Started by Phil Cullen,

  who began lighting while at school in 1966. The first effect lighting show was in December

  of that year, in the U.F.S. Dispensary hall in Victoria Ave Chatswood. ( now demolished ) The

site is now the entrance for the Chatswood Chase Shopping centre.

Picture of the band on stage in 1966 (above) 

Phil had seen a lightshow at the Lane Cove Town Hall that was lit by a lighting company from Mosman

called Rubber Monkey Lighting. The guys who ran the company were Didge and Ross. In those days ONLY the stage was lit and the room was left in white light.

In those days it was a big thing in Australia to light the stage in moving coloured lights, for a band, and an even bigger thing to light the entire room with coloured effect lights.  Overseas at that time it had begun.

Didge and Ross had made all their own equipment, as indeed

  everyone had to do in those days, because even putting coloured paper over

  the ceiling lights was a pretty big thing to do. Didge's father was a sheet metal worker and Didge saw the potential to place coloured lights behind diffused perspex plastic. Phil was very impressed and decided at that moment that coloured effect lights were the way to go...

Phil was 14 years old at the time . Didge had a slow revolving four colour changing side of stage unit which had a 150 watt light source behind it. Phil was amazed at this and spent the whole night thinking about what to do with this and how to take it beyond.

Picture Above - the UFS Dispensary Hall late 1960's Victoria Ave. Chatswood.

(Above picture - a band in the legendary Purple Hall)

Where we did many shows in the 1960’s.

It was at the rear of St Pius X College Chatswood, Next to the Girls primary school.

Phil continued to do lighting up to and during 1970 at his school when he completed his higher school certificate.

By this time he was also doing lighting at many other high schools through his contacts.

Band in late 1960's on stage with rear projection Psychedelic patterns

Picture above, Workshop, Willoughby,

Clanwilliam St.  1969

Front entrance. Our workshop was at the rear, just to the right of the picture. The Picture below shows

the rear of the hall where our entrance was.

The  Hall has since been demolished.

 We rented the back room of the hall which was

  owned by the uniting church. Rent was a modest $15.00 per week. The minister

  was suspect about things because I came back at 2 or 3 in the morning and

  woke him up with all the noise.

1969 -Victoria Ave. Chatswood Sydney. Parade. The Sotweed Factor Band.

With Pat Reilly Drumming.

1969 Whisky a gogo nightclub, William St Kings Cross.

I hired the lighting to the club for a period of time.

Phil Salmon and John Gunton

  specialised in lighting in and around Epping in NSW (Sydney) They had begun

  their lighting company (Purple Cloud) in complete separance to Phil's Mac

  Enterprises. Phil later registered Mr. Mac The Lightshow Genius. much to

  the dismay of the Bank of NSW at Cabramatta who held his cheque account.

  (The bank asked him to KINDLY close his account as it was an "embarrassment

to the bank" Actual Quote. ! ) We are talking early 1970's Phil had his workshop in 1971 at 16 Bridge St Epping. In the 'famous' Purple coloured house that was named in Parramatta Council. (PICTURE BELOW)

During 1971 Phil moved to Epping.This was

  the famous purple coloured slate roof house in the middle of the Epping

  shopping centre. Before the days of noise laws. Remember? you could turn

  up the music (or as we did have a band rehearse in the back of the place)

  and when the police came you could tell them anything and they basically

left and that was that. In 1971 Epping was the place to be. Being

  in the middle of the shops meant make as much noise as you can. After all

  it was commercially zoned. Not that it worried us at all. We never contacted

  the council at all right up till when the owners were faced with an eviction

notice to move us out.

Phil had Mac lighting registered at the time

  and traded as Mr Mac the lightshow genius and tried to put disco and effect

  lighting in reach of every person in the street. Throughout the 60's Phil

  did school dance and small band lighting work mostly in council and school

  halls and community centres. The big break came in 1971 with the Fairlight

  Easter 3 day music festival at Mittagong in the NSW Southern Highlands.

  It was a Woodstock hippie pop, type festival and had 33 bands over 3 days

  and nights. It ran 23 out of 24 hours with one hour for stage cleaning.

  The site was 200 acres in size (big)! The problems never really began until

  the electricity supply authority cut off all the power at the site and we

  had to tie generators up trees to keep everything going. 

Phil was one year out of school.

