YANN SCHIRRMEISTER This month, TPi catches up with Lighting Op Yann Schirrmeister while on tour with The Black Queen to discuss lighting design and juggling life on the road as a university student.
“I must have been about 14 when I first started working on live shows,” recalled Schirrmeister as we sat down, hours before The Black Queen was to hit the stage at Manchester’s Deaf Institute. Born in Lugano, Switzerland, Schirrmeister moved to the UK in 2016 to study a Lighting Design course at Rose Bruford College; simultaneously building quite the resumé via touring. “When I was younger, I worked with various Swiss lighting companies, but I always had a dream to work in the UK,” stated Schirrmeister. “I didn’t have any contacts over here, so while applying for a place at Rose Bruford, I started reaching out to smaller companies to try and get my foot in the door. It was exciting to be in the UK which has a much bigger events market than Switzerland - and many more opportunities.” Having made a new home in London, Schirrmeister threw himself equally into his university work and the world of live touring. “The course has really filled in some of the gaps in my lighting knowledge,” explained Schirrmeister. “As lighting went from my hobby to a career, I wanted to learn as much as I could.” Schirrmeister went on the explain that for him, this wish to learn went much further than technical expertise. “One aspect of our course has been the study of human sight and how it is affected by lighting. From there, you can understand how an audience perceives a show.” Although his passion currently lies in live events, Schirrmeister has explored other realms including theatre and television. “They’re both areas I might go into down the line, but right now touring is where I want to focus. However, I have been able to take some of the methods used in both theatre and lighting and translate them into some of the tours I have worked on.” On the subject of recent tours, Schirrmeister talked about some of the laminates he’d collected since being in the UK. “A lot of the shows I have done recently have come off the back of meeting Tom Campbell of Mirrad,” said Schirrmeister. “We had Tom down to be a guest lecturer, although during to a schedule conflict he was unable to speak. However, I got in touch with him and after a few conversations he invited me along to All Points East festival to help out!” [with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes], he exclaimed. Since then, the has assisted Campbell on several shows as a Lighting Technician, working with The Amazons and John Grant, and now, he’s operating Campbell’s design for alt electro outfit, The Black Queen. “It was Tom who secured my work with the band,” he said, as he gestured to his surroundings. “He wasn’t able to work this one-week tour, putting it in my hands. I really owe him a lot.” On this latest run, Schirrmeister made use of Campbell’s selection high-end fixtures, including German Light Products impression X4 Bars, Philips SL Nitro 510C and the Robe MegaPointe, all of which were supplied by Siyan. “They’re the kind of fixtures I would never have had a chance to work in Switzerland. The Nitro especially was a new one for me on this run which I have used for a backlight to pick up some more minute details. I was also contrasting the big pixels of the of the Nitro 510C and the smaller ones of the X4’s through the show. ” Despite being in the midst of a tour, the eager LD already has his eyes set on his next adventure – namely another stint with American singer-songwriter, John Grant. “I’m very lucky to have tutors that are really understanding and work around my touring schedule,” stated Schirrmeister, answering how he’s able to balance touring work and study duties. “Although, it does mean it’s a lot of work when I get back from tour, especially if I have a presentation due.” With only 7 months left on his course, Yann’s certainty raring to start the next chapter of his career. No doubt TPi will be bumping to him on the road soon enough... TPi www.productionfutures.co.uk
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