Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex J. Specht.
Hi Alex J., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From the Country to Lighting Country.
I grew up in a rural farming village, Tampico, of 700 residents and not a stop light in sight.
My aspirations of working with music took me to a tech college where I focused on Studio Recordings.
After graduation I realized that was out of focus and was ruining music for me.
So I shifted to making atmospheres and learning everything in the field.
Upstaging, INC was the perfect Midwest blue collar transition into the entertainment industry for a 19 year old country kid.
Also opened up the world of touring to me.
My first show on tour started with Metallica 1999 New Years Eve.
My aspirations grew more towards getting behind the board and not solely on the maintenance of the build.
Yet, the people I worked and grew with showcased the multitude of possibilities and mind sets of this industry.
I respectfully left Upstaing, INC to work in the city..with all the tall buildings.
House of Blues Chicago not only put me behind the board, but introduced me to a golden era of a new family.
And rocking those par cans with the console faders, and not the bump buttons on the Avolite Pearl helped me build my style.
I’m not Flash and Trash.
I’m Smooth and Groove
I joined onto the tv station WTTW’s Sound Stage and was able to light up acts I grew up with for 5 years
I lucked out with starting out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
Working with older mentors of the ole ways and being on the cusp of the technological changes.
(Late 90’s industrial/ High End’s joystick controllers/ mirror fixtures, but still using Gel, Fresnels/ Lekos and all around conventionals.
I appreciate the history of how gear has evolved and why.
After 2008 I ventured into freelancing and returned to touring.
For 10 years I was blessed to light up Panic at the Disco for 10 years.
Between their runs, I also toured with Pierce the Veil, New Politics, Kittie, Frontline Assembly, Front 242 and LP.
When the Apocalypse hit in 2020 and right before my last booster shot, COVID riddled me with a neurological hearing defect.
All I hear in my right ear is an aggressive ringing and the little audio I can hear is painfully distorted.
I can only take in so much time in front of an arena sized PA system for so long.
Even with all my protective implements.
Cutting short my heavy touring.
Certain frequencies will disorientate me and I’ll lose localization.
So production radios are out of the question.
A balanced opportunity came along when I was asked to come out with
Lukas Nelson.
Low volume, lot of acoustic numbers and we mostly play Theaters, Festivals and a lot of his Father, Willie’s old historic road houses out west.
Even done a couple shows with his Dad, including Willie’s 90th Birthday party at the Greek theater in LA.
Brings me full circle to my small town country upbringing.
I balance out the show with preprogrammed scenes, but mostly improv, as the band improvs a lot of the set.
Which also brings me back to my early HOB days improving with blues bands.
Playing guitar in improvising bands has helped my toolkit for lighting.
Even for the corporate shows.
The rest of my schedule goes towards corporate and private events.
My main company in Chicago I work with, Sound Investment, seem to land all the interesting shows.
They’re not just a hotel ballroom with a lecturn and 2 video screens.
Interesting Galas, video shoots, album release parties, private residence shows and inaugurations in many of Chicago’s many historical establishments.
Plus I also get a lot of traveling work with them.
Best part is I grew up with most of the company from my rural region of home.
I was the first to move to Chicago and one by one all of these key figures in my life moved up to the city to start whole new chapters.
Programming for club installations has been popping up a lot lately.
I programmed a large percentage of Chicago clubs in the Mid 2000’s.
Working on a couple national accounts now that I can’t release yet, but one of my last ones was Jon Bon Jovi’s Honkey Tonk in Nashville.
I’m looking to snag a few more this year.
This year’s horizon holds a handful of mini runs with Lukas Nelson supporting his new album American Romance.
Alongside with some installation programming and maybe a Gala or two.
All depending on whoever needs their evening lit up
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth is a bit of a stretch, as I feel every production has its share of roughness.
But we kind of thrive off of that chaos and adrenaline.
My prominent struggle has been trying to do what I’ve always done but with the hearing condition.
Good thing I didn’t stick with doing sound
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m probably most known for my Improving/Busking.
I respect the craft of creating a pre-programmed structure with timing cues and dynamics.
But there’s something to be said about the live performance and jamming with the band.
Festivals are probably where I showcased it the most.
Even if you cloned a show to your original design, your “star” fixture may not be the one with the most impact once that sun goes down.
Improving, you can feel out what works and what doesn’t.
One of the best compliments I received was another LD, was wanting to put a GoPro on the faders of my console.
As it’s almost a performance in itself.
Like Studio Album mixes, before automation, that would have the whole band each with their own faders to mix.
Another art lost to technology
How do you define success?
Looking in the mirror and being ok with it.
Sticking to your beliefs even if they’re unconventional and have still paved the way for achievement.
Being proud of hearing your name getting tossed around amongst your peers
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.spechtrum.com
- Instagram: @alexspechtrum
- Facebook: Alex J. Specht
- Youtube: @aspecht777
Image Credits
Alex J Specht
