On July 1, 1974, this acclaimed designer was asked by his agent, the New York based American Talent International agency, if he would like to go to Canada to help a young, up-and-coming band that had just signed to Mercury Records get started with touring. At first, he was, by his own account “a bit put off,” about leaving New York for “The Great White North.”

After thinking about it for a while, though, he came to the conclusion that it might be a nice adventure, so he packed his bags for Ontario. Thus began one of the great designer/band collaborations in the history of this industry.

For his first 24 years with Rush, Ungerleider was the band’s tour manager, tour accountant, lighting designer and lighting director all rolled into one creative package whose enthusiasm, energy and sense of humor matched the trio’s own collective personality. Later, he would drop his other duties and focus on being the group’s lighting designer and director.

Beyond their compatible personalities, the designer and his client also shared a penchant for breaking technological barriers, as evidenced by his lightshows and Rush’s inimitable sound, both of which were widely praised for their innovativeness.

Looking back on his four decades with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, Ungerleider calls them “the best years of my life.” We’re honored he shared his recollection of them, and the lessons they hold for all in this industry, with us.

We know you’re a musician, playing guitar and piano yourself, so did you ever jam with Rush?
“I really enjoyed playing bass and guitar — and I’ve had the great opportunity to jam with Neil in his home studio when I had to drive him home to Beamsville Ontario from Toronto, which I often did. Rush always jammed on the long drives we were doing between cities in our rental cars. I really enjoyed those days. I wrote some crazy songs that we all joked around and sang and laughed on many occasions throughout the years.”

You’re pioneered many innovations in lighting design, notably in your use of lasers. Rush is also regarded as a tech pioneer among bands; the guys each had their own MIDI controller on stage at a time when that technology wasn’t widely known. So, did you and the band feed off one another technologically, talking shop, sharing ideas, and visions?
“When Rush discovered high technology and had advanced into this world it was very interesting as they were actually challenging themselves to accomplish things that, at that time, seemed truly impossible as musicians. This would push them extremely hard to pull off in real time some amazing tracks live!

“As far as my innovations went, Rush always gave me freedom to create my lighting designs, which were customized to suit the material that they were producing. Geddy was always the one who I communicated with the most, after my ideas were created. “Throughout the next 40 plus years I had created Custom designs, effects and ways to control many of them in unconventional ways.”

Any examples these innovations?
“There were on many occasions people who are lighting directors coming by and asking me how I had created those crazy effects. A good example was when I ran 13-volt beacon fixtures in series of groups of eight units capable of throwing out an extremely narrow beam over a quarter of a mile. I had asked Bob See of SEE FACTOR in NYC to build me a console that would be able to take 10 groups of eight fixtures and allow me to control them as 80 individual lamps. This console had a pin matrix that could enable you to combine any combination of lamps and store them in a number of submasters along with a second pin matrix that you could use to create any chase patterns you could conceive and place your chases in another series of submasters as well. There were times I could chase these fixtures one at a time to simulate rain!”

The late Neil Peart was viewed as one the best rock drummers of all time. His solos were legendary. What was it like lighting those solos? How did you reflect the intensity?
“As a musician myself, and having spent countless hours listening to Neil both live and in person, I felt like I was imbedded in his style of playing. I believe that I had as much passion and drive creating lighting effects for the entire band as they had for their music. This, I believe, was the blending catalyst that cemented the relationship between Rush and me.
The intensity and intricacy of what they were all creating was alive inside of me. When I was behind the console creating my looks, I would not see anything else around me other than the band, the stage and hear the music. I was absolutely in a trance. There would be many times when people who I knew thought that I was ignoring them as they came by to wave or say hello, but the reality was I never ever saw them because I was in a complete trance sucked into my craft.”

Along those lines, what was the best thing about lighting Rush?
“The best thing about lighting Rush was the freedom they allowed me to have when creating their shows. I also loved the creative meetings I used to have over Geddy’s house when all of our collaborative dreams would come alive along with a lot of comedy!”

What was the most challenging thing?
“The most challenging thing when creating a Rush Show was the intense blending of the animated videos with the stage lighting because when shooting a live video everything is about the capture. You know that from putting this publication together, when shooting a video, it lasts forever as a one-off show is just that! So, there are many sacrifices that I must make to pull off an incredible end result. The blending of color and how those images come across on the type of equipment we were using was key to a successful blend. The only variable here is the video director and what his vision is while creating his live shoot. Many times, the two of us had opposing concepts that needed to be discussed and worked out so that the end result was not compromised.”

How did the years with Rush impact your development as a lighting designer?
“Over the years I had to change with technology and become more aware of the advancements not only in lighting but in the control of that lighting as well. Understanding what was changing became paramount within my designing elements. New fixtures being powered by LED engines along with the new discharge fixtures and the ability to send video information through the entire system via media servers became the norm. So, as the band’s musical expertise rose to new heights, so did my creativity allowing the group of us to blend together and deliver a great production.”

Collectively what was the personality of the band like?
“One could not have imagined how incredibly wonderful and understanding these musicians were. Over the years we became brothers touring and living together and sharing laughs as well as sorrow, while we performed over 180-200 cities a year for decades. This truly became the opportunity of a lifetime.”

How did each member differ from this collective mindset?
“When I had first arrived in early July of 1974 Rush had been auditioning new drummers after the departure of John Rutsey whom I had never met. Geddy and Alex seemed to like heavier rock with a hint of prog in the very beginning after finding Neil, they began exploring more and more progressive sounding music while jamming together. I must say that Neil was instrumental in pushing a more progressive quality towards the music while Ged and Alex forged a powerful bond with Neil that rocketed the boys to new heights. When they were performing the first of many shows while on tour, I felt an incredible energy that I had never felt before with any other bands I had toured with prior to Rush. This electricity that emanated from this trio was astounding.”

Earlier you mention spending a lot of time on the road with Rush. About how many shows did you do with the band? Does any single one stands out?
“I must say it had to be in the thousands at least it felt that way after 40-plus years with them. The shows that stood out for me where the ones that took Rush to another plane like Brazil where the crowds were the largest that Rush ever played along with The Sars festival in Toronto where they played with so many Iconic bands to a capacity of over 250,000 fans. I loved the Pink Pop festival in Holland and all the touring we had done in the UK and Europe. Those were the best days of my life!”

Will Rush ever get back together again?
“This is hard to answer but I do know that we shall never see Rush in their true form because they are missing their best friend and most significant entity that became a staple worldwide and defined Rush as a Band. Geddy Lee, enjoys performing as does Alex as we just saw over the past month as they performed with Primus and Matt Stone at Red rocks.
Dave Grohl was instrumental in convincing Rush to come and honor Taylor Hawkins who had passed away recently as the two bands bonded in sadness and joy. The all recalled the best of times with not only Taylor but Neil as well as they performed with countless artists in both London and LA where there was a celebration of life beyond the likes of anyone’s imagination. So, to those who wanted to know if they shall ever see Rush again, there it was because as Neil said “You are only immortal for a limited time.’”