AVit NA San Francisco '04

[vjpixylight]

okay with brighton over and a success, we NA'ers need to start the ball rolling for AVit NA SF...
Nix has already been in contact with the usual suspects, but we need to start
organizing the commitee's, grants, and workshop's..
I guess the AVit SF will either be march '04 or june '04 as it is looking now..

could we start getting the names and emails of you on the forum who would like to participate, or have a special interest in AVit SF?

[epoch]

I am completely willing to help out in any way I can. Please let me know what I need to do to get involved.

[Anyone]

Count me in Pixy!

it's a bit short sighted for me to propose the same workshops and talks as in Brighton, but I really enjoyed my VJ Storyboarding workshop and talk on The Future of VJing. If I could do this again in SF that would be grand. I would be most interested in a live performance as well, I'll PM you a draft of the proposed performance set up...

cheers, Ne1

[wellREDman]

I'd loove to come over

and bring my LC :)

[vjpixylight]

With AVit Brighton as a guide post, I think that the workshop will be a must for AVit SF...
Ollie, if you can come up with some educational grant proposal's, that would be great!
There will most certainly be a lack of funding issue that AVit SF will have to start sorting out immediatly, and if funding does come, it most likely will come from grants and private doners.
It seems the corporate sponsership will be much more limited for AVit SF..

This brings up another issue..While AVit Brighton was certainly a success from a VJ point of view, It was also a flop from a financial point of view..

I realize that the DIY ethos, and the lack of funding till the last min does have some bearing on it all, but I wonder, is VJing ever going to become a self sufficent art form, which in it approach, is entertaining enough that the general public will support it with their pocketbooks?
I saw that the A/V performances didn't really bring in the usual dancing clubbers in like it should have, and wonder if we in the Avit NA core, shouldn't look to some bigger name A/V acts that would draw in a wider audience?

What do you all think??

We will certainly try to bring over as many AVit Brighton Core as possible...

:help:

[christian]

Finally! We've been waiting for this to come our way. I live & work in SF and can be a great resource so please PM me if you need any help.

[vjpixylight]

we will certainly need dedicated ppl on the ground there to be available to assist and be a major part of SF SF...
Grant Davis, AKA VJ Culture will be who you need to start coordinating with at that end of it with...
I'll try and get you 2 in touch, when the internet is working again...(can't seem to get any urls to come up right now)

[charlielangridge]

Put my name down!

I'd love to come over and give some workshops be it for tech sided things (eg gigging & Rigging) or 3d type things (bryce 3ds etc).

Also might have a good live set put together by then with Living Rhythm B, so will contact u bout that

:) Big Smiles to All the AVIT NA Team :)

Charlie
-ready to burn out after a manic few months!-

[labmeta]

i think we would all certainly like to represent avit uk and come to SF:)

but i would like to present the progress on the narrative lab project in whatever state it lies at that time. If your interetsed and need proposals etc then let us know when and how.

its quite posible we can get funding from the uk to send ourselves over. So i think we`ll all be working on that angle too.

all my best for the project.

Paul

[PilotX]

yep we'd love to come over, and are going to start looking about funding to bring the uk team over to avit na.. I'm gonna start thinking about workshop(s) that I might give.. I'll be in touch about them..

tom

[Anyone]

Originally posted by vjpixylight
This brings up another issue..While AVit Brighton was certainly a success from a VJ point of view, It was also a flop from a financial point of view..

I realize that the DIY ethos, and the lack of funding till the last min does have some bearing on it all, but I wonder, is VJing ever going to become a self sufficent art form, which in it approach, is entertaining enough that the general public will support it with their pocketbooks?
I saw that the A/V performances didn't really bring in the usual dancing clubbers in like it should have, and wonder if we in the Avit NA core, shouldn't look to some bigger name A/V acts that would draw in a wider audience?


agreed Pixy,
performance wise many of us are not a huge crown pullers,
but if you do bring big names it would be good to pair them with up and coming acts that would open for them, same principle as bands and stuff...

Ne1

[WordVirus23]

okay.... I'm game for whatever work gets thrown my way
please sign me up for any relevant lists... I would hope that the computer cooperates with me this round and I get to play for y'all.

I'd love to help on the flyer design er whatever

what I'd love to see/hear:
a talk from the guy who made Flashback.SWF
search for it if you wanna see it :p

..james...

