I’ve seen many things in my years of raving, but rarely do I see a DJ and VJ performing together on stage. A Visual Jockey or Video Jockey curates all things on the visual side of a performance. From animating, manipulating visuals in real time to match the music, and transforming sounds into a show, a VJ is a foundational part of many modern-day DJ sets. As shows continue to trend towards huge show-stopping production, this added layer of precise musicality is often under-appreciated.

Dream Team Duo Pushes the Audiovisual Experience

Virtual Riot, also known as Val, is a household name known for insane sound design, legendary compositions, and innovative production techniques in the music industry. I’ve heard countless producers refer back to Virtual Riot’s videos, streams, and Patreon as some of the best educational videos and tools in their music journey.

VJ Neurite, also known as Carmen, is a creative powerhouse. Hand-crafting detailed animations and video scenes, adjusting visuals in real-time with ease to every single beat, and managing her own brand and others, Carmen’s talents are limitless. Music is more than just heard, it can be seen and felt every time she slices, flickers, and transforms these visuals adapting to each fluctuation and variation that DJ sets naturally bring along. The audiovisual experience is pushed to a whole new level with the synergistic talents of these two artists.

Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite continue to perform on stage together, and the audience gets to witness the magic of two masters of their craft pushing the boundaries of what a performance could be.

Industry Insights with The LA Raver

I was able to connect with Carmen pre-show, here are some highlights of our chat!

"You’re at a gas station, you can only pick three items. Which three items are you grabbing?”

Carmen: “Sugar-free Red Bull, dill pickle chips, and Nerds Rope Clusters.”

"Musicality is expressed in so many ways other than just audio. Seeing the amount of talent and precision it takes to express this musicality live through visuals is insane to witness. In what ways do you use VJing to further highlight and enhance moments throughout a song?”

Carmen explains that she has to time each visual live. While many VJ’s can sync visuals with tools such as ShowKontrol, she is listening and adjusting to every change to enhance the audience experience.

Carmen: “It is a lot more challenging, you have to have the ear for the music, you can place something at the wrong BPM and have to manually adjust the speed. I think it’s kind of fun and has a deeper layer than just showing that you can time a visual.”

“Are there any fun aesthetics you like to show? Any tools to highlight highs or lows of a song? Any tricks to further highlight this musicality?”

Carmen has been a VJ for a variety of genres, and describes how different styles of EDM come with different styles of VJing.

Carmen: “For example, if you’re chopping riddim, you use more video noise effects or effects that make things look more crunchy. If you’re house, you’re going to use a lot less effects. I think it’s interesting with dubstep, a lot of the time, you’re doing a lot of strobing effects. I build a lot of my effects into the visuals themselves. Personally, I like doing this because it allows me to have more opportunities to chop and have more fun with it.”

“You’re up on stage listening and adjusting to each and every change in sound and BPM of the track. I have to ask, did you have a prior background in DJing or music?”

Carmen: “So I used to do acting and singing in musicals when I was younger.”

“Honestly, the musical theatre kid to raver pipeline is so strong.”

Carmen: “I started moving into doing production for the shows, and that’s how I started doing stage design, lighting, audio, and that’s kind of how I started in music and production. I kind of took a break from that once I was in college. And came back to it once I fell in love with EDM and got into doing visuals.”

“I see so many people commenting on your socials asking how they get a job like yours. I’ve seen your posts explaining your story, but what is your top advice for someone trying to break into the industry and become a VJ?”

Carmen: “Honestly, I would find a VJ and see if you can chat with them. Trying to break in and not charge for your work isn’t good, but if you don’t gain the skills, it’s also a little hard. So I think the best advice is to find a VJ that can show you some of the ropes, and teach you how to conduct yourself in the industry, and teach you etiquette. Also get you involved in projects and throw you a few show opportunities.”

Hours later, Val and Carmen had a killer set b2b with Infekt. The set pushed the boundaries of sound design and visual design, showcasing legendary talent and chemistry. I was able to connect with them after the show for a follow-up interview. Here are some of the highlights of our conversation.

“You’re at a gas station, you can only pick three items. Which three items are you grabbing?”

