Pirate Metal. In 2022 my college, partner in crime and friend Nils invited me to a concert of the pirate metal band Storm Seeker. They were booked as one of the Mono Inc. Ravenblack tour 2023 support bands. First, I wasn’t sure if this kind of music was my genre. Nevertheless, I confirmed the appointment.

I build myself a very compact MA Lighting ComandWing setup. There was no budget for our show light floor setup, so I contacted Steinigke Showtechnik, which sells Eurolite and Futurelight products. They provided us with a lovely package of five led pixel strobes and three led blinders, which were brighter than expected. For controlling, I build a simple network and power case, which provides power for our audio rack and converts ArtNet Data into DMX.

Pirate Metal is very intense music. The lighting design isn’t always as easy as you might expect when you listen to the music. My primary approach was to get a good mix between blinder kicks and epical long moves with slight dim effects. The whole show was programmed on grandMA3 and entirely ran on timecode cause timing was crucial. Especially in moments where you didn’t expect a “blinder explosion”.

I had a lot of fun touring with the band. Maybe it was exactly what I was looking for – who knows? Looking forward to all upcoming shows together with this lovely group of people.