WEST POINT — Lucas McTaggart”s kitchen table is covered in junk. Well, what the majority of people would consider junk. In this world of disposable everything, when something breaks – especially something complicated and electronic, people usually swear and buy another one. But McTaggart knows how things work.
In addition to those circuit pieces (that he promises were once part of an amp), he has his trusty laptop open with all sorts of schematics and diagrams open to fix just one small chip of the circuit board.
But knowing how to repair electronics is part of 31-year-old McTaggart”s job. The West Point resident is the Audio Visual Services Coordinator for Mississippi State University, which on the most basic level means he oversees the operation of audio, video and lighting equipment at the Colvard Student Union, Bettersworth Auditorium at Lee Hall and any other campus event that needs the tech guy. He also co-owns an audio production company, and works designing and installing AV systems.
And while they can”t explain exactly what Lucas does, his wife, Kathryn, and their two 1-year-olds, Abigail and James, know who to go to when something breaks.
What types of events do you work on at (Mississippi State University)?
Pretty much if you have an event that needs anything from a podium and mic to a movie and anything in between, that”s me. We do everything from campus groups, to national traveling shows back down to a dinner in the ballroom.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
In my job you meet a lot of interesting people in a lot of different places. No two shows are the same, although you might be using the same equipment. It is either really fun or really stressful or sometimes both.
But that isn”t your only job right?
No, I also co-own A&M Entertainment with Scott Allen. We are mainly an audio production company. We also provide lighting, staging and backline.
I also work with Majik Productions out of Tupelo, an audio and staging company which does the set up for Market Street (Festival), and with a guy named Dale Robertson. We design and install AV systems for everything from meeting rooms to churches. I also do for-hire work for tech repair, etc.
How do you juggle all those jobs?
They aren”t all going at the same time. A lot of the stuff is seasonal; in the fall and spring we”re really busy, and it”s pretty dead in winter.
What kind of educational background do you have for all this?
I dropped out of Mississippi University for Women after a few years. I was a theater major and would have focused more toward set design or construction if I had finished, but I preferred audio so that”s kind of how I ended up where I am now. I”ve been doing this since 1998. You have to have a basic knowledge of the equipment and electricity. It”s something I was interested in and picked up over time.
What is the worst thing about your job?
The hours. If you”re doing a show on the weekend, you might leave Friday and not get back home until late Sunday night. (MSU) is open 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. There are a lot of long hours and you have to work all major holidays and weekends.
Do you have any hobbies?
My only hobby really is that I like to work with electronics. I built an exploding Christmas present for my brother-in-law one year. It worked great — other than it smoked up my mom”s house pretty good.
Speaking of families, how did you meet your wife?
We actually met through a mutual friend while I was working at a NonPoint concert at the Princess in Columbus. We met a second time while working a Saliva concert in Tupelo, and then finally I was invited to a birthday party for a friend of mine which turned out to be at her apartment. She will tell you that I showed up at the party and never left.
What does your family like to do together?
At the moment our kids are still real small so we don”t have that many hobbies right now. My little girl likes to read her books and my little man likes to eat them.
What is one thing that people probably wouldn”t guess about you?
I use to travel around with a local cover band, Ziggy Shwagg. It”s how I picked up a lot of experience on the types of equipment I use now. I still have the old van we use to travel around in.
What was your worst gig?
We were doing a show in Shreveport, La., and the next night we had one in Southaven, near Memphis, and we left our big audio snake in Tupelo. We closed the truck in Shreveport at 3 a.m. and we had to be at Southaven by 11 a.m. We had to drive straight through the night and the guy ended up canceling the show for money reasons when we got there. That”s when I learned that you never work for a promoter named Scooter.
Do you have a tech tip for aspiring AV-ers?
Don”t ever work for a promoter named Scooter.
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