Elation Professional: LD Spotlight
Seth Jackson
Designer, Producer, Show Director
The Darkroom Creative
Bitten by the lighting bug at 15, Seth Jackson, half of design firm The Darkroom Creative, has flourished in our industry lighting iconic artists like The Doobie Brothers, Barry Manilow and many others. Understand the artist, do your homework, listen, and never forget that lighting is a support role are gems of advice that any young designer should take in. And perhaps most importantly, when you’re down get back up and try again. It’s insight that has served this successful designer well.
Meet Seth
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Where did you grow up? What was your youth like and what did you want to be when you grew up?
I grew up in St. Louis. Growing up was the typical midwestern, suburb experience of the 70s and 80s. Yes, I lived the John Hughes movies. It was a great time to be a teenager. As corny as it sounds, the lighting bug took hold when I was about fifteen. It became an obsession about concert lighting specifically after seeing Billy Joel in 1987. Okay, it had more to do with Steve Cohen than Billy, but you get the idea.
What have your highlights been in 2022? What are you working on at the moment?
Nathan Alves and I (the two parts of The Darkroom Creative) have had a great 2022. After a kind recommendation from Jeff Ravitz, we started a new journey with Walker Hayes, launching him out on his first tour and looking forward to an expanded version in 2023. We also got the chance to expand our original design for The Doobie Brothers’ Vegas residency followed by the ongoing 50th Anniversary Tour. We then reworked it again for the overseas portion of the tour next year. In addition, Barry Manilow enters another year of his Vegas residency at the Westgate where he was just named Best Headliner by the Las Vegas Weekly. This year also saw Nathan take Manilow back to the road with a UK run that had been postponed from the pandemic and several US dates after that.
If that isn’t enough, we received the 2022 LIT Award for Lighting Design in two categories: Live Design and Theatrical Design for The Doobie Brothers’ 50th Anniversary Tour.
You taught lighting design at the university level for a number of years. What did you try to instill in the up-and-coming generation of designers?
In 2019, Focal Press published my first book, Concert Design. It is basically a guide in and through our industry for young designers. It’s been out for several years, but I still get emails from people picking it up and how it helped them get started.
What was the motivation behind launching Darkroom Creative?
Nate and I have worked together in various capacities going back to Manilow in 2008. He has been my programmer and lighting director for years. In 2018 we decided to make it official and blend our skillsets together. Our strengths support each other well.
How much do you and Nate collaborate on designs, or do you keep your work separate?
We are interchangeable. We both work with the artists and managers. We both program, we both draft, we toss ideas back and forth – it’s a cohesive environment. I tend to lean to scenic, he is brilliant at video content, and we split the lighting. Nate is great at melding my sensibilities with all the modern technology. He has a great eye and really helps Darkroom find a unique balance over the canyon of styles.
Is design style generational, meaning does the design style of the younger generation of designers differ from the older, more established designers? If so, in what way?
It is a very different ethos with young designers and younger artists. This generation lives in a world of screens and an overload of content. The attention span of the brain has changed. Keeping someone connected visually requires a good bit more effort. Every tour has video, snare-hit-driven cueing is ubiquitous, and the commonality of timecode allows for incredibly complicated cueing structure. My concern is that the core of lighting design can often be missed: are you supporting the artist or entertaining yourself? Does the show overpower the performer? Does your show have a visual beginning, middle, and end? It is very easy to get lost in the technology and forget to actually light anything! We can’t forget that designers have always been a support role. Your job is to make the artist the all-powerful Oz. If you trample your artist in your own ‘art’ you aren’t doing your job. My theatre professor, the late Peter Sargent, always said “if the lights are mentioned in the review, you didn’t do it right”.
What is most important to keep in mind when you first enter a room to collaborate with an artist?
You must understand the artist. Do your homework before you ever walk in the room. If it is a band, make sure you know all their names and what they play and who are the writers. You would think that sounds dumb, but it happens all the time. Understand an artist’s history. Are they into theatre? Did they start in the clubs? Where did they grow up. Watch everything on YouTube – what did previous shows look like, what about videos, are they social media experts. You cannot walk into a meeting with an artist without knowing as much as you can about them. Also, don’t forget to LISTEN. So often, people drive headfirst into a wall by starting their pitch and not hearing a word the client is telling them.
Product development happens quite quickly in this industry. Do you feel a need to keep on the cutting edge as far as new product development? Why or why not?
Awareness, yes. Making a new product a must have, no. You are a designer – make it work. Nate and I have had gigs where it is “bring on the new stuff”. We’ve also done shows where you go to your vendor and say, “I need 40 wash lights, what do you have in inventory”? If you know what you are doing, you can use technology (old and new).
When do you know when it’s the right moment to incorporate new technology?
That develops as you see the show coming together. Your artists, your managers, your budget, your truck space, and your venues all play a role.
Has your design style changed over the years? If so, what do you attribute that to?
I don’t think it has changed all that much. I have an instinctive approach and style. What has changed is how that is accomplished. In the early days it was my fingers on the console. Over the years I’ve had to learn how to communicate ideas to programmers, keep people engaged and excited in the programming process, and be willing to let something go if it isn’t going to work for the artist, or other elements like video. I’ve learned not to ‘die on the hill’ over this stuff anymore.
From day one of a project to the end, what do you see as the most important part of the process?
For me, it is getting the concept right. If you get the environment correct, everything else can ebb and flow. You can change lights, change sizes of risers and screens, and take the programming in any number of directions. If you don’t give yourself a good toolbox at the start, you’ll fight with that concept all the way through.
How can a lighting manufacturer best support a lighting designer?
I’ve said it for years – it isn’t the gear; it is the people. If a manufacturer makes you part of their team and you let them be part of yours, you can’t lose. I’ve had great, twenty plus year friendships with manufacturers... most of whom don’t work for the same company they did when I met them! It is their commitment to making new and better products and being with you through the process.
You’ve used Elation products in some of your designs over the years. Is there anything you see of Elation’s newer gear that you’d like to try out?
Nate and I just put the Artiste Monet into The Doobie Brothers 50th Anniversary Tour overseas version. Other than a demo, I had not used them, and they were remarkable. Color, brightness, the whole package.
What are your main interests outside of our industry?
I’ve recently started developing a bit of land outside of St. Louis. I was looking to just build a home in the woods, but I’ve now decided to build a subdivision in the woods. If you can’t find neighbors you like, just build the whole neighborhood!
What’s something about Seth Jackson that people might find surprising?
I’ve made a lot of mistakes and fallen more than once along the way. The trick is to get back up and try again. On a more trivial nature, I was both the designer for Van Halen (on two different tours) and Madonna… for about 2 hours each. I had gotten the call, had the interview, told it all looked good, and then… umm, not so much. Again, get back up and try again.