PM if you don't have my email I guess

[fRED]

i have to say this, what i liked very much in brighton that it was not fixed so much on names. but i know the problem how to say the crowd where to go. perhaps its possible to build up avit, as a label that says here you find the best pictures with very good music.

perhaps i find some money for the flight, and i would like to help you with avit(as)SF. hihi


fRED

[ecin]

i'll be relocating to LA in Feb and would like to be involved in some fashion. i'm pushing flash now so maybe i could offer some form of flash visuals workshop? i'm not the greatest of teachers but i'm willing to try.

[many2]

I missed the last one :( , I won't miss the next :) !
San Francisco is also one of my favorite cities !

Here are two things I want to do for AVIT SF 04:
1. A visualJockey workshop.
2. A lecture or roundtable on multiple screens projects.

Many-2

[vjpixylight]

I have PM'ed VJ Culture (Grant Davis) about this thread and starting up dialog for the SF event.
Grant will be the main on the ground coordinator of AVit NA SF, and will be the one to talk to regarding all your special interests..

Once Nix is back stateside, we will start having regular meetings on VJC chat to
start the actual planing off, which will be then formed into a mailing list..

Thanks for all the support, and we'll see you all in SF!!

Pixy

[saccade]

right on... the new york share+ crew will be coming! i'm a definite, and i'm shaming skyvat, chris jordan, giles hendrix and a few more into coming. this will be good.

[xiayu]

Originally posted by vjpixylight
With AVit Brighton as a guide post, I think that the workshop will be a must for AVit SF...
Ollie, if you can come up with some educational grant proposal's, that would be great!
There will most certainly be a lack of funding issue that AVit SF will have to start sorting out immediatly, and if funding does come, it most likely will come from grants and private doners.
It seems the corporate sponsership will be much more limited for AVit SF..

This brings up another issue..While AVit Brighton was certainly a success from a VJ point of view, It was also a flop from a financial point of view..

I realize that the DIY ethos, and the lack of funding till the last min does have some bearing on it all, but I wonder, is VJing ever going to become a self sufficent art form, which in it approach, is entertaining enough that the general public will support it with their pocketbooks?
I saw that the A/V performances didn't really bring in the usual dancing clubbers in like it should have, and wonder if we in the Avit NA core, shouldn't look to some bigger name A/V acts that would draw in a wider audience?

What do you all think??

We will certainly try to bring over as many AVit Brighton Core as possible...

:help:

i'm new to this avit thing, but my suggestion, from the standpoint of someone who has thrown many finacially succesful events(and one where i lost my shirt), i would say during the appropriate hours of this festival you book big name dj/djs and charge a decent amount... i'm guessing turning this into a big ravey-rave isn't ideal and is not what you want, but if you're in it for the money ideals seem somewhat superfluous...

[WordVirus23]

I don't think a single person here does what we do "for the money" LOL...
much closer would be: we can't help ourselves, sometimes you've just GOTTA do something like....
travel for months on end
or
buy gear instead of a car
or
work for less than you're worth
or
....?
we're a kooky bunch... and the very idea of importing big name DJs is the exact opposite of what AVIT is about... we're trying to raise the status of VJs... not line some record players wallet. I've got multiple DJs who would love to work with VJs... if anyone needs a DJ, I can bring enough to share with the class.

..james...

Originally posted by xiayu
but if you're in it for the money ideals seem somewhat superfluous...

[WordVirus23]

curious if we're going to be allowed to use the D7 warehouse for AVIT.SF... or....?

..j...

[vjpixylight]

instead of "big name DJ's" to bring in the punters, I was thinking more along the lines of 'Big name A/V acts" like Coldcut, Hexstatic, Tool, Madam Chao ect.

And who said we want a Rave?

I have played several gigs here in London that have had 2000 punters plus, and it wasn't a rave..Just good PsyTrance, good deco, and of course Great VJ's..

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by WordVirus23
curious if we're going to be allowed to use the D7 warehouse for AVIT.SF... or....?

..j...

I am sure the D7 warehouse will be the AVit core showcase for AVit SF..

[Amukidi]

You can count me in too! I'd be more than happy to do an AV set and give talk/workshop on colour/composition.

[Anyone]

thing with "big names"

they may attract punters and money,
but they also cost a lot of money, and quite often cost time, a lot.

I tried to book Hexstatic for AVIT Brighton.
he was really up for it,
but again his manager was dificult,

by the time we could negociate a time and a price,
the manager booked Hex to another high paying hi profile gig...

if you go down that avenue,
be quick in your decision time
and be generous with artist fees
otherwise it's lickely not to work...

