Faces of 4Wall - Gary McGarity

At 4Wall, our crew chiefs and technicians are the heart and soul of productions, working tirelessly behind the scenes to make magic happen. Today, we're spotlighting Gary McGarity, a Crew Chief at our Detroit location. Gary's journey from high school stagehand to lighting visionary is filled with passion, creativity, and a dedication to his craft.

What's your name and title?

Gary McGarity - Crew Chief  

What 4Wall location do you work at, and how long have you been with the company?

Detroit, 2 years  

What was your "aha!" moment that made you realize this was the industry for you?

I was running lights for Skrillex at Electric Forest Festival with 15k in the audience, and suddenly I realized I wasn't even thinking about what buttons I was pressing or what was coming up next, I was just going with the music like the console was an extension of me. At this point, I realized this 'job' had turned into a career.  

Describe your career path within this industry.

I started off as a stagehand at my local high school theater. After graduation, I became the technical director and ultimately ended up being the auditorium manager. A few years of getting a feel for running all aspects of an event lead me to taking an internship with the local lighting company, Odyssey Lighting, and ultimately employment for a while, getting my teeth wet in the lighting side of things doing a mixture of corporate, festivals, touring and installs. Eventually I ended up at Bluewater Technologies leading the lighting department there, which gave me a great opportunity to build a lighting department that mostly hadn't existed before while teaching myself some valuable lessons along the way. Post-covid I ended up engineering and developing experiential lighting activations that would fuse together technologies from the AV industry into magical moments for the general public. When I was finally ready to take the next steps back into live events, 4Wall was the only logical choice.

If your job had a tagline, what would it be?

Doing more with less.  

When you explain your job and/or this industry to family members who have no idea what it is, how do you do it?

I design the lighting for live events, crafting visual experiences that enhance performances and create unforgettable atmospheres. Essentially, I use light to tell a story, making concerts, theater shows, or special events come alive with color, movement, and energy.  

What's one thing people think is easy about your job-but in reality, it's way harder?

Work/life balance. It seems really easy to maintain both, especially when there are long periods of time between jobs sometimes. In reality, it's one of the hardest parts about this job, realizing that even though you are on vacation, somewhere someone may need an answer that only you can give and there is no waiting until you get back.  

What's your secret weapon on a long, hectic day?

Mt Dew gets me through the days that you know you're gonna be there all day.  

What's a project you worked on that made you the proudest?

One of my most proud projects was when I lit the Detroit Central Train Station. We put a light behind each of it's 264 windows across 11 floors and mapped it out so we could scroll low-resolution imagery and words across the windows that could be seen from miles away. I was a part of the design and engineering team for it and was able to program the whole activation. Hearing the city go crazy with excitement as we lit the building, that had once been an iconic stop in Detroit and since been abandoned for almost 40 years, has just always stuck with me as one of the greatest moments in what I do.  

What's a piece of industry advice that sounded like nonsense when you first heard it but turned out to be absolutely true?

Never burn a bridge, as you don't know who you'll be working for next week.  

Are there any life hacks at your job that would surprise people?

You can get anywhere if you wear all black and carry a radio or ladder with you.  

What's the wildest request you've ever gotten from a client, and how did you make it happen?

I had one client, that after weeks of meetings and discussions on the design of the event, decided while loading in they were changing the color scheme of their event to brown and black. After explaining to them, these colors weren't colors you could create with light, we ended up with an all white lighting event.  

What's a mistake you made early in your career that taught you a valuable lesson?

If you're going to make a mistake, learn from it.  

Technology in our industry is constantly evolving-how do you stay on top of what's new?

I try to attend LDI yearly to catch up on the newest technology releases and keep up with industry contacts.  

What's one trend with equipment that you're excited about?

I love how far RDM has come, the ability to remotely make changes to fixtures and monitor potential problems before they become a show stopper is an awesome advancement we are in the middle of.  

What's a skill you've developed on this job that you never expected to need?

Being able to make anything happen with a little time and a trip or two to the hardware store.  

If you could go back in time and give "Day One You" a piece of advice about this job, or life in general, what would it be?

Don't sweat about trying to be involved with every project that you hear about, find the ones that are right for you and give them your full focus.  

What's the best part of working at 4Wall.

Working at 4Wall is great because of the access to gear and opportunities that it presents. When I'm designing for shows I don't feel like I have to be limited by what's on the shelf, I can come up with whatever the best design for a show is and know that we have the inventory to be able to execute it. I also love all of the opportunities. Whether you want to tour, do sports events, stick to corporate work, do installs, or a mixture of all this plus more, the chances are there to get involved with any aspect of live events that you could want.  

What's your go-to karaoke song after a long event?

Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus  

What's your favorite guilty pleasure snack on the job?

Air Heads Xtremes  

If your work life had a theme song, what would it be?

One More Time - Daft Punk  

What's the last song that you listened to?

Evil Angel - Breaking Benjamin  

From lighting up Detroit's iconic train station to staying ahead of the curve with evolving technologies, Gary's dedication is evident in every project he undertakes. Whether it's finding the balance between work and life or creating mesmerizing visual experiences, his story serves as an inspiration to all who love the art of live production. Stay tuned for more insights from the talented individuals who make 4Wall an industry leader.