The promoter was ripped off and no one was paid. After that things shot off, the 70's began

  with a bang and the promise of big things to come. It was a good era; 1%

  unemployment 1% inflation and everyone had a bright future. Disco and fun

  parties were the rage. No Noise laws; and the authorities had not quite

  woken up yet to what the young were really up to. 

  Phil named Mac Enterprises after his Art teacher at his school St. Pius X at Chatswood

  in Sydney - Col McDonald or "Mac" as he was known. Phil moved

  workshop quickly in the early days- 1968-69 Willoughby 1970-71 Epping 1971-72

Drummoyne 1972-73 Lane Cove 1974 Hunters Hill 1975 Cabramatta 1977 Then in 1977 we sold the name MAC to mobydisc and began advertising the name electric sunshine as our main name.

Turmoil followed - Gladesville- 1977

  - moved five times in Gladesville till 1980 when we arrived at West Ryde.

  1981 Rushcutters Bay 1982 Pyrmont 1983 Ultimo 1984 Glebe 1985. Then things began

  to settle down. We stopped getting thrown out of places. In 1987 we moved back

  to Pyrmont (after the complex at Glebe was sold to a developer who expressed an interest

in demolition - at 4am)

Picture above is our workshop, Glebe, 1985.

This large building, which was at the end of Glebe Point Rd, next to the water, was shared by about 50 other business organisations ranging

  from us to a guy out the back called Rocket Man who was ( true story. Really ! )

  trying to build a big space type rocket; but no one could really find out

  more about it... We couldn't get insurance on anything and the fire brigade

  used to come down once a week on a faulty fire alarm call and shake their

  heads and say if you smell smoke. Run. You'll have about 3 minutes to get

out. Picture below is inside Glebe  in 1985 - about a quarter of the whole area - and we had only a small portion of this space. It was an enormous place.

 Going  back . . 1994 to our heyday, Pyrmont workshop, Phil and Hugh. We were there from 1987 to 1996.

Below is Scott and Anthony at our workshop in Annandale, 1997.

Pat and Phil, Annandale workshop, 1998. 

Left Annandale 2001 and moved to Homebush.

Sydney was seen as only an Australian city

  up till 1975, but after 1975 things begun to change, by 1980 Sydney was

  seen as an international city. We now know that Sydney is indeed world class

  but unfortunately after 1975 Sydney lost its best kept secret.The authorities

  began to start to make laws at this stage to attempt to regulate things

  like noise; liquor; and venues; in response to overseas experiences; and

  some of our own disasters; like the terrible whisky-a-go-go fire. Now we

have so much more variety.

By 1980 Punk and the band scene was thriving. Thank

goodness for punk. Melbourne first then Sydney had boom pub band times

Disco had gone and as the 80's went on, bands'

  presentations became more and more spectacular. Until 1990, technology had

  progressed in the lighting industry at a steady pace. All of that changed,

  with the digital lighting era that was launched in 1989, with the Usitt

  protocol digital DMX 512 technology. This launched the lighting industry

  into a faster and more spectacular pace than ever before. As the 1990's

  progressed so did technology. What was Science Fiction in 1990 became reality

  by 2000. In this 10 year period so much changed. Lighting displays became

  bigger and bigger and more and more costly. Customers began to expect more

and more and were prepared to pay for it

The Swan Lamp 1879

Edison Lamp 1880

Lighting History - Going way,

way back to the year dot.

Edison was credited with inventing the electric

  lamp; and indeed he did develop the first PATENTED commercial direct current

  lamp BUT his system was based on Direct Current. Tesla's Alternating Current

was frowned upon by Edison. He tried every way he could to stop Tesla. 

The pioneers, as usual,

behind the scenes developed the original idea.

The Russian, Lodyguine, in 1872 lit the St Petersburg Docks with 200 globes but the life

  was only 12 hours each lamp. Swan; the Englishman developed a lamp very similar to Edison 's

    in 1879 - See Pictures Above , but Edison patented

      his lamp in 1880. Both men were working independently; in different countries.

      Swan was an inventor; like Edison. Swan developed the bromide process used

in photography; while Edison invented the record player.

