I spend most of my performance time with electronic musicians, and suppose most CDMo readers would be in a similar situation. I don’t think it’s necessarily that live electronica requires a VJ to be visually stimulating (Ponyloaf prove this gig after gig), but those whose music making time is centred around synths, samplers and laptops seem to be more aware of the firepower that a fully armed and operational visualist can provide.
So I was surprised to get a call last week from local Alt/Folk/Rock hero and Australian Idol 2006 finalist Bobby Flynn (If you’re not from Australia and haven’t encountered Bobby, Youtube and Wikipedia can get you up to speed). Apparently Bobby is putting together an Australian tour, is at least partially aware of the power of a fully armed and operational visualist, and had heard that I was such a creature. So after conversation, dinner, beers, and a couple of hours with my python wrapped around his girlfriend’s arm, it was decided that I should join his merry little band. Oh, and there’s a gig in three days at QPAC. Ready? Did I mention that I didn’t have a reliable gig machine as I managed to spill beer on my Thinkpad at Elements:6? No? Well I guess I’d better sort that out before Saturday then.
So I put together a Small Form Factor PC based around the Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard and a Lian Li PC-V300B case (writeup coming), organized mounting of a projector and improvised screen (QPAC can’t provide us with any screens at all? Stage managah, please!), managed to squeeze in time for rendering some new materials and a practice with the band and still arrived at the venue on time, with all my gear, and having had over 4 hours sleep the night before!
It turns out that VJing for a folk rock crooner is quite a different experience to the DJs and electronic acts I usually work with.
“Club” VJ gigs generally involve me playing with an act whose music I’ve never heard before, frenetically pounding away at midi controllers to the point of exhaustion, for 8+ hour sets, after having spent hours up ladders getting dusty and sweaty while installing projectors and screens, for what amounts to no money, playing to people who are often too wasted to understand what’s going on or what they’re seeing, and who probably won’t remember it in the morning.
“It’s a labor of love” is what I’m trying to say. Although it may not come out that way when squashed into a paragraph/sentence of negative connotations, I love these kind of electronic music gigs. Nothing makes you a better performer than being dumped in front of 500+ people and having to improvise. Playing with computers is supposed to be a low impact, sedentary exercise. I’ve never found that to be the case while VJing at club gigs.
The rock visualist seems to be a different creature. Sitting in the video control booth, high above the theatre, I found time to ponder the art of what was transpiring. Rather than my usual position as fiery visual locus of the event, my role was complimentary. I had to focus not only on the shape of the songs, but the movements and energy of those on stage, so as not to overwhelm their presence. Clips which I consider staples for electronic gigs didn’t even make it into my decks, let alone the screen. Rather than the strong, busy material I usually pound out like an apoplectic Chris Cunningham, I built a palette of subtly moving textures in muted tones, relying on the lighting chicka to bring colour to the scene. That’s not to say that I wasn’t busy or that the show was boring to play. When there’s people dancing everywhere and you’re hammering away with flashy stuff all over the place it’s nigh on impossible to make a “mistake” which is noticeable to the audience, unless you bring in the wrong act’s title clips or tragically miss a breakdown. When the entire audience is transfixed by what’s happening on stage, dropping the wrong loop or accidentally hitting Random is a little more noticable…
The post-show consensus was overwhelmingly positive, although I feel that I’ll need more suitable material and practice in this context before I’ll be perfectly happy with my performance. Planning for a mid-year Australian tour underway, so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of chances to get it right.
Was there a click track, did you craft sequences for songs?
Hi Chris. No click track. I use Resolume to play the visuals live, triggering and scratching clips, fading between layers, applying effects etc.
I had a chance to put together "decks" for a couple of the songs before we started, and for the rest I just used what I had available and adlibbed. As we work together more I'll have more custom material which we'll create specifically for each track.
Hey Jaymis, its great to see people like Bobby working with visuals (amazing that he was on oz idol in the first place btw). The contrast you describe between this type of stuff and working in a more impro electronica vein is interesting. To me there is always a tension between impro and pre prep in vj work, similar to the continuum that exists in music but more pronounced given so many of the visual languages we use have groundings in static linear forms of video/film no matter how experimental. Its what makes it such an interesting form in lots of ways.
[…] Exciting things are afoot. As hinted, I’ll be Visualisting my way around the country soon. Touring Australia = Large chunks of time sitting on a bus, so when that hits I expect to be a veritable fountain of CDMotion content (including some of that hot new NAMM gear, stay tuned), but until then it looks like things are going to be a little… cramped? I don’t expect to have much time to devote to devote to the extensive, handcrafted editorialising we’re all used to. […]
Jaymis,
Awesome news about Bobby Flynn and you doing a tour. Something I would love to come and watch.
I truly enjoy reading your views on Vjing as I deal with identical experiences. For majority of time I too work with electronic music, but as a source of personal self satisfaction I choose to pick minimal as my main genre as it allows to put more though into production unlike some of more numbing genres.
I'm positive that I will end up working few musicians in the future outside of specific doof doof doof culture. If you on tour in Central Queensland, I'd be happy to come along and jam.. 🙂
Oh noez teh rock n rolls is stealing our VJ!11one
[…] Preparation for the tour is winding up, and it’s looking like – not satisfied with my current workload to have visuals ready – I will be working on the general stage lighting utilizing projectors rather than traditional lighting rigs. […]
I was at the Chandler gig – visuals were great.
I know Bobby's pretty laidback about stuff, but it was disconcerting to be zoning out to the music and visuals and to see someone's profile walk behind the screen. That happened quite a few times. Not bitching – just making a note. Hopefully they will sort that out for the rest of the tour!
Otherwise: kudos!
Hi. Thanks for the comment, it's great to know that people are enjoying what I'm doing.
I noticed those people walking behind too, and was a bit angry about it. Apparently it was the crew who were videoing the show, so they're going to get a bit of a talking to when I see them next!
I'm fine for the actual performers to walk though the projection when they're entering or leaving the stage, because their silhouettes are recognizable and Bobby's shadow hitting the screen tells people that the awesome is about to start…
[…] Since this whole tour thing started I’ve had to consolidate everything onto my MacBook. All of the usual amail, browsing and IM duties remain, but are now encroached by editing in iMovie, flyer and poster design in Photoshop/InDesign, web administration and coding in Coda, Tour and Gig organization with NeoOffice, photo organization in Lightroom… My poor MacBook has been flogged half to death, with constant slowdown and frequent freezes and crashes. Quicksilver especially – my Mac raison d’être – has been having huge problems. […]
[…] Related: Bobby Flynn and the Omega Three Gig Report or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Rock […]
[…] I purchased an AVM02 when it was released in Feb, and have been testing it out in preparation for 2 months touring Australia with a rock star. […]
i've found it opposite way – strarting from rock and doing club thing occasionally. the latter was more like exercise – having non interested audience was a bliss, as i was frenetically pounding away at midi controllers to the point of exhaustion ;>, just exploring possibilities. only experimental electronica resembled me doing rock gigs. i mean metal. hardcore, grindcore – you name it. you have your time there, and people have heads turned to one direction – the stage.