Richie Robinson has been an audio engineer for 30 years and a live sound engineer for most of that time. He has mixed FOH for Icehouse for the last 10 years and has had stints with The Presets, The Veronicas, Motorace and The Avalanches amongst many others. He has worked as a sound engineer at JPJ Audio for nearly 20 years and a house audio tech at Palms @ Crown in Melbourne for over 12 years.
Richie spent 10 years as a tour manager/sound guy with Handsome Tours on indie bands from the States and Europe (including The Shins, The Breeders, Interpol and Tegan & Sara) and for the last 10 years, he has worked for A-List Entertainment on an array of comedy acts (Carl Barron, Wayne Brady and Jason Alexander). Interspersing all that with audio special events such as the Anzac 100 year anniversary cruise from Australia to Gallipoli in 2015 and it’s been an eventful ride for someone who started out thinking “yeah, I’d love to be a studio mixer!”
What would you normally be doing this time of year?
Typically after summer’s busy shows and touring season had slowed down, I would be settling into a winter run of house gigs (at Palms or with JPJ installs) interspersed with the odd weekend away for one-off shows and doing a week here and there tour managing comedian Carl Barron who never stops performing – except for now!
What’s a fairly normal day at the moment for you?
Being house Dad! With the rest of the family still working or studying from home, it has all been online work/learning and team meetings in three rooms of our house. Plus I have been able to do those little projects around the house that kept getting put on the back burner – especially now with restrictions easing you don’t feel guilty going to Bunnings. My cooking skills were also pretty basic so I’ve managed to learn a bunch of new dinners and now I’m on to learning how to use the slow cooker for winter.
Are you learning anything to improve your skills set?
Having the time at home has meant I’ve finally got around to learning how to use Pro Tools as more than just a tape machine/virtual soundcheck tool. Plus the interweb has gone webinar crazy – it’s been great having time to learn about new audio tools and listen to other audio folks’ tips, tricks and road stories.
What bad habits have you slipped into?
I don’t think I’ve slipped into bad habits – I’ve probably always had them! My partner just says – “when are you going back on tour? I want my space back!.” So yeah, after being together so long and her having grown accustomed to me being away for shows and tours, now it’s all about finding our own space together and coming to terms with that. “# – Life during Lockdown.”
How are you coping financially?
Thankfully after the summer season, I had put aside the winter big bills and had enough to tide us over until the Job Keeper payments came through. Although that was a stressful period applying for it and then the waiting to see if it would eventuate – as I’m sure it was for many others.
When do you think live entertainment will return and in what format?
That’s the big question, isn’t it? Talking with industry folk from promoters to venue managers and PA company reps just confirms how we all don’t know how this will play out. We’ve never had something like this just stop all shows and events. Optimistically, we would hope that some form of shows will kick off in spring and we’ll be keeping a close eye on how the more successful countries in Europe at containing the virus (Germany for example) are re-starting their entertainment sectors. Don’t forget that in the Northern hemisphere all the AV companies and production crews have lost their summer touring season so I’m sure they are keen to work out the safest way how gigs can kick off again.
Do you have any words of encouragement?
I think the Australian people (and Kiwis) as a whole have really come together and acted as one during this pandemic. Possibly having had recent crises – our bushfires over the last summer and last year’s Christchurch terrorism attack and before that the South island earthquakes in 2011 and 2016 has helped with both countries preparedness to deal with this challenge. It hasn’t mattered who is in power politically, we have got on with the lockdown task as nations united and for that, we can all be thankful.
What makes you happy at the moment?
Having more time to appreciate nature again. Just spending time in our local suburb walking to stay active and really noticing the birdlife, wildlife, the trees and the quietness! I feel like I’ve taken as many photos of our local area going through autumn as in our previous 10 years living here.
Photo: James ‘Oysters’ Kilpatrick
