Date & place of birth:
Christmas Day 1942; London, UK.

Profession:
Partner in Wynne Willson Gottelier (WWG) - lighting designers specialising in product creation and systems design. WWG is responsible for the origination of Catalyst, licensed to High End Systems, and Color Stream, which is manufactured and marketed by Pixeon (a.k.a. Bright Lighting)... and there is more to come. I've just written my last No Comment column that I have been doing for Lighting + Sound International for the past five years. I am also the founder and a trustee of Light Relief, the industry charity that supports the lighting design profession and 'lightens the dark side of lighting'.

What was your first professional job?:
Originally I was in publishing, but then I became fascinated by light and especially lighting effects. So in the early '70s I set up a company called Meteor Illusion, that later became Meteor Lighting, and subsequently Illusion Lighting, to exploit the genesis of what has since become the global entertainment lighting industry. Illusion also had a base in the US, long before most of today's brand names had ever been thought of. The first installation I ever did was at Bumpers, a club in Leicester Square where the ingenue Elton John played at the opening.

Why light?
There was something about the ephemeral quality of light that fascinated me. Also I couldn't get my head around the science behind the art so I suppose it was curiosity as much as anything. I was completely bowled over by liquid light effects. There was no business structure in those days so we had to invent it from the ground up.

Your biggest inspiration?
Peter Wynne Willson, my business partner for the past 18 years, though we had known each other a very long time prior to joining up. Pete is an inspirational inventor and a pragmatic solver of practical engineering problems. We have both been around for a very long time, but the radical ideas keep coming and Pete does no stimulants whatsoever! Once we had both realised that production and manufacturing were not our forte, it was inevitable that we would come together.

What's been your biggest professional achievement?
I am tempted to say, staying afloat for 18 years without an overdraft. However, I am proud of the products that are now appearing as the result of the licensing deals that I have been responsible for. I am proud of having my eldest son with me and Pete in WWG. I was also very proud of the lighting, rigging and SFX design at the original Camden Palace in 1981 because it set off a chain of new developments that trace a direct line to where we all are today - multi-channel memory desks, digital dimming, moving rigs and automated lights.

What's wrong with the industry?:
I don't much like the corporatisation that the industry is going through, and I am sure that there is more to come. There are good reasons why small companies are suited to our business; creativity can thrive and service can be provided at the point of need. That is never the case with corporate conglomerates.

What was the last record/CD you bought?:
Shakira's Laundry Service. She's touring with over 300m of Color Stream thanks to LD Roy Bennett and so I wanted to know what she was about..

The last live show you attended as a punter?:
Licks, the current Rolling Stones tour in the USA. They are still the greatest rock'n'roll band ever.

If you were to meet up with the teenage Rory McKeown, what advice would you give him?
Go to art school and learn to play the guitar.