us talk about your work.
How is a project for a festival born? Do you
follow particular guidelines during the creative
process or are your choices totally free?
There are always guidelines to follow, and these
are dictated mainly by the budget that is
available for the project. Besides, it is
fundamental to bear in mind the particular