Chris Kuroda Talks Phish Light Design In New Interview

Phish Lighting Designer Chris Kuroda is the lone member of the Vermonters’ crew to remain with the band from their college days in the Green Mountain State. While he’s been with the quartet since the late ’80s, he’s never rested on his laurels and continues his innovative ways when it comes to lighting Phish. Kuroda talks about his role for the cover story of January’s Live Design magazine.

“I’ve been here more than half my life, and in many ways, my entire existence is Phish, which is good and bad at the same time,” Kuroda explained about his work with the band in the article. “It’s been all-consuming, and there are times when I feel like I’ve been here too long, and there are times when I feel like I can go another 26 years.” Before we go on and fans think there’s a chance CK5 might leave Phish’s employ, we should mention Chris added “There really is no out for me, the way it’s all gone for the latest 26 years and the way I’ve established myself out there. I can’t just say goodbye.”

Within the article, Kuroda discussed the big changes to Phish’s lighting design of late. The band and CK5 collaborated recently with designer Susanne Sasic on visual designs. “She’s very artsy and asymmetrical, and has a much more theatrical vision,” Chris explained about Sasic. “Instead of this big looking, symmetrical thing that I’ve always been doing, we got her involved and came up with last year’s version of the show. That gave us a new direction.”

Kuroda also detailed the role his work with Justin Bieber on the pop star’s Believe global tour. “Everything was different. Instead of just writing a giant palette of stuff like I do for Phish, where you can grab and access whatever you want at any given moment, that tour was structured from start to finish,” Chris revealed. We also learn that Chris Kuroda is designing the upcoming tour for Ariana Grande and that “some of his new projects include several Vegas architectural installations, a Super Bowl commercial, and shows with EDM powerhouse Martin Garrix and rapper Nicki Minaj.” UPDATE: Kuroda took to Twitter to explain that the Super Bowl commercial project “just recently fell through.”

There’s plenty more, so head to LiveDesignOnline to access the entire article.

[Hat Tip –@HeadCountOrg]