Lighting designer Paul ‘Pauly’ Owen has been touring this year with an Avolites D7-215 lighting console, on which he’s been running an eye-popping light show for Aussie rappers Hilltop Hoods on their world tour.
Hilltop Hoods – Australia’s favourite hip hop heroes – have blazed a groundbreaking trail bringing their unique hooky soundtracks and intricate narratives into a live concert environment that has been accessible and hugely popular. Hailing from Adelaide, the core lineup sees MCs Suffa (Matthew Lambert) and Pressure (Daniel Smith), joined by DJ Debris (Barry Francis) on decks and production. They formed the band in the early 1990s after meeting at high school.
Pauly has worked with ‘the Hoods’ for nearly 20 years, in that time forging his own very distinctive freestyle lighting techniques that are honed to their music and rhythm. He blends treatments and ideas from multiple different lighting disciplines – the finesse of theatre to the hi-impact rock ‘n’ roll – in the process creating new looks and lighting moments that work brilliantly in the attitudinal worlds of rap and hip hop.
This workflow has resulted in Pauly becoming universally known as ‘The Hip Hop Lighting Guy’.
This latest Hilltop Hoods touring cycle started with the drop of their Fall from the Light album, kicking off with festivals in Australia and New Zealand, followed by Europe. It then stepped up to arenas around ANZ this spring.
Pauly started using the D7 in Australia, where the lighting equipment was supplied by rental company Harry the Hirer, then continued with an Avolites T3 setup in Europe and went back to the D7 for the most recent Australian shows.
He has been using Avolites control since the start of his professional career in the early 1990s and he has stuck with the brand for numerous reasons, including its famous ‘buskability’ which is very much relevant to the way he operates lighting for the Hilltop Hoods.
His lighting MO with them involves plenty of improvisation and ‘riding’ the rhythm and the vibes of the band and the room … whilst – impressively – being as tightly cued and nanosecond-perfectly executed as a timecoded environment! This has become somewhat legendary in lighting design circles!
The Hilltop Hoods tour is Pauly’s first on the D7, although he had been using an Avolites D9 for Jimmy Barnes’ (of Cold Chisel fame) “Red Hot Summer” tour in 2023. Barnes is another regular client.
A huge benefit he sees in the D7 setup is the portability, which is essential for a country like Australia where tours tend to involve a lot of flying to multiple destinations due to the geography and large distances between the major urban centres.
A D7 feature he utilises extensively in his workflow is the Key Frame Shapes generator for producing real-time effects.
Most of his Hilltop Hoods lighting designs involve a number of pixel-based fixtures, and consequently Pauly likes to map these – sometimes applying the effects across the entire rig – which looks simultaneously edgy and beautiful. “Using the D7 and a bit of lateral thinking, you can effectively animate a look without having to use a media server,” he explained.
He finds the programming architecture of D7 straightforward but clever.
“You can get a rig working via the console in about 20 minutes which is pretty cool,” he states, adding that he is a highly visual lighting designer rather than a technical one: “The console is the translator between what’s in my head to how the lights will look onstage, and I have found out of all the options that Avolites generally is the best translator for me … hands down!”
This is why he specifies the brand for all the larger bands he works with.
“Avo consoles are designed from an LD’s perspective,” he observes. “The company are lighting people as well as developers, they know their industry and have a feel for the tasks and challenges for which the products are being used. That’s resulted in a very efficient, logical and powerful workflow.”
A typical Hilltop Hoods festival package will involve a front and back truss with about 60 x fixtures – spots, washes, stripes and blinders, plus a floor package, which this year has comprised 5 x floor dollies with – per cart – 5 x Vanish LED panels, 20 x MagicBlades and 50 x LED Moles, plus Cobras on top of the carts, 13 more Mole units around the stage, MAC Aura XBs for a low level side wash on stands and Klus LED strips for signage.
The upcoming arena leg of the “Fall from the Light” tour will involve around 260 or 270 lights plus SFX and video and will also include Robe iFORTES.
Pauly’s operating style is raw, rhythmic and flexible, bending with the roar of the music and crowds. He sometimes describes it as “a punch in the face,” rude but in a respectful way, very full on and intense!
He typically programs a wide array of looks and then operates completely live, smashing through the faders and putting on his own individual show at FOH!
Photos: By Clare Springett
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