Coachella and Stagecoach sound guy Dave Rat reveals the secrets to keeping the music crystal clear
LA TimesDave Rat, sound consultant and founder of Rat Sound Systems that provides sound for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, at the Sahara stage on April 14. It’s one of the greatest setups I have ever used.” Lesa is part of Rat’s expanded team, adding to about 25 full-time Rat Sound staffers who deliver world-class sound to Coachella. “There’s a lot of, ‘This is the way it’s done.’ And if you threaten that — they get really upset,” Rat says with a smile of the larger concert sound community. “It was just a moment of like, ‘How did we get here?’” His most stressful nights at the festival, he says, were the Coachella years when the Red Hot Chili Peppers were among the headliners — since Rat was responsible then for both the overall festival sound and as the longtime engineer for the band. “And he’s like, ‘No, no, it’s catchy.’ Oh, OK.” Dave Rat on a ladder near a pile of subwoofers at Coachella’s Sahara Tent.
Discover Related