Ne1

[trotskythecat]

I will definitely pull as many LA VJs as possible - they are an eager and talented posse :)

As for myself, I would be happy to do an Isadora workshop - I'm no super-user but I understand the program and could help people get over that initial hump and on their way to designing their own scenes and modules - that is, unless Mark Coniglio or someone else more qualified volunteers :)

Surya

[Portal]

I will make arrangements to ensure Calgary, Alberta is represented at AVIT NA 2004 in SF. I have always wanted to visit legendary San Francisco, and this is the perfect reason to do so. Hopefully, we will see some of the Vancouver crew as well (where are you, BluntFaktory?). I know some of the Montrealers will be there.

On top of the beautiful PsyTrance, is there any way we can get some EBM/industrial/fetish dance on the music programming agenda? :)

Please include me on any relevant AVIT NA mailing lists with this e-mail addy:

vjportal@shaw.ca

BTW - Any chance our NYC Eyewash colleagues will make it?

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[PanicFilms]

YEAH!
I'm already talking to a friend who used to live here in Chicago but is now living in SF and is a psy-trance dj. He's up for doing a show with Panic Films. DJ vs VJ / Chicago vs. SF collaboration a/v love! I can't wait!

[littlecatalyst]

be there with bells on! (or flowers in tha hair...) have been thinking that there might be problems with big name acts, though i do think that there is a way around that (i'll do some home work over here) but my suggestions would be iether Spooky (especially after seeing that latest clip OMG!!!!) or even the flaming lips who have an amazing av thing going on (though perhaps a little off center form what we call AV) and like oli said they bring in the peeps but cost lotsa cash...
another thing would be to find out from D7 and RadMarx who the local promoters are and share *some* of the evenings with them, so its AVit but set up like local summer parties... plus we'll have them spyche up the city way before we get there....
one other thing been thinking about was of the clubnight was before the main AVit night then all the clubnights could be used to get people to go to the main events... but really were all up about community so incorporating the local communities would in my opinion bring in a lot more people with an added karmic twist!

one last thing, if its decided that there will be a holiday flats deal happening in the Bay, could we consider this place?http://redvic.com/rooms.html its right on haight (easy access to everything) one of the cheaper places i knwo to stay in SF, and cute as a button, could just imagine filling this place up with VJs and stealth beaming on to the Haigh all night.....

count me in

[RayV]

would love to help / contribute in any way -
can try n help w psy trance dj booking... :D
keep on the MD team workshop..?
After Brighton Avit me & my mate are getting ready for an A/V new thing
count me in

:jump2:

[littlecatalyst]

ok show of hands:
how many are planning to have an AV act by june???? :scared:

(methinks my new band will be ready for then as well....)

[Amukidi]

Got one already Lee!! In the box and ready to be unleashed!

[vjpixylight]

good to see so many willing to attempt the AV thang...
at this rate, any video only VJ's might have to do the
SF clubs that will be leading up to the AVit Main nite,
(which is a great idea LC)
so once we have gotten AVit SF into full swing with
what the final synopsis will be for performing/workshops
and what not, we will statr accepting your A/V show reels
to determine the musical layout of the dirrection..
I am also going to be meeting with a few Psy-trance
producers here in the UK over the course of the next
weeks, and see if any are interested in teaming up with
a video only VJ for a collaboration that can be part of
the A/V experience at AVit SF... any video only VJ's interested
contact me directly..

PixMix

[vjpixylight]

okay, I have had a good discussion with RayV earlier about what we can do to make AVit SF a money maker..(as more than likely we won't get any kind of art's council funding, and need to figure out how to make AVit SF a finacial success)
this is an open dialog, and want all your voices to be heard, so plaese feel free to contribute..
Also this is just a starting point, that will change undoubtedly over time..
don't think that any of there idea's are written in stone, and we have to go this way...
....any thought on other ways of getting in punter's outside the psyTrance scene???
the AVit NA core are open to all possibilities, but like I said in my coversation with RayV, SF is a funny town...there are clubs for all genres, but the biggest parties outside of the clubs are almost exclusively Psy Trancfe or cyberbreaks..(of course this is just my opinion, and would welcome some examples/acts outside of this genre from all you San Franciso ppl out there..

-Pixy

[Portal]

Pixylight:

It's good to see your psytrance bias is as strong as mine!! :)

Lots of Qs for you:

What is the state of SF's house scene? Where I am from (East Coast of Canada), SF's Mark Farina is one of the most well-known DJ acts in the world. Is the West Coast house sound still truly a West Coast sound?

What about SF's techno fiend, DJ Dan?

