I spend most of my days now behind the mixing desk, rather than behind the piano keys, as I get as big a kick out of making a band sound (and look) good on stage as I ever did performing myself. That’s one reason I get so involved in micro-festivals and grass-roots music events. I take pride in my mix because I want every musician on my stages to sound amazing. I hand-pick all my gear from the last 15-20 year’s experience producing live sound. By making sure the artists can hear themselves and be heard, they perform and sound their very best.

The purists will still tell you analogue audio is best and that may be true in a studio. In the wild, I love my Midas digital desk and stage boxes. They give me all the channels I need. I’ve had a 12-piece ska band on stage with full drums and brass section. I have everything I need on board – EQ, compressors, gates, limiters. Also I gives me a range of effects from reverb to stereo chorus, and slap-back delay. Less gear to carry than a full outboard analogue rig means I can do a whole festival in one large van. I rig quicker but still have everything available to mix any genre of music.

As well as sounding good, a festival should look good. My lighting rig has wash, moving heads, spots, lasers and smoke to really highlight the stage. The rig complements the stage, lighting the inside of the dome and turning it into a centrepiece, although it can be used in any location. Bands rise to the occasion when they feel they look good. I control the lighting from a touch screen computer and midi pad at the front of house. DMX512 links everything together so I can react to the music even for a band and song I never heard before. It is just as important that the light show fits the act and lighting can change the mood and energy of a performance in an instant.