Alex Hindle

For the past 2 years I have been a solo lighting technician working along side a successful theatre show "The Chicago Blues Brothers" i have since done 2 tours with these guys and just started our third.This entails touring around the whole of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. To start off the tours I programmed custom cue stacks for each song based on the producers visions, so I could really enhanse the performance ultimatley creating memorable visual experiences for audiences. With the show running a project and cyk for visual screens I made sure to set the scenes to work best with the screens and songs. I also took on board the way the producer likes shows to be lit, and have even taken time to watch other theatre and concert productions with the producer to find new ideas and to gain a real understanding of what they wanted. The producer have their own inventory of lighting equipment, including LED fixtures, moving heads, blinders, hasers (including one of the best pea soup CO2 hasers), cabling, projector and other things like legs, set designs and riser skirts to dress the stage. I had all the gear to turn up to a completely blank room and make the show happen! Because of this I have played cathedrals like chester cathedral where in house resources were to a minimum. I have also played all the major venues across the country including the adelphi theatre on the west end to the likes of manchester opera house and the birmingham alexandra. Being the only lighting technician on the show I have to diagnose issues, order new equipment, lias with house crew, follow the correct safety guidelines, maintain and repair fixtures while working to strict deadlines and budgets. But most of all delivering a great consistent performance with the lights.

I also took on another show "Q the music a James Bond Themed Concert Spectacular" with this role being a side of stage/monitour engineer role, this entailes setting up stage racks and running in all the neccesary sound equipment. While during the show I am making sure all the band is happy and that they are having a seamless night. With their lead vocalists being on me1s they are stationed with us and during the show I monitour and listen in to their mixes to make sure everything sounds as it should, majority of the the time bringing up vocals for when other singers are doing duets. This show also plays the same circuit of venues with my favourite being The theatre royal Drury Lane in london, this year we will be returning to the west end but at the London Palladium with David Arnold! This show has tested my knowledge and I have learnt a lot more of the sound side of production. I also help sell their merchandise which is a real contribution to Q the musics business as they sell a lot!

Ever since I left college where I studied land based engineering I always had a passion to have a spanner in my hand. I left college earlier than expected as I had finished all the course work and exams needed, this was only possible by the college letting me leave on work experience which I saw as the best oppurtunity to be able to gain experience as soon as possible. Following on from this, I joined a local garage which was owned by a family friend and started more hands on work experience there. Alongside there I started off fixing my personal cars while also repairing friends and families vehicles for extra cash. I then felt I had enough experience to start my own buisness buying cars which were either damaged or needed major repairs, majority of the vehicles I buy come from insurance companys where they have been written off. The repair proccess entailed fixing bodywork and repairing mechanical issues, this ment that to save money and make the vehicles more profitable I couldn't out source the work so instead I bought the tools and materials to then teach myself to respray panels, weld (with previous experience from college) and diagnose and repair all sorts of different issues.

• i also spend a few of my evenings driving the delivery vans for tescos. this job has taught me a lot of how to work well under different management as it has changed a number of times over the past 6 years, it has also gave me a lot more confidence when dealing with customers in any industry as i always chat to my customers during the deliveries!