What is happening with the harder progressive trance scene that LA was always known for (e.g. Taylor, Sandra Collins, Christopher Lawrence)?

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[vjpixylight]

hey portal...good to see there are some of us out there..

since the adoption of the rave act, and the fact that the law enforcement has all but stopped the bigger parties/raves from happening, most of these Dj's you mention have had to take their acts into the clubs, which aren't full of tinyboppers willing to pay 50 bucks for a ticket to see them..
This inturn has made the Big Name Dj's not so attractive for things like AVit, as they have to charge twice as much because they have half the gigs they once had..
PsyTrance however is underground, and will always remain so, so the SF PsyTrance scene is still healthy and flourishing..

I really don't insist on making AVit SF a PsyTrance party...I just feel that it is time to go with another genre of music from past AVit's to see if it works..
That and the fact that SF does have a healthy PsyTrance scene makes PsyTrance an obvious choice for the main event...
There is room for more, but the house nation, and the hardhouse/trance scene, would be better suited for the pre_AVit clubs I think, and would give non PsyTrance VJ's, and Live A/V a chance to do their thing as well under the AVit umbrella..

[Amukidi]

"I really don't insist on making AVit SF a PsyTrance party...I just feel that it is time to go with another genre of music from past AVit's to see if it works..
That and the fact that SF does have a healthy PsyTrance scene makes PsyTrance an obvious choice for the main event..."

EEEEK! Surely a cross section of genres would be far more in keeping with the "global" aspect of AVIT. Also - from what I can make out, people seem to be rather polarized re. the subject of PsyTrance - they either love it or .......!

[Portal]

Pixylight:

Was the Rave Act a state law, or a municipal bylaw introduced by the City of San Francisco?

Does it outright ban large events, or does it (like similar Canadian municipal bylaws) require an event to have licensing or approval from local authorities (e.g. government agency, police)

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[Portal]

Amukidi:

You could make similar arguments about other musical genres (e.g. drum and bass, U.K. hard house, disco house) that you "either love it or hate it". No need to isolate psychedelic trance for that particular element. Myself, I like a lot of different stuff...it just happens psy is one of my favourites.

I think AVIT NA 2004 should reflect the musical interests of North American VJ delegates, so we can show the rest of the VJ world what we do, and potentially, "what is up" in a friendly, good-spirited way. Our non-NA collleagues should definitely come, participate, and play, but we should do our best to give this event a NA flavour.

Why don't we poll the NA VJs who plan to attend to see what type of musical agenda should be emphasized?

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[PilotX]

w/ regard to music policy, the policy at Brighton avit was decided on what was thought the Brighton people would want to hear (so went for breaks/dnb + mixture in a/v room).. personally I would like a lineup with a complete mixture, perhaps starting with hiphop, moving through house, breaks and into techno and psy trance. but whether this will sell in SF is a question I can't answer. In the UK mixed music nights often struggle, or take years to build up a big enough name to do anything of a decent size.
So the question I would ask is what music is big enough in SF, but underprovided there? If psy is big, are there parties every weekend? do you want to compete with an established night on that basis? ..

w/ regard to grant writers, we will give whatever help we can, but the NA grant scene might be very different to the uk.. my suggestion would be to find a pro-funder who will work on a percentage take of funding achieved. that's what we did, and it worked..
also, some people got money of their own national governments to come over, which is what we will be trying to do to bring over uk peeps, hopefully this is a route that will help ease money issues for you..

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by Portal
Amukidi:

You could make similar arguments about other musical genres (e.g. drum and bass, U.K. hard house, disco house) that you "either love it or hate it". No need to isolate psychedelic trance for that particular element. Myself, I like a lot of different stuff...it just happens psy is one of my favourites.

I think AVIT NA 2004 should reflect the musical interests of North American VJ delegates, so we can show the rest of the VJ world what we do, and potentially, "what is up" in a friendly, good-spirited way. Our non-NA collleagues should definitely come, participate, and play, but we should do our best to give this event a NA flavour.

Why don't we poll the NA VJs who plan to attend to see what type of musical agenda should be emphasized?

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

good idea marcus..

Amukidi,

I havn't been to an AVit yet where there was a cross platform of music genres..
Avit Brighton certainly wasn't..
I would welcome that into the AVit SF as a way of bringing in a multi-faceted show, but also feel that clubs are the best way to do this..
There is something to be said for making the main event "theme'd tho so that it flows...breaking up a nite with a lot of different genres of music has never really worked well from those type of events I have gone too..

