Born and Raised
I was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. My family moved to Detroit in 1966. After a house fire took my Father on Christmas Eve, 1969, my Mother brought my sister and me to Port Richey Florida. I graduated from Hudson Senior High School in 1982 and lived in West Pasco, Spring Hill, Orlando, and Lakeland until 2005 when I moved to Guangzhou, China for nearly a year. I then moved to New York, first on Long Island for a year and then to Brooklyn for nearly nine years. I now reside in L.A. (Lower Alabama).
Formerly:
Lighting Designer/Director, DJ (Clubs-Radio-Raves)/Emcee/Host, Parade Host, Stagehand, Master Concert Production Electrician, Moving Light Programmer/Operator and Technician, Laserist, Professional Corporate/Commercial/Interior/Landscape Lighting Consultant and Designer, Forklift Operator, Festival/Concert Production Manager, Shrimper/Fisherman, Ranch Hand, Bee Keeper, Paver of Roads and Parking Lots, Heavy Equipment Operator, Dump Truck Driver, Flatbed Truck Driver, Crane Operator, Piano Delivery Man, Desert/Sea/Mountain/Jungle/Arctic Survival Instructor, Singer in a Rock Band, Bouncer in a Pool Hall, Bag-boy and Stock-boy at Winn-Dixie, Founder/CEO of my own Company in The Peoples Republic of China where I designed, built and marketed my own moving light fixtures and other lighting products worldwide, Competition Combat Pistol Shooter, Builder of Electric and Cigar-Box Guitars, Shade-tree Mechanic, Semi-professional Billiards Player, Grower of Roses and Trainer of Guard and Protection Dogs. I am also the only person ever to be on the payrolls, as a Lighting Director, of NYC's Highline Ballroom, B.B Kings, The Blue Note, Irving Plaza, Brooklyn Bowl, and The Knitting Factory … simultaneously.
I am a writer, a poet, a philosopher, an adventurer and most importantly … a seeker.
Mi Vida Loca
I am not sure why, but for some reason, I have been dealt a bit of a whimsical and somewhat diverse life, as-it-were, with lots of twists and turns and even more adventure. I have lived and traveled all over the world. Most of my travels have been while touring with bands or going to distant and exotic places to do light shows. But I have also hitchhiked around the eastern part of America (when I was young and it was still relatively safe to do that kinda thing!)
Somewhere in America
Hamming it up in front of our old Eagle tour bus while out with Bone, Thugs & Harmony.
Somewhere in China
Standing out in front of the Forbidden City, in Tian'anmen Square, Beijing, The Peoples Republic of China. This is one of the two Granite Lions that guard the entrance. That's not a beer in my hand, but you can tell by my grin that I'd had a few with my HotPot earlier!
![10[1]](https://jeffgaines.world/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/101-square.jpg "10[1]")
Somewhere in The Caribbean
This is my old business partner and I clowning around up on top of Richmond Hill in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We were there doing the lighting for Reggae Sumfest, which we did for 5 years. The Hotel up there is one of my favorite spots in all of Jamaica. As you can see, the view is breathtaking.