A familiar face to TPi Magazine readers, Las Vegas-based Production and Lighting Designer, Chris Thoms of Duke Dumont’s Studio Blasé, has worked with the British music producer for half a decade. Having navigated a global pandemic – helping pivot the Grammy-nominated electronic artist and music producer’s live output to livestream projects amid the grounding of live events – Thoms knows a thing or two about selecting the right tools for lighting, stage, and production design on the road, at festivals, or for the small screen. Speaking exclusively to TPi Magazine at LDI Show 2023, Thoms reflects on his whirlwind journey with the artist, extols the virtues of TMB’s latest product release, and highlights the narrowing gaps in the market when it comes to selecting the right lighting fixture.
Tell us a bit about your history with Duke Dumont…
“I’ve been working with Duke full time since 2019, both pre- and post-pandemic on a range of live shows, tours, and festivals. March 2020 was going to be huge, we had a Coachella appearance planned that was subsequently put on hold, which was the best-case scenario in hindsight, as it gave us the luxury of time to flesh out what the show would look like. Working with Duke is extremely fun, as a team, we’ve managed to forge an identity and signature style associated with his live performances.”
Is he hands-on when it comes to formulating the aesthetics of his live shows?
“Duke is clear about what he wants the visual identity of his shows to be, and he works closely with myself and Luke Hammonds on the visual content. As far as production and lighting design goes, I collaborate with Duke, who knows what he does and doesn’t like, and we try to present the best show possible. Inspiration can come from anywhere, typically outside of the electronic dance music circles you would imagine. Often, we draw inspiration from concerts, movies, television. If we think we can make something interesting out of it, we’ll try it.”
I’ve noticed you often employ TMB Solaris Flares in your projects. Why are they one of your go-to lighting solutions?
“The best thing about the TMB Solaris Flares, as well as their unrivalled pixel effects, functionality, and output, is the flexibility and widespread availability of the fixture. Due to popular demand, often vendors who we work with regularly, have plenty of them in stock, which we can harness for our projects. [TMB Customer Development Manager] Gareth Cooke told me about the release of the new Solaris Flare line array at LDI, and I was excited to come and look at it – it’s super cool and bright, and I can see how it will benefit live productions in the future. Mirroring a speaker array is a neat concept. Having witnessed demonstrations, I like the fact you can modularly change out lenses and the zoom angle. It’s an exciting product!”
Which software do you use to draw and pre-visualise your projects?
“I always start everything in Capture because I can knock out ten designs at the same time. It would take me to draw one thing in Vectorworks or WYSIWYG, both of which I do use for pre-visualisation. For me, Capture is an all-round solution that I can create projects with very quickly.”
What lighting solutions are on your bucket list for 2024?
“Anything that can be used in an eye-catching or interesting way. In an ideal world, I’d like a Robe MegaPointe with an LED engine, or something similar would be great. I think a lot of manufacturers in the market are working hard to achieve that brief. I believe there is a lot of progress in large format lighting fixtures with super bright LED engines. I think we are really missing that workhorse in the middle somewhere. I’m also searching for products which are eye-catching, and I haven’t seen before, conversely, I’d also like fixtures that are readily available. Ultimately, something en masse that can add the ‘wow’ factor to live shows.”
Is the gap between mid-level manufacturers and high-end brands gradually narrowing?
“Certain manufacturers have made better lighting fixtures over the past five years than they have over the past decade, so there is a certain amount of levelling up. I’m still shopping in the mainstream aisle because of the guarantee that the fixtures will produce the brightness, speed and feature sets you need to make the show look good, but having walked the stands at LDI, I’ve noticed that the gap is narrowing. I’m excited to see what the future holds…”
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