You Are We...

FEATURED INTERVIEW : DEX ADDICTS @ YOU ARE WE 

After learning the limitations (& joys) of industry standard lighting, Nick Hope decided he wanted to create something different, beautiful & bespoke to manipulate venues with ‘moving wallpapers’. Here born was Dex Addicts, specialists in visual projections who make any space come to life. Resident You Are We projections master, we look forward to seeing what he has pulled together for this week’s party at Village Underground. 

You’ve worked alongside many great artists including DJ T, Marco Carola, Joy Orbison and Lee Scratch Perry as well as many parties such as Jaded, Ctrl Alt Del and others. With so many amazing events to choose from what would you say your highlights have been over the past 18 months? I'm a huge fan of dance music; in particular the dark but melodic side of techno. The gig with Marco Carola (for Rhythmatic's 3rd Birthday) was an obvious high point along with a set I played with Redshape  - his production and presence were great and there was something a little magical about the reaction of the crowd. Needless to say, You Are We always have an up-for-it, appreciative crowd and Saturday should have added zest as it's a fantastic venue and a break from the Sunday day into night stuff we did over the summer.

You are performing at You Are We this Saturday, what can guests expect to see?

I'm doing a two way projection with visuals largely based on the You Are We logo; there is a limitation within that but it's also a challenge to keep it changing and the logo is a really strong graphic. The guests will see a variety of stuff as I'm doing an 8 hour set so I'll be aiming to capture the vibe of the room and the music; from a 'warm up' with slow, simple, bold images through to strobing, vibrant, graphic stuff. I'm combining pictures based on the industrial nature of the building along with old posters and crisp neon. I want people to walk away and be able to picture what the room looked like so I repeat (or remix) from a palette of colours and graphic styles.

It’s fair to say your projections are already a cut above usual club systems. Is there any new technology you plan to integrate or would like to use in your shows in the future and where do you see the art form going? Like any other area of dance music, technology is important but not always essential. The best dance tracks are often fairly simple in structure and the same could be said for visuals. I first learnt about projections through slide show technology, and I still believe that a great image and simple transition can be as effective as something complex. Having said that, I'm working on a project with a lighting designer to integrate the visuals more deeply with the lighting in the room, as well as led walls and netting.

What’s your take on the art of projection mapping? Projection mapping is inspiring stuff in the right hands; at its best it is breathtaking. But preparation is time consuming and production expensive so I think it'll be a while before you'll see it on a regular basis in clubs but it will appear more often at larger one-off events and festivals.

With ubiquitous warehouse raves consistently delivering similar experiences, do you think projections add to the atmosphere at events and in what way? I'm a VJ so obviously I do; I'm aware that number one importance is the music (a dark room with great tune choice can lead to a fantastic night) but there are always people who take an interest in their surroundings. I see my visuals as 'moving wallpapers' - I aim to capture people's (short) attention here and there during the course of a night. Nothing pleases me more than seeing someone at an event chatting away to a mate but finding themselves staring over their shoulder at something on the screen.