In 1980, with
years of concert touring experience, partners Smoother Smyth, Stephen Dabbs,
Spy Matthews and Gus Thomson co-founded Delicate Productions. Smoother Smyth,
having previously toured with Kiss, The Rolling Stones and Olivia Newton John,
joined up with Spy Matthews, Gus Thomson and Stephen Dabbs during the
Supertramp Breakfast in America tour in 1979. Spy had previously worked in
Australia for Artist Concert Tours, Gus with console manufacturer Midas, and
Steve Dabbs with Elton John and Fleetwood Mac.At the conclusion of the
Supertramp world tour, with the band planning on taking a substantial hiatus,
the newly formed partnership quickly made plans to purchase the Supertramp
owned audio and lighting assets. The audio inventory included a pair of
custom Midas consoles and a very large Martin Audio arena PA system. The
Midas-Martin combination has since seen many major developments and continues
today as the backbone of Delicate's audio inventory.
In 1996 Spy Matthews returned to his native Australia paving the way to bring
onboard Steve Gilbard. Steve previously worked for the UK-based live sound
giant, TASCO, out of their Los Angeles office helping to establish them as a
key player in the US audio, lighting and video marketplace.
Since it's inception, Delicate Productions "naturally evolved" into providing sound and full lighting and visual production support for corporate, sporting and entertainment industry events and parties, eventually diversifying into installed sound and, thanks to Steve Gilbard's experience, full service video production.
