There will be
limited tickets available as this is a heritage-listed building
and no 'modern style' dancing is allowed. The seating will be cabaret-style,
with tables and chairs so you can watch and listen in comfort.
The volume will be relatively low as well, due to the characteristics of the
venue: loud = reverb from hell.
VJ
MoRpH (aka
Grant Muir) has been a predominant figure on the Australian
and international VJ scene for over 8 years. His visuals
never fail to prove innovative and creative with his blending
of old and new technologies, stunning graphics and amazing
live footage. His unique performance video style has seen
him working with a HUGE list of international Djs of all
genres (Luke Slater, Eric Morillo, Carl Cox, LTJ Bukem, DJ
craze, Sasha & Digweed and many, many more) and at festivals
all over Australia & the world. Unlike other VJs, MoRpH
has an energetic stage presence that is reflected in his
mixing, blending performance with creation in a flurry of
motion.
Having
recently returned from a very successful tour of the UK and
Europe, including rave reviews from Europe's best DJs, VJs
and Live acts, and events already booked for a followup tour
in '07 Morph is truly at the top of international VJing circles.
VJ
Central profile - one of the top contributors to
this most important international VJ resource.
Chrism
+ Fenris (aka
Chris McCormick and Paul Eterovich) joined forces in late 2001
to assemble an array of vintage hardware and custom software.
They kick out the jams with their own brand of experimental yet
foxy electro tunes for the discerning geek. Twin Commodore 64s
attack, ducking and weaving through a barrage of crunched out
breakbeats, samples, loops and turntable trickery.
VJzoo (aka
Kat Black and Jasper Cook) have a bit of an 80's equipment fetish.
Perhaps it started when Jasper pretended to be a rock-star in
a Fairlight CVI-driven interactive display at Scitech when he
was about ten. Instead of growing up wanting to be a rock-star,
he grew up wanting to use Fairlights. He now has a collection
of four of these unique, Australian-made video synthesisers.
Very
special guest acts, fellow Fairlight and other vintage equipment
fetishists such as Morph from
Sydney,
have also been invited to come and play.
If
you like this sort of thing and want to have a play at VJing
with vintage Fairlight CVI loops without the difficulties of
finding functional, ancient equipment, there are some available
for free
download from VJzoo. They're surprisingly popular.
Meanwhile,
enjoy this video of VJzoo and Chrism
and Fenris recorded at Plug n Play at Luxe Bar in 2006.
Australia's
early AV pioneers
While
Coldcut is often quoted as one of the earliest and most influential
AV acts from their Timber video of 1996, I'm old enough to remember
the Australian act Severed Heads from the early 80's.
Their audiovisual show toured the world, using home-made music
and video contraptions as well as Fairlight CVIs and other early
semi-digital electronic equipment.
I
think their importance and influence in the international audiovisual
scene is extremely under-rated - although they do have a staunch
international cult following and many people over 40 will still
remember their huge international hit 'Dead Eyes Opened'.
While
several books recently published mention Severed Heads when they
discuss the history of VJing and live AV performance, we think
that they deserve far more acknowledgement for their significant
both technically and artistically in the development of live
audiovisual performance.
1987
Severed Heads AV track 'Hot With Fleas'
Tom
Ellard (Sydney)
Severed Heads
are one of the few bands to actually justify being called a multimedia
band. Their brand of electronic music defies categorisation,
veering playfully between pop and experimental, the dance floor
and the film score. But they also make their own videos, do their
own graphic design, maintain their web site themselves and design
virtual worlds. They have been published and publish themselves
on a variety of media (audio, visual, print and online) and continue
their search for new ways to present their ideas. From the pub
to the TV and radio studio, from the gallery to the outdoor festival,
from the internet to the night club, while the world may not
necessarily be blessed with their fame, Severed Heads have made
their mark.
Although they
have flirted with commercial success, their underlying philosophy
has always been experimental, and has seen the band adopting
many new technologies (though not always the fashionably expected
ones) well before these technologies became popular in the mainstream.
From an early usage of computer graphics in their live shows,
live video (featuring a custom-built video synthesiser) and video
releases, a CD-ROM release, through to downloadable songs and
videos, and custom releases on recordable CD and DVD. In fact,
Severed Heads were so far ahead of the MP3 fad that at one point
they released a CD-R containing almost their entire back-catalogue
compressed using MP2.
