Get to Know the Visual Artists Bringing EDC Mexico 2018 to Life
Every Headliner knows EDC Mexico 2018 is bringing the musical heat next month, with more than 120 world-renowned artists across seven stunningly designed stages over two incredible nights. This year’s EDC Mexico is soundtracked by some of the top names in dance music and some of the hottest up-and-comers in the game, including these five must-see acts. There’s no denying the unmatched musical energy awaiting you and your festival crew. (PS: If you haven’t done so already, stream our official EDC Mexico 2018 playlist.)
EDC Mexico 2018 tickets are on sale now.
Beyond the beats and the bass, EDC Mexico is a land of wonder and imagination that’s brought to life by the bright colors and vivid imagery on the stage and in the massive digital screens and production designs across the festival. This year, we’re bringing some of the most creative and imaginative visual artists around to help bring EDC Mexico 2018 to life.
Here, we get to know some of these visual creatives and learn more about the magic they’re bringing to EDC Mexico 2018.
Name: Fabian Fisniku
Company: One at Zero
Title: Freelance lighting and video programmer
What are you specifically in charge of at your company?
Since I’m an independent company, I’m responsible for everything happening inside of One at Zero, from the start of development up to the end stages on-site.
How did you get involved with your company?
Before starting my own company, I was working as a lighting and video director for a company called Tenfeet. I got involved through an internship a couple of years ago and started building up my own specific skill set, up until the time had come to start the adventure on my own.
Are there any themes or special surprises fans can expect at EDC Mexico 2018?
This year’s kineticGAIA gives stage to so many different sorts of special surprises inside the content and all special FX coming with this immense stage. Just make sure to see the intermezzo show in between the performers.
In your opinion, why are visuals/VJs important to the festival experience?
They are the ones that could create a new world to discover for the people. And together with the lighting designer, they can take you on a journey through nature and space and many more different places. All you have to do is give in to the music and enjoy it. The VJs, lighting designers, and DJs will do the rest for you. ENJOY.
The electronic music scene has really embraced and evolved the potential of visuals/VJ shows and lighting at festivals and major events. What is it about electronic music that allows for such major developments?
I think when lighting, video, and FX are used in the right way, you’re getting the overall production up to a higher level. This doesn’t work only with great visuals or great lighting, but everything should have a certain balance that’s really hard to explain. If one of these elements isn’t at 100 percent capacity, the show will suffer from it. And with all the new technologies becoming available, all tools to create a great show are all in a hands’ reach.
Where do you see the future of visuals/VJs/lighting going for music festivals and major events—particularly within the electronic music space?
It’s going to be a couple of interesting years for video and lighting people in the entertainment industry. A lot of new toys are becoming available, and this’ll only help create an even better experience than [what] we can already provide for the festivalgoers right now. It’s only getting better, as long as people have imagination and the will to create.
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Name: Nat Leonoudakis
Company: VJ Collective LA (VJCLA)
Title: Cofounder
What are you specifically in charge of at your company?
I split my time between VJing and content creation. When I’m not VJing, my role at VJC is head of motion design. I focus on building teams, project management, art direction, and animation.
How did you get involved with your company?
I decided to leave the motion graphics agency I was at in early 2016. I formed VJC with Brent Bucci shortly thereafter.
What sort of show/visuals are you planning for EDC Mexico 2018?
I’m running visuals on Basscon’s wasteLAND stage. For Basscon’s brand, I play a lot of robotic, glitchy, dark content. Expect to see some custom EDC and wasteLAND content that brings this stage to life!
Are there any themes or special surprises fans can expect at the festival?
If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
In your opinion, why are visuals/VJs important to the festival experience?
VJs are an essential piece of the festival experience. When you show up to a festival, you’ll notice the giant LED screens right away. We create visuals that put you inside the world that is that festival. We work closely with the lighting designers and lasers to create a visually astonishing, syncopated show.
The electronic music scene has really embraced and evolved the potential of visuals/VJ shows and lighting at festivals and major events. What is it about electronic music that allows for such major developments?
Festival stages have continued to evolve to be larger and more complex and impressive over the years. These stages are incredible platforms for DJs to perform on. As the visual real estate has become larger, the importance for a stunning and unique visual show has never been greater. The biggest DJs have teams that have been working on their shows for years. Every song has its own visuals, telling a unique story, bringing an experience that is truly unique.
Where do you see the future of visuals/VJs/lighting going for music festivals and major events—particularly within the electronic music space?
More and more, DJs are understanding the importance of their brand and how that can be reflected in visuals and lighting and lasers. DJs are even spending money to have custom visuals made that fit the brand and aesthetic of that specific festival and stage design. EDM has always been on the forefront for pushing new technology. We’re seeing a lot of new programs emerge—like Notch, a live visual compositing program. Over the next few years, I think more live and interactive programs will be incorporated into the mix.
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Name: Carlo Ruijgers
Company: Eyesupply
Title: CEO/Creative Director
What are you specifically in charge of at your company?
As CEO, I’m responsible for running the company with my two partners. I’m also one of the creative directors, which means I create the first concept for the visuals and the mood board, plus a creative briefing. I also operate shows for artists and festivals.
