VJ Culture

Grant Davis (aka VJ Culture) is undoubtedly one of the most influential VJ’s in the world. From performing at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, touring with Beck and audio-visual collaborations with David Starfire (as StarCulture) to his current tour with Sharam from Deep Dish. Grant also organizes large scale VJ related events such as Video Riot, VJ Battles and VJ Festivals. He is founder of Video Salon, which has been an important non-profit organization providing audio-visual education free of charge for over 8 years. Grant and his partner Xarene produced and released, 'vE-"jA: Art and Technology of Live Audio Video, a book and DVD covering the global VJ scene.

DVJ Vision: For how long have you been VJing and how did you get started?
VJ CULTURE: 11 years. I first saw a live VJ performance out at Burning Man in 97. I was so blown away that I hunted down the artists when I got back to San Francisco. Six months later I was beginning to work with them. The Artist collective was Dimension7.
DVJ Vision: How would you describe your style and how has it evolved over the years?
VJ CULTURE: Evolution of style seems to change over the course of a year or so. I like building upon layers and using alpha channels with clean lines to denote hi-hat, or kick drum sounds. However, for the Sharam Get Wild Tour, he likes blurry, grainy and fast cuts. So, I've been trying to rework my flow and tool set.
DVJ Vision: What kind of gear do you typically perform with?
VJ CULTURE: I do both A/V and VJ gigs. It's about 35% A/V and 65% VJ. For VJ-gigs I like using Modul8 for the layering and Grand VJ for the triggering of clips. With Grand VJ I can be more percussive in my style. I've also been exploring VDMX for it's sound responsive capabilities and really liking it. I have an Edirol V8, two Korg Kaptivators and two 17" MacBook Pros. For A/V-gigs I add 2 DVJ-1000s.
DVJ Vision: How do you prepare for a VJ-gig? What kind of content do you play?
VJ CULTURE: For the A/V-gigs under the name, StarCulture (w/ David Starfire) we create about 75% original material. We use samples of rock videos mashed up with our own motion graphics. David creates stems of his remixes and passes them off to me, to edit A/V tracks to.
DVJ Vision: So, when the two of you perform together he plays DVD's on the DVJ's and sends the video signal to you and you layer it with your motion graphics?
VJ CULTURE: Exactly, and for the tracks we don't have A/V tracks, I freeform the visuals. This way he can drop new tracks without the time consuming A/V edits.
DVJ Vision: What kind of content do you play when you do show's like the Beatport stage at Remix Hotel Miami? Is it all your own custom content or where else do you get content from?
VJ CULTURE: I create a lot of my own content, but I also create content for the Lightrhythm Visuals label, so I use their content as well as remixing other motion graphic artists. I try and work with color schemes for long portions of my set. If there is one thing consistent in my visuals, it’s that I use a lot of black or absence of color. This way I can control the light in a room and layer the images better.
DVJ Vision: 2008 was a great year for VJ’s and AV performers with Edirol releasing the V8, Serato releasing Video-SL and Pioneer releasing the SVM-1000. What do you make of these products and do you think any of them have the power to transform the industry?
VJ CULTURE: Well, the V8 is just an upgrade to the V4 so I don't think it's transforming the industry. However, Serato really has changed the DJ booths around the world. I didn't see one DJ this year in Miami spinning vinyl. The cost of Serato vs the DVJ is significant and making it easier for a DJ to get into video. Plus, a market is developing for downloadable A/V tracks. The SVM-1000 can bring this all together but right now it’s out of reach for the majority of the market.
DVJ Vision: I know you’ve been consulting companies like Edirol. How involved are you in their product development process?
VJ CULTURE: I meet once or twice a year with the Japanese Engineers. We talk about trends and product ideas. I've seen a few ideas come to market but, by the time it goes through the marketing and sales departments, it’s not always what I had in mind. Plus, they are taking feedback from artists in Europe and Asia as well.
DVJ Vision: Over the past couple of years we’ve seen more DJ’s incorporate visuals into their sets and VJ’s incorporate audio into their sets. In fact, it caused quite a stir, when in 2008 several AV-performers entered the DJ Mag TOP20 VJ poll. What do you make of all this and, since you wrote a book on the subject, how do you define a VJ?
VJ CULTURE: My opening statement in the book basically says there is no definite to what a VJ does. That line has been blurred even more with more artist’s crossing over on each side. I think we will soon see these artist’s being recognized as media performers. What acronym they put in front of their name may not matter so much. DJ Spooky still goes by DJ Spooky but he is defining himself as a performing artist not just a DJ. I agree, the whole Top 20 VJ thing was a shake up. I could see the end of that category soon.
DVJ Vision: How do you think the rising popularity of AV-performers, and this blurring of lines, will affect technology? What kind of gear do you see yourselves using in 5 years time?
VJ CULTURE: Hot-swappable solid-state drives with control surfaces. A big issue in the near future isn't just the playback device it's the support that carries the signal all the way to the projector or display. Most venues are still using analog devices for wiring their venues. As Apple has already indicated with the display port on the MacBooks, we will no longer be using RCA, BNC, S-Video cables and DA's. It will all be digital and currently very expensive. $300 for a 100ft DVI cable or HDMI. Plus, we don't have a DVI or HDMI mixer on the market right now. So, maybe that means artists will be using one playback device and going out to the system via a single cable.
DVJ Vision: You are currently on a worldwide tour with Sharam from Deep Dish. How did that come about?
VJ CULTURE: They found me somehow. I'm still not sure about that. All visuals for this tour are western-themed. Sharam rented out a western prop town outside of Hollywood where we shot for 3 days. We had horses, cowboys, saloon girls the whole thing. There have been 4 motion graphic artists working hard to create a western motion graphic vs club world theme. Half the set is locked into DVJs and the rest is a freeform VJ mix. We also have live camera for the singers, dancers and on the bigger shows, Tommy Lee plays piano. So we want to get all the live action as well as the visual. That's why it's necessary to use the Edirol V8, because I'm using seven inputs when all the cameras are active.
DVJ Vision: So half the visuals are more or less music-videos, where the visuals and music are coming from the same DVD, and the rest you freeform VJ?
VJ CULTURE: Honestly, I don't like the words music video. More like tightly sync'd visuals to a track, like this one from Suryummy. Music videos create the idea of the typical MTV video. Although we do have a couple of those from Sharam's earlier albums.
DVJ Vision: I was watching the Get Wild Live Tour 2009 video. Is Sharam using an SVM-1000 on tour?
VJ CULTURE: Some of the stops. That video is from Costa Rica and the promoter had one from his nightclub.
DVJ Vision: And if it's not an SVM, it's a DJM-800?
VJ CULTURE: Yes, he likes the effects on the 800 + the EFX-1000.
DVJ Vision: What's next for you?
VJ CULTURE: Currently, still on tour with Sharam. We have Europe this summer and then I hope to be teaching a class at UCLA with my partner Xarene on Live Cinema.

For more info go to http://www.vjculture.com

This interview was conducted in April 2009.