“It was such a surprise be recognised by our peers and colleagues at the TPi Awards,” Cruickshank stated proudly, speaking to TPi shortly after the ceremony. “We’ve put a huge effort into stepping up how we deliver shows over the past few years, so it feels good to know it’s been noticed.”
As a proudly independent lighting and video rental outfit, Colour Sound Experiment thrives by staying true to its ethos. With no outside investors to answer to, the team remains focussed on the craft of live production and people. Cruickshank elaborated: “Our uniqueness is being able to offer technical production solutions in three continents, safe in the knowledge that we can’t be given targets, sold, merged or restructured. We’ve never been scared to innovate and invest; this ethos is very much at the heart of Colour Sound.”
The journey from a fledgling rental house to a major name on the global stage has been marked by pivotal decisions and bold investments. One of the earliest watershed moments came in 1990, with the company’s first move into intelligent lighting. This was followed by the addition of LED screens in 2009. The past five years, however, have seen Colour Sound Experiment take significant strides internationally, with the development of specialised departments helping to deliver consistency and quality across borders.
“This has really helped us be consistent across different regions. Having a dedicated software and networking department, although only three people, has been revolutionary for supporting other departments such as automation,” Cruickshank explained.
The company employs 130 full-time staff members – a testament to steady, sustainable growth over three-and-a-half decades, even in the face of global challenges. “Our international expansion has given people a perception of much more rapid growth. I’ve always been conscious of where any bottlenecks are in the business that could hamper growth and tackling them, so I assume it will always keep growing,” Cruickshank said.
Reflecting on recent highlights, Cruickshank pointed to a series of standout moments over the past 12 months. Among them was the technical delivery of The Chevron Stage’s floating LED nets at Reading & Leeds Festivals – a bespoke engineering feat inspired by a desire to create an intimate and immersive rave environment in an open-air setting. “This project was particularly fitting as it harks back to the raves and early dance festivals where we cut our teeth,” Cruickshank remarked.
Equally significant was the company’s contribution to Soundstorm 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – a mammoth technical production and one of Colour Sound’s largest international undertakings to date. Now in its fourth year at the festival, Colour Sound Experiment supplied four of the seven stages, delivering a vast amount of equipment to meet the ambitions of a project designed to drive cultural progress in the region.
Touring remains a major component of the business, with recent work on The Script’s latest tour showcasing the breadth of Colour Sound’s inventory. The production featured extensive use of LED – across screens, walls, floor, and ceiling – with automation adding further complexity. Alongside truckloads of lighting for both A- and B-stages, the setup came with high logistical demands.
“Despite our concerns it could even be built before doors, it was in and up, safely, by 1pm every day,” Cruickshank noted. He also cited Jean Michel Jarre’s shows in Bratislava as another recent highlight, describing them as both “technically challenging” and “hugely rewarding” projects.
Looking ahead, the Colour Sound team remains optimistic about what’s to come – though not without an awareness of current market pressures. “We’re very optimistic about 2025,”Cruickshank explained. “However, on the supply side the current tariff and trade war certainly presents a challenge for all rental companies and most manufacturers. That said, we view this as short term and relatively simple to mitigate.”
“On our demand side, although where and how ticket revenue is spent continues to evolve – sometimes giving the impression of decline – the overall dollar spend is still growing. People have been gathering to listen to music together for about 40,000 years; it isn’t going out of fashion any time soon.”
The company’s international footprint has grown significantly in recent years. Its Los Angeles branch, opened three years ago after 25 years of groundwork, allowed Colour Sound to better support its touring clients across major US markets.
“We’ve been able to service our touring clients in their major markets and deliver consistency across them. Recently adding the New Jersey branch has further enhanced that allowing us to better support tours across the country and service the one-off shows in the biggest cities,” Cruickshank reported. “Positioning ourselves in LA and near New York, as we have in London and Jeddah, puts us close to where the big, one-off shows happen.”
Short-term goals include fully staffing the New Jersey warehouse and building an integrated team there. Medium- and long-term ambitions centre around thoughtful growth and continued independence – “finding the right people, nurturing talent, and expanding without compromising” their core values, according to Cruickshank.
He concluded: “2025 is looking good. We’re predicting growth in all regions, but particularly in the US and KSA. The new location in New Jersey was primarily to better support the touring shows but has opened some new opportunities on the East Coast. We have some huge new projects in KSA including a 5,000 sq m screen install in partnership with Samsung. Importantly, our corporate and touring markets continue to grow.”
Words: Jacob Waite
Photos: Luke Dyson and Colour Sound Experiment