How did you get involved with your company?
I met Kevin, one of the other partners, at art school, and he [had] just started VJing. We hit it off, and soon after that, I joined him at Eyesupply. When we finished school in 2008, we already made a name for ourselves in the Netherlands and decided to turn Eyesupply into a company.
What sort of show/visuals are you planning for EDC Mexico 2018?
At the kineticFIELD stage, Leisure Expert Group created the Gaia Experience, and we created the visuals, which take the audience on a trip to all corners of the world. Together, we put a lot of love and attention into the creation of the intermezzos, which are a spectacle of lights, lasers, water effects, fireworks and visuals, combining everything the stage has to offer into a compact show. During the DJ sets, we stay in that part of the world until the next intermezzo.
At the circuitGROUNDS stage, we created a digital world, which ranges from digital circuit-board-like landscapes to more retro 3D visuals. We have a lot of content for this stage, and this gives us plenty of room to experiment and create endless combinations.
Are there any themes or special surprises fans can expect at the festival?
We created new visuals for EDC Las Vegas, and we bring those on tour to other places, like Orlando and Mexico. But we always try to use them in new ways and create new combinations, so each show is unique in some way—especially when you interact with the music and the crowd.
What date(s) and stage(s) will you be working at EDC Mexico 2018?
We are there the whole weekend! I’ll be in charge of kineticFIELD, and Christian will be the VJ for circuitGROUNDS.
In your opinion, why are visuals/VJs important to the festival experience?
At a festival, people want to step away from their everyday life and go into a different world to have fun with the people around you that share the same passions. As visual artists, you can enhance this by interacting with the music and setting the mood, visually creating a different world—which sometimes can be really concrete, but it can also be really abstract and just enhance the mood by playing with colors and the music.
The electronic music scene has really embraced and evolved the potential of visuals/VJ shows and lighting at festivals and major events. What is it about electronic music that allows for such major developments?
Electronic music has always been about trying new things and embracing creativity. There has always been room for other creative disciplines, like lights and visuals, to enhance the music.
Where do you see the future of visuals/VJs/lighting going for music festivals and major events—particularly within the electronic music space?
In the future, we will have more live control over visuals with real-time 3D engines. This technique is already in use, but as technology progresses, the look of the visuals will become much more realistic. And creating live connections between each field would be an outcome, [with] visuals interacting [in] real-time with lights, lasers, and music in ways we haven’t seen before.
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Name: Gustavo Cisneros
Company: N/A
Title: VJ
What are you specifically in charge of at your company?
Live VJing, stage design, mapping and creating content—and I guess also all the boring stuff, like [making] deals, getting the payments, managing the social [media] networks.
How did you get involved with your company?
On one side, I produced and promoted music events; [on] the other side, I am a photographer. So after a couple of years, it became more natural for me to just handle the visual part of the events and leave the rest to other people. In the early 2000s, I started with two DVD players and a video switcher and loads of sleepless nights. I was very lucky to evolve my career with the new video technologies.
What sort of show/visuals are you planning for EDC Mexico 2018?
It will be two days and 20 DJs that will play all sorts of styles, so I have to come up with completely different visuals and ambiences for each one, going from the colorful and fluorescent EDM to the dark and monochromatic techno. Sometimes I work in advance with the DJs on some special moments, and I know several of the DJs, so that could happen here.
What date(s) and stage(s) will you be working at EDC Mexico 2018?
Both days at XX Lager Stage.
In your opinion, why are visuals/VJs important to the festival experience?
Even when you close your eyes [when you’re] hearing music, you can see visuals in your mind. It’s about stimulating the brain and not only the ears, so you need to get to the crowd in all the possible ways. When you go to a festival, you expect to have all your senses blown away. Maybe you can go to a club and only listen [to the] music. But in a festival, the crowd is expecting something more—a lifetime event! There is so much energy coming out through the speakers, that something [just] as powerful is needed for the eyes!
The electronic music scene has really embraced and evolved the potential of visuals/VJ shows and lighting at festivals and major events. What is it about electronic music that allows for such major developments?
We are a computer generation. We all had a childhood with heavy daily visual and audio stimulation, like no generation before. Electronic music and [visuals] in the parties were born and evolved together, from the first raves in the ‘80s. Rock and other music styles have the live human factor—the lyrics, the energy—that a live band generates. Visuals and lights [in electronic music] come to fill that and remove some attention from the performer and more into the whole show.
Where do you see the future of visuals/VJs/lighting going for music festivals and major events—particularly within the electronic music space?
Virtual reality, augmented reality, holograms, drones, 8K, 3D, 4D, and artificial intelligence will have a big impact in the electronic music scene. I’m sure there will someday be a computer that will be able to generate and operate music, graphics, lights, and lasers in a way no human can… some sort of algorithm that will create music. EDC 2040 will have a robo DJ stage! Whatever happens, I am pretty sure the music-and-visuals formula is here to stay.
Follow Gustavo Cisneros on Facebook | Instagram
EDC Mexico 2018 takes place Saturday, February 24, and Sunday, February 25, at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. Tickets are on sale now.
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