What have you been doing since graduating?  

Since graduating in the summer, I have been mostly back-to-back with gigs. In the summer I worked on Finsbury Park events (Pulp, 1975, Jamie T), Wireless Festival, Latitude, Camp Bestival, and Leeds Fest. 

During this time, I was lucky enough to be asked to be Level 42’s Lighting Designer. I took a couple weeks off to pre-program for Level 42 and then was out on their UK and Europe tour with them for 6 weeks. After this, I literally came home for 2 days and then headed back out on the road for 3 weeks with Donny Osmond as a Lighting Tech on his UK arena tour. After this, it was Christmas time and currently taking a nice break through January!  

What did you do before studying at ALT?  

Before coming to the Academy, I had nothing to do with live events. I knew I wanted to do lighting, but I didn’t really know where I could learn about it. A friend actually introduced me to Academy of Live Technology and the rest is history! 

What was your favourite part of studying at the ALT?  

The best part is when you reach your final year and you have the freedom to truly research something that you want to learn about. I spent my third year with a kinesis automation system, my laptop, some lights and a node. By the time I got to my final project, I managed to integrate Zactrack (performer tracking) and kinesis automation into GrandMA3 to control lights. This – in a nut shell - meant that no matter how much the truss or performer was moving, the lights always stayed on the performer. 

How did ALT help with your career development?

Just the equipment ALT has. Having 3 years of access to the teaching stock and technology means you can learn and practice. So that, when you go out into the industry as a professional, you’re using what you have been learning on for the last 3 years.

What advice would you give someone who wants to study at the Academy of Live Technology? 

You get out what you put in, your degree is about being an individual and doing research. If you do the bare minimum, you will learn the bare minimum. If you put your head to it and make it your responsibility to learn something, you will find yourself asking many more questions to lecturers and trying to learn something new. Also just be a friendly, easy-going person, it will help in making contacts. 

Do you want to be part of the team running the festivals and arena tours of tomorrow? Apply now to start your studies in September 2024!