As I have said, It doesn't have to be pure PsyTrance, and of course it is really for all the VJ's involved to decide, just that I definately want PsyTrance represented at this next AVit...

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by PilotX
w/ regard to music policy, the policy at Brighton avit was decided on what was thought the Brighton people would want to hear (so went for breaks/dnb + mixture in a/v room).. personally I would like a lineup with a complete mixture, perhaps starting with hiphop, moving through house, breaks and into techno and psy trance. but whether this will sell in SF is a question I can't answer. In the UK mixed music nights often struggle, or take years to build up a big enough name to do anything of a decent size.
So the question I would ask is what music is big enough in SF, but underprovided there? If psy is big, are there parties every weekend? do you want to compete with an established night on that basis? ..

w/ regard to grant writers, we will give whatever help we can, but the NA grant scene might be very different to the uk.. my suggestion would be to find a pro-funder who will work on a percentage take of funding achieved. that's what we did, and it worked..
also, some people got money of their own national governments to come over, which is what we will be trying to do to bring over uk peeps, hopefully this is a route that will help ease money issues for you..

Tom,
good to hear your voice in all of this..
the SF club scene is predominately house music, and therefore would work for the Avit SF clubs that we get to work with us...
PsyTrance on the other hand is definately underground, (with a very healthy population of Peeps) and so we wouldn't be running up against any other "nite" as it were..
There is a very active group of PsyTrance heads that would also be willing to give AVit SF support by making it known that AVit SF would indeed have PsyTrance, and that in turn would bring alot of those peeps out..

[Anyone]

Originally posted by vjpixylight
the SF club scene is predominately house music

suits me fine :dancingsmiley: :u)
Ne1

[disassembler]

:eek:

[fluchtpunkt]

mijatoho (http://www.mijatoho.com) & tiefglanz.tv!

dnb/jungle

...

we'd love to come over!

[epoch]

SF is mainly about house music. Granted there is a good PsyTrance scene but as Pixy said much more on the underground tip. If you are looking to go for a good venue I would stick with the house sounds. I would stick with people like the Wicked Crew, Mark Farina, Pacific Sound, etc.

Personally I would like to see a cross section of music. A bit of house, some techno, trance what have you.

Originally posted by vjpixylight
Tom,
good to hear your voice in all of this..
the SF club scene is predominately house music, and therefore would work for the Avit SF clubs that we get to work with us...
PsyTrance on the other hand is definately underground, (with a very healthy population of Peeps) and so we wouldn't be running up against any other "nite" as it were..
There is a very active group of PsyTrance heads that would also be willing to give AVit SF support by making it known that AVit SF would indeed have PsyTrance, and that in turn would bring alot of those peeps out..

[littlecatalyst]

6 Degrees!!! gavin hardkiss, hawke, spearhead, Tewaker (!), chebisaba, sunburn records...... aside from the trippy house (gotta be good for vjing) they also havea great selection of SF sounds including some killer latino tech and party music... can we work with them? pleeeeease?? clubnight would r-o-c-k!

[trotskythecat]

The RAVE act is a National Bill. The gist of it (if I understand right) is that the owners of a venue can be held responsible for any drug use (actual or SUSPECTED) that happens at their venue, even if they're doing pat-downs and such and making a 'reasonable effort' to curtail drugs use, which was the basic policy before.

This means venue owners can be scared out of letting a party happen at their place by a few men in black who warn that they'll shut them down and freeze all of their assets or some such bullshit.

I believe it was used to scare some owners out of hosting one of the US's biggest 'Legalize Marijuana' meetings.

(and for those of you not familiar with the way laws get passed in the US - this RAVE Act was attached to a bill creating a system to fight child abduction, so the politiks had to vote for it or be labeled pro-kidnapping)

ANYWAY - I've posted to an email list of SF DJs asking about underrepresented music in the Bay Area. Back with responses soon.

Surya

[littlecatalyst]

..plus we really need input from d7 and radley (and other bay area artists) causew there are a bunch of vj friendly clubs in that town already and we gotta fill em all.....

[Portal]

Hmmm, that ranks up there with some of the most draconian laws of which I have ever heard. Does that now mean if I am a landlord, and an outsider murders one of my tenants in his home, I am now potentially guilty of manslaughter? Has anybody challenged the Rave Act in court yet, on constitutional grounds?