Nikola Tesla. 1857-1943

Without whose work and discoveries we would

  not have Electricity as we know it today. While Michael Faraday discovered

  in 1831 that moving a magnet around a wire created an electric current,

  this discovery led on to many scientific discoveries which led to the direct

  current generator being invented along with many prototypes of the electric

  lamp, the Englishman Swan probably

    credited with the first practical working electric lamp in 1879 and a young Nikola Tesla who saw that Direct

Current Electricity was not only wasteful but had severe limitations.

Edison Patented his electric lamp in 1880

  which was based not only on the lamp but a direct current power distribution

system to power it.

What people do not realise

  is that while Thomas Edison is called the "Father of Electricity",

  and did indeed patent the first commercial electric lamp; his system was

  based on Direct Current..As such the idea of Alternating current was frowned

  upon by Edison. He feared that; correctly; his system would be "taken

over" by Alternating Current. Edison tried to discredit Tesla as -

Nikola Tesla was the inventor

of Alternating Current.

Edison was a very aggressive, posturing, public image

  person while Tesla was a quiet, withdrawing, sensitive person. Two completely

different people.

However Tesla had truth on his side; as George Westinghouse

  once said to him. Alternating Current was 100 per cent more efficient than

  Direct Current; and could travel extremely long distances over wires; while

  Direct Current could only travel a few Kilometers. An Alternator operating

  at full load is very very efficient as far as input to output. As Tesla

said "it is in harmony with nature".

Teslas's life was as amazing as his discoveries. Like

  Faraday; Tesla knew that Electricity and Magnetism were unique forces in

  Nature. They make up one of the four forces that are part of the physical

  world we live in; and everything in it. Both men knew that Gravity; one

of the other of the four forces; was also connected to Electricity and Magnetism.

Electricity and Magnetism are the same

thing. (one force)

Tesla's Alternating current

  "vision" came to him as he was in a public park and a poem about

  the dying of the day; and a new day being born across the world at the same

  time was being read. His immediate thoughts were of a spinning generator

  which reversed the poles. (an Alternator). He realised that this would provide

  unlimited power. He started writing on the ground in front of him with a

stick; the now well known sine wave; used to signify Alternating Current.

Tesla was very sensitive to all the senses. He could

  hear a clock ticking three rooms away. He had "visions" as he

  put it "sudden bursts of energy". Ordinary people thought him

  strange; he refused to shake hands with anyone as he put it - it -"disturbed

  his magnetic field". He had a fetish for washing his hands 30 or 40

  times a day; could not stand fruit, and talked about outer space and possible

life out there; which in the 1890's was considered as the sign of madness.

Tesla knew that the world is full of energy; and natural

  energy which is now called ELF or extra-low-frequency energy; is what he

  played around with. This is energy which exists as the Earth is like a giant

  generator in space; and properly harnessed this could provide us all with

  unlimited energy for our needs without needing to burn coal or use nuclear

  fission to produce electricity. Tesla looked forward to the present day

where his Alternating Current power stations would be powered by ELF technology.

Tesla, with the financial backing of famous financier

  J.P. Morgan, built a Transmission tower (picture above) which housed a resonating

  tesla coil. It was shaped like a pyramid and it's intention was to transmit

  energy around the world, from a single tower. Morgan provided the finance

  as Tesla had successfully developed Alternating Current, and with the backing

  of Morgan had built the world's first Alternating Current Power station

  at Niagara Falls, in the U.S.A. Morgan was receptive to Tesla and thought

  that Tesla was onto something, having been impressed with Tesla's Alternating

  Current Power station. HOWEVER when Morgan found out that Tesla wanted to

  transmit FREE energy from the tower it was literally burnt to the ground,

and Morgan would have nothing more to do with it.

Shortly afterwards Tesla's lab was burnt to the ground,

while Tesla was away, asleep in his home.

In Teslas' time not much was known about

  the Ionosphere. We now know that this, along with the Earth form a Sphere-in-a-sphere

  capacitor fed by the solar winds, which are driven by the Van Allen belts

  which act as the driving current with the molten inner earth acting as the

  induced current. The atmosphere acts as a leaky capacitor. The Earth and

  Ionosphere are about 55 Kilometers apart. In short the Earth is like a giant

generator in space.

Tesla once said that we are like people in

  a boat, in a fresh water river, who are dying of thirst because we do not

know how to scoop up the water from the sides of the boat.

Tesla did not know that Scalar waves only became pronounced

at extremely low frequencies but that is the basis of ELF technology today.

