“Watching Michael Learns To Rock (MLTR) on-stage in Nagaland was surrealistic and one of the best moments for me. I literally had goosebumps!” says Samuel Shiu, who hails from the Khiamniungan tribe of Nagaland. Never did he imagine that one day he would be working up close and personal with his favourite musicians and big names from the entertainment industry.
And that’s not all; He has worked with Jennifer Batten (guitarist for Michael Jackson), Bollywood singers, NEZCC European Orchestra (2015), Hillsong concert, Hornbill Festival, International Culture-Mix Festival (2011), Miss Nagaland shows, fashion events and corporate events, and the President of India. He has also worked with Delhi based ‘Wedding, Ferns and Petals (FNP)’ the pioneers of social expression.
Samuel works as a stage lighting designer under his brand name “ShiuLights”. He creates lighting scenes that provide mood and dynamics for live concerts, weddings, fashion shows and special parties. Presently one of the few that provides professional stage lighting services in Nagaland, ShiuLights makes your production, and you, look like a star!
And it never started out with this much sophistication, he laughs and says, “I started from the bottom of the ladder. I started my career in my early teens as a sound system guy and used to go to shows in a van loaded with sound gear.”
The eldest of six children, Samuel narrated how he had to give up his education because his father had taken ill. His father’s salary was not enough to support everyone’s education alongside his medical bills and with a heavy heart, he decided to start working. In 2004 he joined ‘Music Channel of Nagaland’. After some years, he left this and started working for ‘Tribes Music’ based in Dimapur. This was where he really got his big break and started his career under the mentorship of the proprietor. He then, slowly started building his name and brand ‘ShiuLights’ which was finally launched in 2013.
Working in this field for close to ten years, Samuel is a familiar face- working behind the scenes and always with a smile and a positive attitude. He felt that Nagaland had reached world class levels when it comes to music, musicians, instruments and equipments. So he started taking an interest to explore the field of lighting production which was yet to be taken up fulltime in Nagaland-so Shiulight was born.
“I can’t express how my friends, musicians and contemporaries from the event and production houses have helped me out. They helped me land projects, shared knowledge and kept referring my name to their clients. I have never felt the need to advertise myself, and for this, I am very grateful to so many people. My brother who works with me helps me with the stage visuals and design. He is a very talented artist and I’m glad to have him working with me,” he adds.
“ShiuLights is young and we have a long way to go, so we are dedicated to excel our product and services more. In future, I wish to expand and hope my work and name goes beyond Nagaland.” For this reason, Samuel decided to incorporate his surname to his brand so as to represent his tribe and put it out there.
“Being in this field, it gave me an opportunity to meet lots of dynamic and incredible artists. Having to know different people and discovering their amazing talents is the key fun part of my work which helps me to keep on moving forward and most importantly, I get to observe and notice the first hand transition in the overall quality of our music industry then and now, that something which is very exciting and not all are privilege to be part of. Comparing the quality and performance 10 years back, we have now a better performing artists, there are more original products and the recording are improving, overall, our musician are giving their best to their music.
