TORRANCE, CA – Alex Alvarez is best known as Lenny Kravitz’ guitar tech, but after 25 years, he is in many ways Kravitz’ right-hand man. For tours, he’s the crew chief, responsible for hiring the crew, maintaining the equipment, and more. Off tour, he manages Kravitz’ studios in Paris and the Bahamas. Wherever Kravitz and his band go, you’ll find a Mackie mixer in use.
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“Lenny has been using small Mackie mixers in his keyboard rigs and practice rigs for years and years,” Alvarez relates, “starting with the CR-1604VLZ. When the digital DL1608 and DL806 came in, we started using those, and now we have the DL32R. We use them in an assortment of ways to fill various niches.”
Kravitz even employs his Mackie mixer before the show. “Lenny likes to use the DL806 as a personal vocal warm-up mixer,” says Alvarez. “He likes to warm up in a reverberant space, and we may be at a festival where that isn’t possible. But with the DL, he can warm up using the same reverb patch every time, so he has a consistent environment.”
Another application is as a keyboard mixer for rehearsals. “Sometimes Lenny rehearses with just the core band, and we need a small, high-quality mixer for the keyboards,” Alvarez notes. “The DL1608 and DL806 are very good, compact mixers that have given us what we needed. Now I have the DL32R set up, and we’re in the process of switching to it. It gives us a lot of significant additional features. For one, we will be able to easily record.”
Kravitz performed a few U.S. tour dates in May, followed by a European tour, then back to the US. His Mackie DL32R will accompany him all the way. “We are constantly traveling, and our gear has to work in every country we visit,” explains Alvarez. “Mackie mixers are a great choice for that; we can rely on them wherever we go.”