Unfortunately this ELF energy has two major problems. Firstly

  it is Free. How can you charge for an energy which is all around us; all

over the world ?.

And also more important; in the wrong hands it could destroy

  our planet. Used correctly it would be a boom for humanity; but would be

  more dangerous than letting off all the atomic bombs at once. It's literally

a double edged sword or Pandora's Box.

Both the Russians and the Americans have used Tesla'a

  ELF technology. Both sides have realised it's awesome capabilities. Tesla

  said that his system would abolish war as no side would be able to launch

  a missile attack as a defence "shield" would stop any missile.

  Unfortunately the very same "shield" could destroy the planet

  by destabilising the earth's magnetic field; destroy completely the ozone

  layer; or any one of a number of major disasters. This might sound like

  complete rubbish; but in August 1975 the Russians and Americans signed a

  draft agreement in Geneva at the International Disarmament Conference for

  the banning of 19 ELF weapons which could cause such catastrophes as Landslides;

  earthquakes; avalanches; volcanoes; tidal waves; as well as harnessing lightning

  bolts; guiding hurricanes to specific targets; melting the ice caps; changing

  the direction of rivers; generating Rain; hail; fog; snow; selectively destabilising

  the earth's magnetic field; and selectively destroying parts of the Ozone

  layer. US President Ford told the media that the US and USSR did not have

these weapons but were signing the treaty "just in case".

This followed a 10 year tense

  standoff after the Nuclear Submarine

    US Thresher "disappeared" while it was on patrol, in April 1963.

    The Thresher was at the time the most advanced U.S. Submarine - Like the

    Titanic - Unsinkable. The USSR was rumoured to have used a Tesla device

    to remotely destroy the craft. This was after the backdown from the 1962

    Cuban Missile crisis. The day after the Thresher disappeared the USSR successfully

    deployed a Tesla Device to transmit an explosion to an underground location

    100 miles north of Puerto Rico. The

USSR did this to prove a point to the US.

New York Times Front Page - 15th January

1960

Tesla has somehow been written out of the history books

  but invented among other things the Fluorescent light, Robotics, the car

  coil, and ultra high speed electrical switches. Alternating Current Alternators. With alternating current generation/transmission. His "Tesla coil"

  is used today in labs around the world, and is used for things like detecting

  leaks in vacuum apparatus. In 1899, two years before Marconi sent radio

  across the Atlantic , Tesla had built remote radio-controlled toy boats.

  Marconi worked for Tesla in Teslas own lab. Tesla was obsessed with energy

  as a form of power, while Marconi only wanted to explore the prospect of

  transmitting energy as a form of communication. The worlds first Alternating

  Current power station was built in the late 1800's at Niagara Falls in the

  U.S. by Tesla with the backing of George Westinghouse and J.P. Morgan, the

  famous financier. Tesla made a rambling speech at the opening of the plant

  about how it should have been built earlier and about missed opportunities

  and left the audience thinking that the man was crazy. Tesla was a very

  unique person. Edison was furious ( over his D.C. power being discredited )

  and began a scare campaign and rumour mill to discredit Tesla and destroy

  Westinghouse. Alternating Current meant the end of Edisons' power distribution

  system which was based on Direct Current. Only Teslas bailing out Westinghouse

  saved him, but as a result Tesla was completely broke, and died alone, completely

  disillusioned, in a hotel room in New York during the second world war,

in 1943. A great deal of speculation has occurred about

  the last years of Teslas' life. It was known that Tesla worked on the infamous

  Philadelphia Experiment that the US Navy conducted in the very early 1940's

  . This was designed to make navy boats invisible to radar (as part of the

  war effort) - the Germans had a magnetic mine that was causing a lot of

  problems for the allies... Tesla did not

  live much longer after that...There have been all sorts of statements made...

One can only guess about what really happened. As we sit here in the year

  2021 we see for the first time in the history of entertainment

    lighting; the situation where both the lights themselves, and the computer

    controllers that run them are as versatile as the operator is. That is to say the possibilities of effects and

      colour combinations possible is as infinite as the persons ability to program

      and operate the equipment. The equipment is so sophisticated

        that as each company has pretty well much what the other company has in

        terms of equipment the only difference

          is the level of experience and talent the operator has. It

is anyones guess what the future will be but it certainly will not be boring.

web design by hugh

" one person's floor

  is another's ceiling" . Anon.