We are all inspired when we meet someone who speaks with such passion about what they do, and we had the opportunity to interview Dough who is an emerging talent in the industry, and shared in detail his experiences in nightlife.
Read the interview below.
Please tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? Are you a human or alien?
My name is Dough.Jo. I am a 22 year old from Chattanooga, TN. There might be some part of me that's alien but as far as I know now I am a human.
How did you get started in the VJing world? How long have you been doing it?
I got started VJing during the lockdown in 2020 when me and my now roommate had started a small livestream on twitch where he would DJ and I would flow on camera and it led to me finding magic music visuals and eventually Resolume. It took me about 6 months before I was confident enough to start doing live shows and it's been about 6 months since my first live shows. In those first six months of practice I took a couple lessons from Actualize Visuals on how to use Resolume and that is what really made me ready to start VJing.
What are your inspirations? Any VJs or related artists you admire?
Well considering Actualize was who taught me he is one of my main inspirations. I've been really inspired by a lot of the other current VJs too like Sh1elds, Dr01d, and Data Byte. I did see this one guy named Spectrum One use a full modular synthesizer for his VJing which was probably my favorite style I've seen so far.
Which software(s) do you use for VJing? Any specifics about how you set it up?
I currently only use Resolume for my live sets but I'm really trying to branch out in the next year. So The way i have mine set up is I use layers 1-3 for my main video input and then layers 4-5 for videos i use solely for the displacement effect, layer 6 is where i put an effect stack that i don't want to affect the masks, layer 7 is for masks only, layer 8 is a second effect stack and layer 9 is for logos if i have em. My favorite part of my setup is the displacement layers because it gives my whole composition this liquidy feel.
What equipment do you bring to your events? How is it all hooked up
I just bring my laptop and an apc 40, I want to build a more interactive setup in the future but this is just my starting point at the moment.
How do you prepare your visual material for the events? How much do you decide ahead of time and versus on the spot?
I don't ever plan any set I've done it's all in the moment. I plan bits and pieces of stuff with the DJs that I'm friends with but nothing beyond a few videos they wanna see or just a general idea they had. Everything I've got is building off the one composition I have that I will continue to grow as my career goes on.
How do you decide what the public should see as the night goes on? How do you structure your set and how does it relate to the music?
I try to flow with the music as best I can, like give more energy to my visuals if there is in the music and vice versa. I also try to play off the crowd a bit too because I have videos I like to use of some of my friends who I see at shows a lot that fit into my sets sometimes.
The VJ tends to work longer at night than the DJ, how do you deal with this?
This isn't something that bothers me to be quite honest. VJing is something I really love to do so it's easy to sit there for 4 hours and just enjoy myself. I just have to have some of my stuff be reactive just in case I need to step away to the bathroom or something real quick.
What event has impressed and impacted you the most? And why?
As an attendee it has to be Sound Haven 2021 for 2 reasons. I met Actualize Visuals there for the first time and after that was when I took lessons from him, also the stage production was just on point that weekend and everyone who VJed and DJed did not disappoint. As an artist it would be Astral Project 2022, this was the first time I got to VJ on LED walls and it was very inspirational seeing my work come out looking so crisp. It was the most fun I've had VJing so far.
If you could VJ for any artist, who would it be?
Honestly I don't have any artists specifically I really just want to keep doing this with/for my friends. I feel that's where the real synchronization comes into play.
Do you have any future projects planned? What can we expect?
I've got a couple opportunities coming up this year festival wise. I'm also always working with my collective Sound.wav on our own shows and some projects with other friends as well.
How do you see the future of VJing? Any new technologies or approaches that we should keep an eye on?
I think the future is pretty bright for VJs because shows are growing beyond just the musical aspect of them and people want a full experience and visuals play a huge part in that. The introduction of VR in the past few years I think is starting to have an impact on not the live aspect of VJing but the actual artistic creation side of things. Working in the 3D space is made a lot easier with VR and I love to see what some of the people are making right now.
Any final words? Where should we follow you?
I can't wait to see what the future holds for me and everyone around me
IG: https://www.instagram.com/dough.jo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dough.jo423