Heck, why not throw every U.S. citizen in jail. They are all guilty of something, aren't they? :) :)

BTW - Sometimes I wonder how you guys stay sane down South these days......:)

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by littlecatalyst
..plus we really need input from d7 and radley (and other bay area artists) causew there are a bunch of vj friendly clubs in that town already and we gotta fill em all.....

Radley has now moved to LA, tho he will still be a big part of Avit SF..

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by Portal
Hmmm, that ranks up there with some of the most draconian laws of which I have ever heard. Does that now mean if I am a landlord, and an outsider murders one of my tenants in his home, I am now potentially guilty of manslaughter? Has anybody challenged the Rave Act in court yet, on constitutional grounds?

Heck, why not throw every U.S. citizen in jail. They are all guilty of something, aren't they? :) :)

BTW - Sometimes I wonder how you guys stay sane down South these days......:)

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

just wait...for now it applies really to drugs and parties/clubs, but soon it will be like Nazi germany me thinks, and if you arn't a certain way, watch out!!:help:

[trotskythecat]

Here are some replies I've gotten on an SF DJ list:

"progressive goa! there is a lot of psytrance going on, but most of it is bleepy weird shite. many people are saying they wished people in psytrance here would play more progressive stuff as well, but nobody is doing it."

"Basically anyone with a big name draws too...
But pretty much it's House, Psy and a tiny bit of techno and electro."

"Progressive and Deep House are everywhere in SF right now.
Groovy, jazzy, deep house, originated there. Think: naked music, mark
farina, miguel migs, etc. It's even called San Francisco House on the east
coast."

"the underground scene [that I'm involved in] tends to focus on techno, electro, breaks and house. techno, electro and breaks seems to be all the rage these days. there is still a rather large psytrance scene in sf since thump tends to still pack the dna once a month."

"I thought the scene up here was all about downtempo.
Or maybe I just don't pay attention to anything else."

Surya

[PilotX]

Originally posted by vjpixylight

I havn't been to an AVit yet where there was a cross platform of music genres..
Avit Brighton certainly wasn't..


unfortunately not, we decided against it in the end, although we tried to keep variety in the a/v room .. I didn't get to see any of it, so I'm not sure how varied it actually was.. we're going to be running a night in Birmingham with cross platform of genres, so we'll see how that runs and I'll let you know if people want it in Birmingham..


There is something to be said for making the main event "theme'd tho so that it flows...breaking up a nite with a lot of different genres of music has never really worked well from those type of events I have gone too..

it's difficult, but it can work.. not just hip-hop to breakbeat or house to techno, but crossing across beat forms as well.. just got te be sure you have DJ's who can pick it up/cross it over towards the end of the set. imo so long as the feel of the music moves right across the night (which generally means getting harder/faster) then it can work.. hence hip-hop to house to breakbeat to techno to psytrance.. but how many people will turn up for such a night is a
different question..
the alternative is to go for a multi-room venue, have one room playing 4beat, one breakbeat, but more $$ then..

ah, promoting. what fun..

[WordVirus23]

having only attended the AVIT in chicago, I must say I liked the all-in-one ness of it... multiple places (galleries) within walking distance (shared a rooftop/stairway) as from what I've gathered of Brighton, multiple venues not close to eachother... any ideas on this? I like togetherness... easier to catch more of what's going on. if we go the other way, I have a possible small underground venue that we might be able to use for about 2-350(?) people... very... private :)

.02 dollars

..james...

[vjpixylight]

Originally posted by trotskythecat
Here are some replies I've gotten on an SF DJ list:

"progressive goa! there is a lot of psytrance going on, but most of it is bleepy weird shite. many people are saying they wished people in psytrance here would play more progressive stuff as well, but nobody is doing it."

"Basically anyone with a big name draws too...
But pretty much it's House, Psy and a tiny bit of techno and electro."

"Progressive and Deep House are everywhere in SF right now.
Groovy, jazzy, deep house, originated there. Think: naked music, mark
farina, miguel migs, etc. It's even called San Francisco House on the east
coast."

"the underground scene [that I'm involved in] tends to focus on techno, electro, breaks and house. techno, electro and breaks seems to be all the rage these days. there is still a rather large psytrance scene in sf since thump tends to still pack the dna once a month."

"I thought the scene up here was all about downtempo.
Or maybe I just don't pay attention to anything else."

Surya

another sorta cross genre that has been discussed is Cyber-Breaks..
Thump Radio in SF plays alot of this, and cats like Adam Ohana have
been making it more well known..

Elecrto is definately on the rise as well, and both of these genres are in part,
Psychedelic oriented..

