INPROFILE
Matt Lamarche
Canadian engineer brings years of touring
experience to theater environment
by Kevin Young
>>>
For the last two and a halF decades, ottawa, on-based audio engi-
neer, Matt lamarche, has been an enduring fixture on the Canadian touring scene,
working with an ever-evolving roster of Canadian talent, including; tom Cochrane,
amanda Marshall, the tragically hip, Barenaked ladies and david Usher. he’s also
manned the desk repeatedly for high profile Canadian events like the Cisco ottawa
Bluesfest, and Canada’s answer to the Grammy awards, the Juno awards.
as the newly minted supervisor of Production services for City of ottawa the-
atres, overseeing shows at the Canadian Capital’s west end Centerpointe theatre,
however, lamarche is spending far more time stationary than he ever has during his
career to date. these days, splitting his time between Centerpointe and “watching
the progression of ‘the boy’,” his newborn son, Clark.
the new position is a bit of a sea change for the 37-year-old, ottawa native, but
a welcome one.
“I’d still like to tour, but I don’t miss the 10 months of living out of a bus and
airports as much as I thought I would.” nor does he miss some of the other hazards
of the road. In particular, disastrous experiences with airlines – lost luggage, disap-
pearing gear, repeatedly cancelled flights on one continent leading to last minute can-
celled shows on another, but as airborne
hassles go, lamarche has a story that
trumps virtually any I’ve heard…
oddly, although it involved the very
real, if remote, possibility of getting
blown out of the sky by a fighter jet, it
remains perhaps one of his most endur-
ing and favored memories from the road
– a once of a lifetime gig in salt lake
City, Ut, for the 2002 winter olympics with the hip, an exclusive show
for Canadian olympians. “It was great,”
he says. “tickets to all the hockey games, the closing ceremonies, all executive class
flights.” everything was taken care of, he says. everything, that is, with the exception
of some paperwork integral to being given permission to land.
with 9/11 still fresh in the collective consciousness and security surrounding the
FAST FACTS
Job Title: Audio Engineer, Supervisor of
Production Services, Centrepointe Theatre
Location: Ottawa, ON
Years in the Business: 22
Favorite Gear: Focusrite ISA220
Worked With: Tom Cochrane, Amanda
Marshall, The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies
and David Usher
Events: Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Juno Awards
Other Interests: Biking
“My favorite piece
of gear would be a
Focusrite ISA220
that I’ve been using
lately as a lead vocal
preamp/EQ/comp.”
— Matt Lamarche
Games heightened, the flight was asked
to take a slight detour to Boise, Id. the
request was not a suggestion, lamarche
explains. “I looked out the window and
there was a fully loaded F- 16 on either
side of us.” the escort was not a compli-
ment. “we got the full on ‘get out of this
airspace and we’ll bring you to where
you’re going’ treatment.”
over time lamarche has inhab-
ited virtually every gig you can in the
business, on and off the road. “except
lighting in a touring position,” he says
emphatically. lighting, he stresses, is
not his bag – but more on that shortly.
regardless of what position he’s fill-
ing, he brings something more than
ample experience to the table – some-
