Design, programming, and direction for touring artists whose shows live in the space between intimate and arena. Based in DFW, on the road since 2010.
About
I design shows for live music with emotional weight — the artists and bands whose audiences come for the arc of a set as much as the spectacle.
My typical engagement: design the show, program it in previs on ChamSys or grandMA3, run rehearsals, and launch the tour from the front-of-house desk. I'll stay out for the full run or hand off to a touring director and support remotely from there — new song programming, production scaling, design adjustments as the tour evolves.
Recent design credits include X Ambassadors, Black Country Communion, Neck Deep, Slowdive, and IL Volo, and a five-year run as Father John Misty's designer, programmer, director, and projectionist — every visual element across three album cycles. Additional credits with Passion Pit, Blue October, Guster, Andrew Bird, Randy Rogers Band, CIX, and others. Based in Dallas–Fort Worth, with touring credits across North America, the EU, the UK, South America, Australia, and Japan.
Process
Most engagements follow the same arc: design, program, launch.
Design starts in conversation — what the record sounds like, what the set arc needs to feel like, what the rig has to do and where it can't get in the way. From there I build the rig and program the show in previs on ChamSys or grandMA3. By the time we get to production rehearsals, the show exists. Rehearsals are for refinement, not construction.
I launch the tour from the front-of-house desk. From there, I can stay out for the duration or hand the show to a touring director once it's running clean and support remotely — new song programming, production scaling, design adjustments as the tour evolves. I'm still the designer, the role on the road just changes hands.
I run a personal previs suite for both ChamSys and grandMA3, which means programming happens before load-in — not on the clock during rehearsals.
Experience
Creative lead — designer, programmer, director
Lighting director, crew chief, programmer for others
Contact
If you're an artist, manager, or production company working on a tour or one-off where the lighting needs to carry weight, let's talk. Email is the fastest way in.
peter@arcaspectdesign.com → @bigbeardedpete →