A Short History of an Aspirant Hack.

 

Patrick Marks was born in August 1950 in Staffordshire, England. A typical post-war, grammar school Leo of an arrogant disposition with ideas way above his station. Year of the Tiger as well…

After a short period living in London’s Notting Hill between 1968 and 1972, selling shoes in Portobello Road, (a time that is remembered only vaguely, due in part to the herbal and pharmaceutical research he eagerly carried out) he fled to the country where he studied (and had a good time!) at Madeley College of Education and Keele University between 1972 and 1976 for a degree in Education and Performing Arts. He then started performing education for six years, attempting to teach severely emotionally disturbed teenage boys. His short and dismal career as a short and dismal teacher can only be described as dismal and short.

He married Lesley in 1976, and so commenced their tumble through life together…

During his time at college, he developed an interest in stage lighting, ‘cos it meant getting into every social function for free. He now wishes he hadn’t.

In 1982 Patrick woke up one day in the back of a V.W. van with a small touring light rig, and no house (that's another story). After a few years as a penniless itinerant lighting designer, he finally burst onto the scene of international lighting designers in 1985.

He has remained penniless to this day in spite of having toured the world constantly with a variety of major and not so major rock bands.

The 80's saw Patrick working with British acts as varied as Aswad, Aztec Camera, Gary Numan, Five Star, Big Country, Andy Summers, The Christians, The Cross, and so on, all of which kept him busy and on the move.

Meanwhile, Joshua and Eleanor came along, and dad started to look for a way out of touring… he's still looking!

In 1989, Patrick joined, as their touring lighting designer, that quintessentially British rock band, Status Quo, with whom he remains to this day.

Patrick also worked in the film and television industry during the nineties, and pushed faders for shows like the "Brit Awards", “Big World Café”, “Wired” and other forgettable ‘pop’ shows. He lost count of all the mindless ‘pop’ videos that he worked on, but still smiles about the day he lit Vic Reeve’s video for “Dizzy”.

Despite Quo's hectic annual touring schedule, Patrick has also seized opportunities to light other acts during this time, including Nigel Kennedy and The Pretenders, and has become integrally involved in designing lighting for fashion shows including the world famous London Fashion Week.

Highlights of his diverse design career include the lighting of a 13-week television series about the history of orchestral music called “Orchestra!”  for Channel Four, presented by Sir Georg Solti and Dudley Moore.

He also lists Quo’s marathon “Rock Till You Drop” extravaganza in 1992, where they performed live in four arenas - Glasgow, Birmingham, London and Sheffield - in 11 hours and 11 minutes, as one of the most satisfying lighting projects he has organised.

In 1997 Patrick managed to realise one of his life long passions… to fly. He obtained his Private Pilot's Licence in December 1997. He now enjoys thrashing about the skies of Norfolk in a Piper Warrior.

One day he will get off the road and write his book.

In the meantime he continues to write anything for anyone that will read it…