Resident VJ at Musicbox Lisboa
Overview
Musicbox Lisboa is a club in Cais Sodré, and is one of the main spots of Lisbon’s nightlife.
“Opened in 2006, Musicbox is a cross between a performing stage and a dance floor. It has an independent and eclectic programming, showcasing relevant national and international artists and authors, boosting new projects and following new tendencies.
Musicbox strives to ensure that every show meets high technical quality levels in terms of sound, lighting and image projection, seeking the best possible conditions for each performance in a friendly space that promotes intimacy and proximity between artists and audience.”
I worked at Musicbox from 2016 to 2018, supporting various artists with live visuals for their shows. These ranged from hardcore punk concerts to techno DJ sets. I had the opportunity to do it for artists such as The Alchemist, Daedalus, Tapes and Laid Back.
As a resident VJ, my main functions were:
Create original content for projection
Project live visuals during concerts and clubbing
Operate lighting console
Operate streaming rig
Process
Techniques and Evolution
During my time at the club, I developed various languages that I could adapt to different music genres, and experimented with different techniques. Due to my personal preference and style, most of the clips I created were animated, both 2D and 3D, and preferably loop-able. These could be characters, textures or abstract shapes.
While doing live projections, I used Resolume, which allows layering and mixing of various clips, and has a big range of features and effects that multiply the variety of possible outcomes. It’s also possible to connect MIDI controllers to the software, which permitted me to be more active and on-beat with the music, as well as letting me make more changes simultaneously.
With time, I started to experiment with coding, with the software Processing, to create my own plugins; and also with live camera feed, which if pointed towards the projection, creates a natural feedback loop, that can be further explored with Resolume’s effects and features.
Artists featured on photos: Joakim; Dubout; Catxibi; Laid Back; Nigga Fox; San Proper; Xinobi; Anna Prior
Artists featured on videos: The Field; Hadi Zeidan; Bateu Matou; Cocaine Piss; AWWZ; Disco Duro
Photography by Ana Viotti