Giving the mob of inebriated revellers a wide berth, Miles Hillyard is easy to spot in the distance as he strides purposefully over to our rendezvous point by the main stage. His decision to shun the day-glow uniform of the raver in favour of more practical apparel is something of a giveaway, but he’s also moving noticeably faster than everybody else and I can tell he’s got a lot on his plate.

As we walk on past the beer tent, despite the heaving pack of bare-chested lager louts trying desperately to get the attention of bar staff, I reason that he must by now have earned a drink and offer to brave the sweaty mass of tattooed drunkards in the name of refreshment.

“Thanks, but no way,” comes the reply.

Slightly parched but not offended, I politely enquire as to the reason.

“I don’t allow my staff to take drugs on the job and that includes booze. If they can’t do it, then I can’t either. They can do what they want in their spare time, but not here. I wouldn’t turn up to the office with a four-pack of Stella. If they’re drinking then they’re not working to their potential.”

I begin to realise that the finer points of staging a successful gig are not so obvious. The sound and light rental industry may have risen from rock n roll, but the companies such as SSE which have turned it into a realistic, profitable business have done so because they have taken a more disciplined approach. Good food and hotel rooms have somewhat refined the roadie lifestyle, but drink and drugs are out.

Hillyard confirms this: “We have to be a lot more business-oriented now and the crew being clean is just one part of it. There’s no resting on your laurels, because competition is fierce these days. The law is so tight now that you have to be a very professional outfit, because everybody wants to shoot you down. A lot of the crew now are very anti drugs and if anybody comes into the fold with other ideas they get shunned because it’s a two-way thing – I expect them to be clean but they expect me to give them separate hotel rooms and have decent catering and a good amount of money for their day’s work. It’s not just about an objection to drugs, it’s about the bigger picture. There are instances where I will turn down work because it’s not suitable for our team any more.

clean conditions
“A lot of the guys I use are also capable of getting a job in IT or flying a plane and other stuff that will earn them 50 grand a year. So you have to bear in mind the conditions that they’ll be working in when it comes to the tour buses and the catering. As for the drugs thing, being clean and professional is just another part of that. Some people don’t want to be involved in that scene and the ones who do are jeopardising their work, so why should I look after them to keep them at their best, when they’re ruining it themselves with drink
or drugs?

“Only half of what I do is designing the sound systems and putting the gear together – the other half is picking the right people for the job, especially when I have to put 25 people together on site for a weekend. My man on the ground, my crew boss, is critical and he does a fantastic job. He’s done this gig for me four years in a row – moving the personnel around properly, making sure they get the right breaks, making sure everybody gets fed; it’s all very important. From our point of view, it’s not just about putting the PA up.

“The industry is changing; we’re not in the 70s and 80s anymore and our industry is now catching up with the rest of the workforce in the country. Health and safety and the hours that we have to work mean that we’ve had to take a very hard stand. It’s very difficult to talk about it because it sounds like I’m saying some companies aren’t like that and that’s absolutely not the case, but the bottom line is, yes, we expect our people to be responsible.”
www.sseaudiogroup.com