There’s a reason an entire crowd can become transfixed with a particular stage at a festival or concert, completely mesmerized by titillating sensory delights, pulsating sounds and the overall extreme production and detail such events need to come to fruition. We revel in the musical goodness that our favorite performers release from the stage, but the unsung heroes at the end of any good party are the visual artists. If you believe that your sense of sound is the prime tool in experiencing a soul-satisfying night of musical bliss, I’m here to inform you that you’ve been missing a very key component.
Visual delicacies, including everything from silk screen backdrops, digital graphics, 3d projection mapping and more, aid in enhancing the effects of music entirely. When we have both of these aspects working together, we can be sure to have a mind-blowing experience to remember for the rest of our lives.
Introducing… NADASOUND
NADASOUND is a 3d projection mapping artist who is consistently breaking ground through each of his advancements. His latest feat, titled NADASTAGE, is a full scale illusory audio/visual 3D mapping journey that has even shocked the likes of Zebbler (Shpongletron 3.0) and Amon Tobin. We had the ultimate and unique pleasure of sitting down with NADASOUND to ask about his creative process, and how he found his way into the world of digital aesthethics.
What first got you into 3D mapping?
It was really just a desire of mine to incorporate a visual experience with my music. As a visual artist for most of my life and having only been composing music for the past 2 1/2 years, I felt compelled to work on a project that would bring the music together with visual arts in a seamless fashion. It also kind of fell in line with advice from iLL.Gates and seminars from Seth Godin to be a Purple Cow. Ya know, you’re driving down the road and seeing cow after cow after cow, and then all of a sudden you see this purple cow and you’re like “HOLY SHIT”. It’s a purple cow. So I guess in that aspect you can say that this is my attempt to stand out and do something different and weird.
Who or what is your inspiration?
Too many inspirations to list, but on this project the early years of Pink Floyd definitely stand out, as they were one of the first groups to actually incorporate live visuals with their music. Seeing Roger Waters perform the 3D mapped “The Wall” was life changing. Then of course there is Amon Tobin’s ISAM, and Zebbler is always on top of some next level design.
What programs do you use to do the 3D mapping?
I use Cinema 4D for the 3d modeling and animation, and usually I’ll touch things up in Adobe After Effects. For playing live, I use Ableton to trigger all my songs which are then linked to specific animations for each piece of music in Resolume Arena.
How long did it take you to put this project (NADASTAGE) together?
It has taken quite awhile. I’m sure it would’ve went quicker if I had a team but I’ve had to work on every aspect of the project by myself. The concept, modeling, visual content, music production, and fabrication (with the help of a couple friends) is all original and done by yours truly.
Anyway, I started reading as much as I could about everything related to this project around September/October 2013. I broke ground on the project in November 2013 by just initially starting on the 3D model and visual content. So it’s been about an 11 month project.
How did it feel to have your work recognized by some of your biggest inspirations?
It was pretty surreal. Dylan (iLL.Gates) was stoked on the project and asked me to send over the remixes of his tunes that I’ve incorporated into the live show. He then gave me some advice on how to reach a larger audience, which was pretty rad. Zebbler was really cool and seemed bewildered to not have ever heard of me before. We briefly discussed technical aspects and he ended up concluding the conversation with a simple, “You Win.” I’m not quite sure who responded to me from V Squared (the team that built Amon Tobin’s ISAM), but it was a quick and simple thumbs up. I didn’t even think anybody would respond, but having all of them give some really positive feedback definitely gave me some confidence that this project is on the right track. I was probably glowing like a pregnant woman that day.
What’s up next on your plate for 2014, and do you have any touring plans for NADASTAGE? Where do you hope to take your audio/visual projects in the future?
A tour will be in the works very soon. Right now it’s difficult for promotors to book you when you have just over 200 Facebook likes, but such is the music industry these days. Currently I manage a farm in rural Colorado where nobody takes any particular interest in bass music, except for my cows. Thankfully though, I’ll be moving to Denver in a couple months which will hopefully given me a chance to connect on a human level with more people that share similar interests. I’m just feeling extremely blessed and grateful to be doing something that I love and being able to give something back, so if it means I have to drive my truck and trailer around the U.S and setup NADASTAGE in random locations just to share it with everyone then that’s what’s gonna happen. Ultimately, I would love nothing more than to tour around for a couple years with this installation, and then come home and throw an event and burn it. Then design and build a different one and do it again.
