Dean Mizzi is an Australian native, USA based audio engineer who has established himself alongside some of the most respected international audio engineers, and touring artists.
What would you normally be doing this time of year?
After finishing a really busy 2019 with Ariana Grande – I had planned out a break for the start of this year through to the Coachella weekends over easter – you could say it has been somewhat extended!
The end of May would have marked the start of the production build for Roger Waters ‘This is Not a Drill’ World Tour. We’ve been working on the production design since July last year, and right about now we would have been at Clair in Lititz building the control system, getting ready to head into rehearsals in upstate NY.
At this stage, the tour has been postponed through to summer 2021
What’s a fairly normal day at the moment for you?
We all know what the devil does with idle time, so I’ve been setting my sights on projects around the house, building some furniture, gardening, cooking etc, to keep myself occupied. I imagine not too dissimilar from what everyone else has been doing. I can never really sit still for too long before I have to focus on something, and honestly, the months are flying by for me. This has been the ‘hard reset’ that I’ve needed for a while.
Are you learning anything to improve your skills set?
There’s some really interesting stuff happening in the spatial audio world. I was fortunate enough to get involved with some R&D on a product from Dutch company ‘Astro Spatial’ over the holiday period. They’ve got a pretty cool thing going with their ‘SARA II’ unit. There’s a lot involved in bringing object-based audio into the live arena – but the scope of potential is very interesting.
Aside from that, it’s been great to sit on the phone with industry friends. If there’s one thing audio people like to talk about, its audio! Sometimes the pearls of wisdom that come disguised in general conversation can lead to some great ideas.
What bad habits have you slipped into?
I feel like I’ve been slipping OUT of more bad habits since being at home more.
How are you coping financially?
I cut my teeth at a small-town production company, where it was the norm to face months of little to no work in the winters. So that mentality of saving for a rainy day was instilled in me early on. I’m sure there’s a lot of freelance or self-employed workers out there that would attest to how important it is to get yourself into a position where you’re not living paycheck to paycheck because when the frequency of shows slows down, you know who’s phone stops ringing first!
Generally speaking, I hope that the industry can learn something positive from this negative experience. There’s a great opportunity for those who lead in this industry, to forge a better path forward from this time of crisis.
The production industry is full of resilient folk, and I’m sure those who are in need have found a way to get by. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a good side hustle.
When do you think live entertainment with return and in what format?
The million-dollar question… I have no idea!
When my dates started cancelling in March, the conversations were circulating around the tours restarting in June …. soon after that, it became August …. September …. November. Now we’re hearing 2021, or ‘not until there is a vaccine’. I know here in the US, there are some states that have already started holding a version of live events – but nothing that seems sustainable.
I’m sure when shows do return, initially there will be some rescaling of sorts, especially with the larger shows – maybe the 30 truck arena tours we’ve been doing will now become 15-20 trucks at most.
It’s entirely possible that we don’t see concert touring in 2020. I guess if we plan for that, anything sooner will be a bonus.
Do you have any words of encouragement?
This is temporary, there will be live music again one day soon.
What makes you happy at the moment?
I’m enjoying being at home right now – keeping in touch with family and friends and looking after myself.
We’ll be back on the road again soon, complaining for a day off.
