TA L E S O F T H E C I T Y
BA B Y YO U ' R E A F I R E WOR K
MORNING FIX
EXERCISE
GOOD EATS
BA R
G E TAWAY
Joe’s Garage
Bike Riding
Floriditas
Hawthorn Lounge
Vietnam
Explosions come naturally to Robert McDermott. The pyrotechnic designer and CEO of Pyrostar International talks to Anna Jackson-Scott about twenty years of running Wellington’s fireworks displays and thirty years of making explosions for a living.
R
ob McDermott has been involved in some important moments in history. “To be able to say that I designed the show for the Hong Kong Handover is a very rare moment indeed, and can never be achieved again.” He designed and ran the 2000 Millennium celebrations in Sydney and London, and was the first person in history to fire off the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. He’s fired from barges, helicopters, boats, tugs, Wellington’s Hikitia crane barge and specially designed pontoons. Fireworks have featured all his life. “My mother went to school with someone who owned a fireworks company so I was introduced to it when I was born.” He studied for a Master of Pyrotechnics and founded his company Pyrostar International in 2003. He remembers his first show at 18. “It was nerve-wracking. I was hand-firing with very little instruction! I couldn’t hear for a couple of days afterwards.” Sydney-based, he returns this month for Wellington’s 20th anniversary Guy Fawkes Sky Show. “I’m proud to say I began, ran, and designed every display since inception.” To mark the anniversary, he’s choreographed this year’s show to 20 years of New Zealand number one hits. “Many people don’t realise the fireworks display is synchronised to music, but that’s how the Sky Show started – to get people to tune into radio stations. This year we’ve gone back and looked at the number one hit for each year, finishing with Sol3 Mia in 2014. It’s a great finale piece for fireworks, really inspiring. I’ve become very fond of Sol3 Mia.” Music is his main inspiration for designing the displays.
“I hear a piece of music and the effect comes to me. Like when you’re a painter and inspiration strikes. Music really does that for me, from the latest top ten to classical.” After twenty years, Wellington has become a second home to Rob and wife Chrissy, who is also his producer. “Wellington has a cool vibe. We love the cafes and bars here. We go to Joe’s Garage for breakfast, Floriditas for their fish pie, and to bars hidden up corridors and stairwells such as Hawthorn Lounge, The Library, and Matterhorn. They’re a good hangout after a full on production day.” They also favour St John’s for a few beers and their hot chips, “and you can always find a comfy hangout on Cuba Street.” When they’re not in Australasia, Rob and Chrissy travel and put on shows around the world. They’re not homebodies. “The travelling lifestyle is exciting; we get bored at home. When Chrissy first moved in she opened the oven and found the instructions inside, still in their plastic wrap!” Rob also spent seven years in the Middle East where firework displays are increasingly popular. “Cities try to out-do each other with fireworks show. It’s all about publicity and tourism. No other form of entertainment brings together so many people from all walks of life.” Vietnam is their next stop, where Rob has been appointed fireworks consultant for the Vietnamese military. Is he still in one piece? “You’d be surprised how many people ask me, ‘have I still got all my fingers?’ The answer is a definite ‘yes’.”
Photograph by Rhett Goodley-Hornblow 17