Nick Kotos
Nick was born 1949 in Flint, Michigan. He got into concert lighting when he was doing his degree course in Television Production at UCLA. “I started doing lighting for concerts to pick up extra $$s,” he says. In the mid-seventies he took a job with See Factor, Rush’s lighting contractor, and in 1978 he joined the Rush crew as Master Electrician. Nick’s fellow crew members called themselves Easy Company. “This was not an actual group, more of a mind set or attitude,” says Nick. “It was a take-off from a 50s-60s comic book Sgt. Rock and The Easy Company, an army company of hardened veteran soldiers who would do anything under the most difficult conditions.” At the end of the ‘Moving Pictures’ tour, Nick’s colleague and stage manager Mike Hirsch told him he wanted to step down. “About 5 minutes later the band and the Tour Manager asked me if I wanted to become the Production Stage Manager,” says Nick, who quickly accepted the offer. He continued in this role until 1993 when he was enticed away, to operate the largest outdoor amphitheatre in the USA, based in Los Angeles, and his Rush role was taken by Dan Braun. His time with Rush was a learning experience. “Personally, I made a lot of lasting friendships,” says Nick. “Professionally, I honed my skills and reputation.”
After nine years, he found the call of the road to be too great once again, so back he went. These days Nick is a freelance event co-ordinator and production manager. He is currently working on a tour based on a video game, called ‘GameRiot’. “It merges new video games and game technology to an entertainment environment,” he says. “The industry and touring aspect of it are in the same place that the music industry was in the early 70s.” So, how easy is it to transfer the skills from music to gaming? “I never learned to play a musical instrument and I can’t play any video games, but that’s not why they hire me!”