We Are The Road Crew Podcast

Episode 2 : George Baker (Stormzy, Robbie Williams)

We Are The Road Crew Podcast

Show Notes

This week, host Stephen Hill (Metal Hammer, Riot Act Podcast) chats with George Baker, Director of Visual FX company Encore SFX. George is a master of special effects including Pyrotechnics, Flames, Smoke, Lasers and co2, and is responsible for creating breathtaking moments within live events for some of the worlds biggest artists including Stormzy, Robbie Williams, Chain Smokers, Fall Out Boy and many more. George talks about how he first started out in his career, going to see Take That on the Circus Tour with his Mum, the pressures of live TV whilst working on The X Factor, owning his own Company at the age of 23, all the way through to triggering 100ft flames for Stormzy at his Glastonbury headline performance. Without a doubt, one of the biggest festival shows of 2019. With more captivating guests lined up every week, please Subscribe & Follow the 'We Are The Road Crew Podcast' over on Facebook & Twitter using the Handle/Tag @RoadCrewPod #RoadCrewPod

More from We Are The Road Crew Podcast

Nov 19, 2022

Today (Nov 19th) marks the 7th Anniversary of the horrific bus crash which claimed the lives of two people and changed the lives of The Ghost Inside and their crew forever. In this exclusive episode, Stephen talks to Tim Irons, a crew member who was onboard the bus that fateful day. Tim talks about his love for music and following band’s such as Bleeding Through & Let Live that frequented the local California music scene growing up. As his friendship groups and connections expanded, Tim’s enthusiasm and passion led him to embrace the opportunity to work with The Ghost Inside over several touring cycles, until his career came to a stop the morning of November 19th 2015 when the band's tour bus collided head on with a tractor trailer on U.S. Highway 180, just outside El Paso, Texas. Tragically both drivers died at the scene, but the ten people on the bus that day survived albeit with life changing mental and physical injuries. Tim recollects that day in great detail and tells Stephen about how his own life has changed since.

Jul 7, 2022

In this episode, Stephen talks to George Davison, a Tour Manager with over 25 years experience in the industry. George shares his early beginnings working with Nottingham metal legends Earthtone 9, before going on to work with a host of Welsh bands including Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine, and most notably Lostprophets, overseeing their meteoric rise from a small town in Wales to global stardom. It's no secret how the Lostprophets train imploded in a way nobody in or around the band including George would ever envisage but George's career continued going from strength to strength with him looking after Swedish rock band Ghost in arena's throughout the world, as well as successful stints with Mastodon and Of Mice & Men.

Apr 12, 2022

In this latest episode, Stephen talks to Simon JP Thomas, an Award-winning Front of House Sound Engineer with over 30 years experience in the industry. Detailing his career journey to date, Simon recalls his early experiences working with the likes of BB King, Gary Numan, Echo and the Bunnymen and Moby. By 2017 Simon had earnt his place as Front of House Engineer on US pop superstar Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman World Tour. After a string of dates across North America the tour arrived at the Manchester Arena, UK on May 22nd and was enjoyed by over 14,000 avid pop fans, many of them families and children. At the very end of the show when the audience were making their way out, a bomb exploded just outside of the arena killing 22 people and injuring over 1000. Simon talks to Stephen about some of his memories of that appalling attack whilst also detailing his superb work in bringing together artists for the One Love Concert which occurred just two weeks later and highlighted the strength and resilience of the people of Manchester.

Dec 21, 2021

Surprise! We’re back! After what has been a horrendous year for Live Music and the super talented Crews and Technicians who look after your favorite bands, artists, and musicians, it’s a pleasure to bring you this very special episode of the podcast featuring the legendary John McMurtrie, a hugely talented British Music Photographer who has carved out a professional career photographing the biggest bands and musicians in the world for Metal Hammer and Kerrang magazines whilst contributing to Rolling Stone in the US and Q Magazine in the UK. As well as discussing his career to date working with bands like Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold, Ghost and BabyMetal, John gives us an insight into his work as Official Photographer for Iron Maiden and his experiences touring the world aboard Ed Force One, the bands own Boeing 757.

Sep 22, 2020

We promised you an amazing end to this season of the podcast and we have delivered it, by bringing you a unique, open, and intimate conversation with Chad Zaemisch, who, for over 16 years has been the Guitar Tech for James Hetfield of Metallica. Undoubtedly one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Chad is responsible for James's signature guitar tone and everything you hear from his amps when Metallica grace the biggest and best stages in the world. Chad also goes back in his career and talks to us about how he started in the industry with alt-rock band The Breeders, and then his time looking after the guitars of Courtney Love and Hole. We are delighted to have had the support this season of our good friends over at Signature Brew who have been brewing music-inspired beers and supporting live music since 2011. Thank You for all your support this season. Please Subscribe & Follow the 'We Are The Road Crew Podcast' over on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, leave us a little review, and be the first to hear about the launch of SEASON THREE! Coming Soon! #RoadCrewPod

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