So maybe we could have a build up of electro, into Cyber into full on Psytrance..
it all depends on what PA's we can pull in which will also pull in the most punters..

[holly]

Waah, what about AVit? I haven't gotten a chance yet to catch up on this whole thread! It jumped 5 pages in 2 days!

Josh, can I be on the F:T:H wagon, please? please? please? Dan's been telling me all about the recent F:T:H tour. It sounds like you guys are really spreading the luv!
:not worth

Can we recap? Will it be multi-small-venue like what was discussed for Brighton or is it more big dancefloor oriented? I have to admit the cool part of the NYC scene is the small venues that have spun more conceptual art (sit and watch) F:T:H, Share, EyeWash, etc. After spending Halloween working in the thump, thump, thump of a big sweaty club I can't wait to run back to our lil' insular art salons (ha, I almost wrote saloons!), but AVit seems to be oriented for the big venues and Pixy mentioned 1015 Folsom, others mentioned D7, but I wasn't sure if that was an actual offer...? Is there room for some smaller simultainios events or is it better to keep the focus under one roof? Like, is it a "Woodstock" where everyone marathons at one place, or is it like "Sundance" where there are lots of simultainiuos events all over town?

[Portal]

holly:

You need to work at better hot, sweaty, full-on parties! :) That, or you must be practically married! :) For a single guy like myself (and I'm sure many other VJs), there is no better place to perform than for a pounding dancefloor full of sweaty, writhing women. And I didn't say that so openly.....:) ;)

Out this way, the VJ can be arty *and* covered in sweat after a good show. :)

BTW - I can see the pleasant value in having a more "minimal" experience with the visuals becoming the primary focus for the evening entertainment. Could this be added to the AVIT SF programming schedule?

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[solly]

Count me in if you need help,
Solly

[holly]

I'm just saying Portal, that there have been past comments about "how good is AVit", "no one was dancing", "not that many punters", etc, and I'm wondering if that's not the best judge of AVit's success... I'm just saying maybe the presentation has always been centered around large dance club format, and that's just not all there is to VJing. Believe me, I had a great time last night and I hired a newbie to learn on what was a big gig with a lot of install hassles (space was a huge rental hall, not a ready club), but the party wasn't about VJs. If it was it wouldn't have been a tenth as crowded (or as drunk, or as wild). There are different ways to present VJs, and so far it seems AVit has chosen to get a very large room (or a few large rooms) and multi-project, or have featured VJs on a main dancefloor. I want all that too, don't get me wrong. I know that critisizms ring louder than praise when you read everyone's posts on the past forums, so it's hard to judge what really happens and how successful it was. I don't even know if there's room for tweeking the presentations at AVit.... Just saying that bigger isn't always better and if you had a multi-venue event (like a film festival) it might stretch public interest over days..., might make the workshops a little easier too if they didn't seem to take place in a hallway (?) outside the main room.

The NYC scene seems to be growing steadily, but I don't think it has anything to do with just one party. It is reinforced by multiple small parties that trade talent and often are in the same venues on different nights. What we get are opportunities to explore different forms of presentation. There aren't really F:T:H artists per se, or EyeWash artists. It's not really that old idea of "houses" or "labels", and there's also more focus on theatrical collaborations and such..., but there is an F:T:H style of setting up a space and organizing the night, and an EyeWash style of presentation, and Share and the others.... It would be great to be able to show some of what we've learned in this context. All the artists are independant but we work together on various projects. We have a healthy scene. The only people still skoffing at battles are people who've never seen them. There's more to boosting the VJ image than trying to get punters to dance..., and it sounds like there will be demand for more A/V acts so that is more of a concert approach, no?

Just bringing it up because I don't know how set the plans are.

[holly]

...And adding that drunk sweaty girls probably don't keep hanging around trying to ask your name (again for the fifth time) while you are 18 feet in the air on a ladder checking an overheated projector at the end of the night....:P ;)

Drunk women just whine about why you didn't play her favorite song. Ha! I watched one of my own (male) VJs tell a pretty girl "thanks" after she praised how smooth the music mix was. Bwa ha ha ha. Clublife is definitely for the single guy!

