Some would say we are in a golden age for stage and event production. Year after year we see massive and intricate stage designs that take our breath away. It makes us wonder, who are the people pioneering and leading us down this incredible new path? Romain Pissenem, the creator of High Scream production company, is the man taking EDM and guiding it into its next stage.
Founded in the early 2000s in Paris, High Scream has put on an impressive list of events. From world-famous Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel to working with an impressive list of clients including David Guetta and Martin Garrix. High scream is making its footprint within dance music. Pissenem used his background in theater and production to catapult the company to the next level.
We were lucky enough to ask him a few questions about the past and future of the company.
When you are producing a show for a new client, what are the first steps you take? How do you ensure the show will satisfy the needs of the client?
I discuss a lot with the client, the artist, the manger – with everyone. I think when you create a show you have to understand the music and the talent but also the management, where the artist is going and what they want to create with the show. You can’t be selfish when creating a show, it’s important to always remember that the artist it the centre of the show, the music for me is the plan and my job is to build the architecture around it, to create the visual experience that the music is talking about.
Which dance music artist have you enjoyed most working with? Are there any specific shows that come to mind?
I have worked with a lot of artists and I’m particularly lucky to work with a lot of French talent, I loved working alongside Cassius on their show and in the end, we became very good friends. At the moment I’m working with David Guetta on his new arena tour which has been a lot of fun and I can’t wait to debut it in November!
How do you work on so many different shows around the world at once?
I have a few clones *laughing*. I’m the one answering the questions but I have an incredibly talented team working with me at High Scream who always have the drive to make things happen no matter what. I couldn’t do 1 show let alone over 300 a year on my own, we really are like a big family!
What has been your favorite project to work on? What makes that one stand out from the rest?
Maybe because it’s been such a long-time project but Ushuaïa Ibiza is still one of my favourites, it was amazing to create that from the beginning. When I look at how far we have come and remembering that in the first year we have 2 people running the whole venue, we didn’t have any storage or a dressing room. It’s taken a lot of sleepless nights, hard work and dedication but after 9 years I really am so proud of how Ushuaia has evolved to be one of the best clubs in the world.
If you can say, what new projects are you working on that we can get excited about?
At the moment, and coming up the quickest, we have the David Guetta Arena Tour, it actually starts in France so it’s very important for me to go there with a crazy show. A lot of other things are in the pipeline for 2020 and not only in electronic music which I am really excited about and cant wait to show to the world!