Val: “Original Slim Jims, Sweet Tea Iced Tea, and depends on how I feel, either Pizza Lunchables if they have them, or Hillshire Snacking, the classy Lunchables.”

“Real.”

“You have a ton of aesthetics and a ton of genres you've done, and each has an amazing and masterful sound design. Do you have any favorite eras you've had?

Val: “Oh, I mean, I sometimes really get a lot of nostalgia for the Complextro era, and I am very motivated to make a throwback EP Volume 2 at some point. That definitely has to happen.”

“You are known in the community for being a legend having insane compositions and innovative sound design in your music. I know so many producers who learned so much of the foundations of producing through your streams and tutorials posted online. How does it feel to be such a pillar of knowledge in the community? From your streams, to the Patreon, to your YouTube tutorials from Disciple, all of those?”

Val: “It's sometimes hard to grasp, and I love when I hear the positive influence I have on people. I think the most tactile it has been, was when I was teaching in Minneapolis for awhile at Slam Academy. And then, for example, White Raven that did a remix of “This Could Be Us”, now seeing him play shows by himself. And just actually following a path that where someone first learned from me, and now is on their own path is just really cool to see. And yeah, I'm very grateful to be able to do that. It's very, very cool.”

I just have to acknowledge that 99% of my friends who produce any type of EDM, have recommended Virtual Riot’s tutorials for learning all aspects of production and sound design. I don’t even produce and I’ve watched his videos. I still do not know what sidechaining is though.

“So your collabs with Underscores are some of my favorite songs. ‘Your Favorite Sidekick’ remix, ‘Everybody's Dead’ remix, the Hyperpop to EDM Pipeline is so crazy. I need a backstory. How did that conversation happen?”

Val: “That came through Dan, I think. I didn't even know that April (known as Underscores) was the one that uploaded the Virtual Riot makes a drop in 10 minutes thing.”

This is the video that Underscores uploaded a decade ago, showcasing Virtual Riot making a dubstep drop in 10 minutes.

“I literally found out about that recently!”

Val: “And then people were commenting ‘full circle moment’. And I was like, what? And then I went to their page. I had already been watching and following Underscores and watching their music videos. Then I scroll to the bottom of the YouTube channel. I'm like, no way. It took me until that moment to realize what the hell was going on.”

“No way. So you found out about the 10 minute drop video after (the remixes)?”

Val: “Yeah. That's so cool. I knew someone had uploaded that, but I never knew it was the Underscores YouTube channel. It's crazy. Because it's their first video and then like four years later, it's like their first YouTube music video. I went to her show when she came through Minneapolis and it was awesome.”

If you haven’t streamed these Virtual Riot remixes, here’s a link to my favorite one.

“What's the biggest advice you wish you knew earlier as a producer?”

Val: “I feel like this is something I've recently only realized because I get stuck with so many 8 and 16 bar loops that are unfinished. It's much better to, once you start a song, line out the whole drop with very simple sounds that just give you an idea of what you want to do there. Try and line out as much of the song as you can, before that first initial inspiration wears off.

Because otherwise, if you just work yourself to death on the first eight bars, that excitement goes down and then, it's not going to come back the same way and you're going to get stuck. I've been doing that so much, and now I've been forcing myself to end the first session when I first start working on the song, making it as long as possible. So I have the whole idea. And when I come back to it, it's like, oh, okay, I don't need to invent an entire new part. I can just work on this.”

“You guys have to be so in sync as a DJ and a VJ on stage. Has there been any challenges of this duo and what are the greatest rewards of having both of you guys on stage?

Val: “One of the classic challenges is, ‘You played this at the wrong BPM!’ ‘No, I played this at the right BPM!’ ‘No, the visual was off!’ ‘No, I hit this button it must have been at the right BPM!’”

Carmen: “Figuring that out, sometimes having to adjust on the fly. Sometimes the wall breaks mid-set. Definitely has been some challenges, but the reward of it is so much greater. We're trying to obviously bring awareness to visual arts. And also, it's way more fun.”

Thank you again to Val and Carmen for offering such great advice and insight into the industry! This duo has inspired me and influenced my mindset on how I appreciate not only the sound of a DJ set, but the visual experience as well.

If you would like to learn more about Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite, here are both of their official websites!

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