The Californian June Residency!

Photo By: Mikey Slipko Photography

     This past month I was designing the lighting for the local indie surf rock band, The Californian at The Satellite club in Silverlake. All four performances were a lot of fun and every night I was challenged with overcoming the limitations local venues can present.
     Now that I have designed a few shows at this venue, I am learning how to make their scene setter lighting control console work in my favor rather than against me. I also found more challenges with this space where just plain old science is to blame. Given the size of the venue and the unique L-shape of the audience area, photometrics like to play tricks here.
     It is difficult to decide intensity levels in a space such as this one. The people in the front are practically on stage, so it gets very bright for them while it can seem very dark from the back of the venue. I decided that despite the photgraphers and fans in the front, lighting for the largest percentage of the audience was the most appropriate choice. Therefore I lit many of the songs somewhat brighter than a standard show at this venue.
     My favorite thing about lighting for The Californian is the range of mood and intensity throughout their songs. Many have an eerie and surfy quality with upbeat choruses, while others are more dream like and pleasantly catchy. Nearly all their songs have wonderful dramatic builds and both powerful and soft vocals which really appeals to my theatrical side. Because of their musical range in their songs, I was able to make an equally large range of lighting looks using mostly color and intensity to achieve this since rhythm in not easily controlled on the venue's console. This time, I also had some festive scenery to consider in the over all illumination.

Photo By: Levent Leo Buyukgural

     Lighting for The Californian was a great experience and incredibly fun.  Keep an eye out for their upcoming album release later this year. To view more photos from the fourth night of performances, you can visit Photographer Mikey Slipko's Website. For photographs by Levent Leo Buyukgural from the third nigth performance you can click here  or The Califronian's Facebook Page for fan photos throughout the month.