TECH VJS VJ Psyberpixie is a seasoned club performer
SEXY FEMALE POWER ROCKS VJs are gaining respect in clubland, and this year’s Top 20 VJs poll features a new generation of high profile female VJs. We catch up with some leading ladies who are making the biggest stages their own.
VJ Psyberpixie
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WHEN Psyberpixie walks into a club, any stereotype of geeky VJ-behind-a-laptop melts away. Dressed in a sultry manga style, this self-confessed Psybernaut is on a one-woman mission to bring ‘visual chaotic-bliss’ to clubbers at some of Miami’s hottest events. “I want to provoke thoughts and positive flow,” explains Psyberpixie. “I want the audience to experience mood enhancements through my visuals.” This pixie, however, is no airy fairy. Behind the theatrics of her alter ego, Marina Reno is a talented VJ who has been working steadily to rise to the top of her game. 2007 proved to be a year of stratospheric success, with the highlight performing to 10,000 people alongside Paul Oakenfold in Mexico City, then flying straight back to Miami to jam with psy-trance live act Infected Mushroom.
“As soon as I jumped on my platform and felt the energy of the crowd I instantly got charged up and was ready to jam,” she enthuses. Psyberpixie performs regularly alongside the ‘big boys’ of dance music at the Miami Winter Music Conference. Last year her residency at Ultra Music Festival placed her at the heart of the action — set up ‘battle-style’ beside the DJs on stage. Psyberpixie is all in favour of this more dominant role for VJs, particularly female performers. Being visible helps the audience understand that the VJ is actually triggering the visuals in real-time: “it’s more interactive and I get more response from the crowd.” New York based ‘mixtress’ Holly Daggers is just as keen to take centre-stage as any
serious performer — and in fact is co-director of the Forward Motion Theatre, where she shares this passion with students. “For me, it’s like a music video,” says Holly. “What I do has more to do with go-go dancing than a DJ. I am the video equivalent of a go-go dancer.” Holly loves to multiply the theatrical atmosphere of a club. Through live camerawork, sampling and keying she captures clubbers in motion and features them looped, as stars of the VJ mix. “To me the club scene is always about people,” she explains. “Superstars and drag queens. Children of the night.” The DJ is central to, but not the centre of, the party. “There is a backbeat, which is the rhythm of the DJ, but there is a whole visual culture in the club scene that is not addressed by music alone.”
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22/1/08 00:03:01