How ‘Kalliope’ Became a Star in the National Art Car Circuit

In 2014, a video surfaced of Skrillex and another, then mostly unknown DJ going b2b for a thousand party people at Bonnaroo. The impromptu, early-morning set was a huge performance for Skrillex and a star-making turn for his cohort, the now-ubiquitous Mija. While the recording of that set has been streamed more than 243,000 times on SoundCloud as of today, since that summer dawn, many may have missed the fact that the very contraption on which the OWSLA duo were playing is also famous in its own right.

Or, her own right.

Named after the Greek muse of poetry and eloquence, the Kalliope art car was born out of Burning Man and has made the rounds at festivals—including Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful and EDC Las Vegas—in the past four years. The art car is a labor of love from Burning Man’s venerable Camp Walter. This crew has made its name on the Playa by forging a fleet of art cars, including a massive Volkswagen Bus and Beetle, built on top of vintage Walter trucks—heavy-duty, oversized vehicles produced in the mid-20th century to handle blizzards and other hazardous conditions. The most famous member of the Camp Walter armada is arguably their girl Kalliope.

“Our scale dropped when we went to EDC [Las Vegas]. Usually, Kalliope seems big, but when we got there, we started calling her ‘Little Kalliope.’ I saw her in a very different light in that environment.”

“Kalliope is the muse of poetry in Greek mythology, and she is spoken of by Ovid as the chief of all muses,” says Kirk Strawn, founder of Walter Productions, the creative team behind Kalliope and many other art cars within Camp Walter. “There’s never been a doubt in anyone’s mind that she’s a she.”

The concept for Kalliope came together when members of Camp Walter, which is based in Scottsdale, AZ, decided they wanted to create a contraption incorporating two of Burning Man’s most essential elements: fire and music. Camp Walter’s crew of artists, designers, fabricators and sound design experts went to work. Six months later, they unveiled a heavyweight machine evoking the whimsy of an old-fashioned circus stream car—machines that were also called “calliopes.” A rainbow of neon lights, along with huge letters spelling out her name, make Kalliope unmistakable and unmissable after dark. Alongside the onboard DJ, 25 revelers can fit on the top deck, while another 10 can get down on the pop-out dancefloor. Kalliope’s wall of subwoofers means she makes herself heard even before arriving at the party.

Adding to the art car’s girl-power vibe, the bulk of Kalliope’s design and metalwork was accomplished by an all-female team. Construction took place at an old lumberyard in Scottsdale, with more than 100 people from all over the US helping to bring Kalliope to life.

As the engine-less Kalliope cannot cruise on her own, the Camp Walter crew also fabricated a truck to pull her across the Playa and through festivals. Not content to settle for any old rig, the team created a hulking, fire-breathing truck—again from a vintage Walter vehicle—and added lights and massive horns made from revamped old-school speakers. The vehicle also features a giant propane ring developed by a Camp Walter member who works at Purdue University’s rocket science lab. This contraption shoots rings of fire 20 feet into the air. Naturally, the truck is called Heathen.

Heathen and Kalliope made their Burning Man debut in 2013 and became an immediate hit. On the Playa a few years later, the Camp Walter crew connected with Insomniac’s Founder and CEO, Pasquale Rotella, and the company’s Art Curator, Ian Oosthuizen. At the Burn, it was decided that Kalliope and Heathen would join the fun at EDC Las Vegas; the vehicular duo made its EDC debut this past summer.

“Our crew loves this with a passion. Many of them have other jobs related to this field, but whenever they get to go to a gig, whether it’s EDC or Life Is Beautiful or Bonnaroo, they really do put their hearts and souls into making those performances go well. It gets better every time.”

At this year’s EDC Las Vegas, however, the Kalliope crew saw their very large creation dwarfed by by the surrounded festival’s size and magnitude.

“Our scale dropped when we went to EDC,” says Walter Productions’ Jeremy Watson. “Usually, Kalliope seems big, but when we got there, we started calling her ‘Little Kalliope.’ I saw her in a very different light in that environment.”

When Kalliope and Heathen are not entertaining massive crowds, they make their home at a place Camp Walter has lovingly dubbed “the Walter Dome.” Located in Phoenix, AZ, this revamped film studio is currently being outfitted to resemble a giant Craftsman house. As the Walter crew loves toying with scale, the revamped studio aims to make all humans who enter feel miniscule (according to their calculations, it would take a 24-foot-tall giant to fit properly into the space). Strawn and Watson estimate it will take them roughly 100 years to complete the project. In the meantime, the space will host parties and serve as a resting spot for the crew’s growing fleet.

A rainbow of neon lights, along with huge letters spelling out her name, makes Kalliope unmistakable and unmissable after dark.

Still, Kalliope doesn’t get much time to rest. After her big outing with Skrillex and Mija (who’s also from Phoenix and was connected with the Camp Walter crew before her fame-making b2b set), Kalliope was invited back to Bonnaroo as the festival’s official late-night stage (the festival also hosts Camp Walter’s VW Bug, Big Red). Kalliope and the rest of the Walter fleet also make regular appearances at corporate events and other parties. To this day, the Camp Walter art car squadron continues to grow: This past August at Burning Man, the crew debuted a fire-breathing, rocket-powered, Leonardo da Vinci–inspired car named Mona Lisa.

For Watson, Strawn and the whole Camp Walter team, all of this success means the lines between work and play are increasingly blurring—just the way they like it.

“Our crew loves this with a passion,” says Strawn. “Many of them have other jobs related to this field, but whenever they get to go to a gig, whether it’s EDC or Life Is Beautiful or Bonnaroo, they really do put their hearts and souls into making those performances go well. It gets better every time.”

Katie Bain left her heart on the Playa. Follow her on Twitter.

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