[littlecatalyst]

there was a good mix of both small venues and massive jamnosaurus at brighton...

i played a relatively small club on saturday night and the vibe was amazing (these kids came to party; they would enter the club and hit the floor! not the bar or the seats, come in dancing... never saw that before) so as a barometer its hard to say..
the thing with clubnight is it is impssoble to bar hop if youre playing, and if not at best youll hit 3 venues.. and then for the massjam event i really feel like clubnights leading up to the main event will bring in more people.... but its also about other things weve mentionned, venues, musical guests...
i think there was some dancing happening in the AV room but not enough people to really feel it, and upstairs that was a look around kind of place, i mean massjam is a little overwhelming

ultimatley i think that AVit should be a week long and that way we havetime to get to everyone's workshops as well as build momentum (some wednesday AV loungs..... then hit the town thurs and fri for clubnights.......so that our own saturday evening event could be huge!!!!)

[vjnixmix]

wow I leave the country for a couple weeks and you are all going he mad - hehehe
I will be home on Tuesday to sort you all !! :whip:
Grant is most likely busy sorting the preliminaries, which is why he hasn't turned up in this thread...things are looking very good. as far as I understand he is not using the D7 warehouse... as soon as our date is final we can announce the location we are securing.
I am glad to see the interest here - keep it up and know that the train is rollin ;)

[littlecatalyst]

nix!
been waiting for you to pop up in this thread.... also you might want to check out that VMC Thread there's some neat stuff regarding AVit sf....

(did you get your electric converter back from Murph?)

[Portal]

All:

Was there a problem with numbers of punters dancing in the main room at AVIT Brighton? If so, what could have induced that issue? I don't understand how large-scale visual stimulation could result in a less party-oriented dancefloor.

holly:

>...And adding that drunk sweaty girls probably don't keep hanging around trying to ask your name (again for the fifth time) while you are 18 feet in the air on a ladder checking an >overheated projector at the end of the night....

At our events generally, the women are more ripped on endorphins and perhaps E, than alcohol and liquor. Those end-of-night rental projector teardowns are the responsibility of the promotor. :) Ideally, I am gone with the girls at that point (I wish). :) :)

>Drunk women just whine about why you didn't play her favorite song. Ha! I watched one of my own (male) VJs tell a pretty girl "thanks" after she praised how smooth the music mix was. >Bwa ha ha ha. Clublife is definitely for the single guy!

He should have suggested how hard it is to work those tracks together like that, while doing the visual element! :) lol!

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[VJOZ]

San Francisco is a big town with a ton of select groups that prefer what they like. You can call out for larger acts, but you have to know how to match up the talent to share space with the video artists in the spotlight. We've had lots of events with big DJ names and big VJ names - but then you're really having a club or rave because people are just there for the DJs.

It's safe to say that the best emphasis is on video artists who already work consistently with either DJs or musicians. If you want a big act DJ, be prepared to find one with his own VJ already and one they are willing to share spotlight with.

Also, be cautious about putting "major VJs" together with "major DJs" - they mind not blend - like really good caviar and a really good mercedes - both are nice but just don't belong together on your plate.... (eh??)

So far the only limitation we've had in SF is promotion. A strong push with lots of advance notice is essential. Most events in SF have spent less than a month in advance notice. SF people are cool and have lots of options - they discuss way ahead of time what they want to do. 2 months minimum local promotion for something new is essential.

Word of mouth and enthusiasm from the local VJs helps too. There's a lot of really good crews there in SF with their own artists. A good way to draw is to work with as many of these folks as possible. A lot of US kids are already planning to fly out / attend too.

We've also got our event in March that can help kick off promotions. (More later on this)


I can pop in more from time to time. Got my own ducks to put in a row.

Good luck =)

Yo Trigger Motion : drop me an e-mail (rmarx@vjtv.net) before you get to LA. We outta talk :heart:


-radley (VJOZ)

[Portal]

VJOZ:

>So far the only limitation we've had in SF is promotion. A strong push with lots of advance notice is essential. Most events in SF have spent less than a month in advance notice. SF people are cool and have lots of options - they discuss way ahead of time what they want to do. 2 months minimum local promotion for >something new is essential.

This is the stuff that gives SF the international reputation it has. There is nothing better than a music scene that has patrons who want to know about an event well in advance, and will then commit (or not) to attending it. As a promotor, you get tired of hustling an event several weeks in advance to get the strong word out, and then finding yourself relying on the strength of unreliable, last-minute, "is that show going to be any good or not? I dunno, are my friends going?" word-of-mouth to draw out your core group of patrons, who were unable to make up their mind independently about your event in the first place.

Considering the size of event that AVit SF 2004 is appearing to become (we might have more than 50 VJs in attendance?), the earlier the promotion happens, the better.

Best,
Marcus {VJ Portal}

[Rovastar]

Setup a new forums for this.

Locking this thread please discuss new structured topics in new threads.