Sónar 2017 — Ylia & Light Notes

This year I had the pleasure of playing Sónar Festival, doing a visual set for Ylia — a fine artist, a good friend and a teacher at my school, MAD Center. We were on the Saturday at SonarLab, the Resident Advisor stage.

The original plan was something fairly complex in TouchDesigner: surreal environments with 3D elements integrated or tracked in real time, reacting to the audio waveform, plus a brainwave sensor I would wear through the set. I had very little time to prepare it and, for the first time in my life I think, I chose not to gamble and took a step back.

Instead I went back through my years as a VJ, when I played under the name «Do not Disturb». I pulled together the best of that material and I think it was the right call: the stage filled with colours and rhythms that sat perfectly with Ylia's set.

We both enjoyed it enormously and I hope we get more chances to work together. Next time I really will gamble on the surreal set.