Happy caught up with Sydney based audio-visual DJ and video artist, Ego, just before his flight to Coffs Harbour for a live show as part of his Between Dreams tour. We spoke about what his unique profession entails, what you can expect at a live show and his big dreams for the future.
This epically colourful and bright illustration is by budding Sydney illustrator, Fionna Fernandes. Her work is often described as hypnotic, whimsical, psychedelic, and surreal, which perfectly fits with Ego’s style. Check out her work here!
HAPPY: Did you hear about Australian DJ and producer, Glover, and how he exposed people who were ripping off his music by uploading them on their personal accounts and saying that they had edited the track, when they really hadn’t?
EGO: I saw something about that.
HAPPY: Has that ever happened to you before? Have you caught people stealing your music?
EGO: I haven’t, but it seems to be getting a lot more common – that sort of thing and kinda the line between who owns what. I know a bunch of producers in Australia that have had their tracks kinda rewritten for pop stars and that’s another trend happening where they aren’t ripping off the whole song, but they’re taking the elements of it and writing it into another song. If you know the original song you can identify it.
HAPPY: Is it something that you’re concerned about? Does it influence how you go about your music?
EGO: I guess so, it’s a pretty sad state of affairs when you have to second guess whether someone has rewritten something. One of the problems now with the internet is that when someone creates something, someone can always upload it and say it’s theirs. I think it will die down. People will get wary of it. A flash in the pan maybe.
HAPPY: Which came first for you, was it the audio DJing or the visual producing?
EGO: I’ve been DJing for years and doing a little bit of video production as well. It was only like 3 or 4 years ago that someone showed me video DJing and how you can combine the two, and it kind of got me thinking – it planted a seed of what I am kinda doing now. So the DJing started first and it was a matter of honing in my visual skills to put together the shows I’m putting together now.
HAPPY: And who was that first person that first introduced you to visual DJing?
EGO: That was a Melbourne based audio visual artist, Nice. We ended up doing a kinda four turntable show as Nice and Ego, which is kinda where it all started for me.
HAPPY: What’s the most rewarding thing about combing audio DJing and visual art?
EGO: I guess it’s quite unique, so people are a lot more receptive to it – it cuts above the noise. If you’re just a visual artist or just an audio artist, it can be quite hard for people to take you seriously and to listen to your stuff. But when you do something so unique, people sit up and take note, which has been really handy for me. It means I haven’t had to struggle through the ranks, which I guess young producers do now.
HAPPY: Do you find there is a lot more freedom in what you can do with the two?
EGO: Almost like there is less freedom. If I hear a song and I want to play that, then I have to then think about what visuals go with it. I try to make my sets slow and have some kind of theme running through it. I almost have less freedom to do what I want; be spontaneous, because I have to do the groundwork to produce the visuals for it and work out how it’s going to fit in the wider set.
HAPPY: Would you say that is one of the more difficult thing about being a dual artist? You have to think a lot more and it’s more of a process.
EGO: Totally, I wish I had a clone. I miss working as a duo when you could split off – one of us would focus on the audio and the other on the visuals and then we’d recombine and reattach it all. But going solo I feel like I need my two pairs of arms or a clone to nail it. I’m back and forth between audio and visual so much, you sometimes get a bit stir crazy.
HAPPY: What was it like producing your latest video, Where The Wild Things Are?
EGO: That built up over time. Having a theme for a mixtape helps refine things, have a focus and work off some boundaries. One of the stories I thought of for the theme of my mixtape was Where The Wild Things Are, which encapsulates the idea of going off into your own world. I then ended up finding other samples related to that, like there’s a Alt-J accapella that I use, bits from the movie, bits from the book. It all just kind of tied together over time when I set the scene of the new mixtape, Between Dreams. The video is a live routine where I pad out those video samples live over the Electric Mantis track – the tune fits the vibe of the mixtape – it’s floaty and dreamy.
HAPPY: How would you describe your visual style?
EGO: It’s a little bit psychedelic, it’s very bright, very colourful, a mix of stuff people know and a mix of stuff people don’t know. It’s all kind of thrown together in a new way and I try to put things into a new context to give it new meaning or to enhance the original meaning. I try to make things that are quite loopy and trippy.
HAPPY: How would you describe your audio DJing style?
EGO: I play a lot of contemporary club stuff – a bit of Hip Hop, a bit of House, a bit of Trap and Future Beat in this mixtape. I try to move it around and incorporate as many kinds of genres as I can – I try to keep it high energy and fast moving. Lots of fun, lots of melodies in there too.
HAPPY: On your website you say that you are “working on an even more immersive, mind blowing audio visual experience”. What is the ultimate goal of Ego?
EGO: I guess at the moment I am almost restricted to club shows, that’s where Ego performs. I did a show last year that was at an art gallery in Columbia, South America of all places, and it made me realise that there are places outside the nightclub where I could be doing what I do. I’ve been working on a 3D kind of show which essentially means it could be outside a club, maybe an art gallery, maybe a laundramat – it could be anywhere; have projections all around and have more of an immersive and possibly interactive experience. I’d still have a DJ set – just a bit more artsy I guess. Just taking the music out of the club and doing something different is the plan.
HAPPY: Can you ever switch off as a visual producer and audio DJ? Or are you kind of constantly seeking inspiration everywhere you go?
EGO: Not really, I think when you do something you love you can never switch off and I love what I do. Sometimes I might stick to the visuals but then I tune into music a lot more, which is kind of the core thing I do; I can still work on it, I just shift the attention of what it is I’m working on.
HAPPY: The idea of visuals is quite a powerful thing. You can evoke so much meaning. Which do you find more appealing to your art? Visual pleasure or evoking meaning?
EGO: I think there is a delicate balance and that’s all part of it, trying to create something that kind of tells a story or is actually just nice on the eye. I mean for me that is number one, having something that looks cool and makes people sit up and take note. But then to have little symbols and ideas that pop up throughout. I guess that’s the job of the artist to convey some sort of purpose at the end of it all, but to be aesthetically nice from the outside.
HAPPY: And finally, what makes you happy?
EGO: Just doing what I love. I’m stoked I’ve been able to make a career out of what I do. When I started, it was a hobby and it’d still be doing it if it was a hobby, but now I can devote all my time to it.
With his Between Dreams tour underway, be sure to check out Ego and his mind fucking spectacles, live at a capital city near you.
Friday 23rd January – Cats, Rocket Bar, Adelaide
Saturday 24th January – The Cliff Dive, Sydney
Friday 30th January – Homestead, Hobart
Saturday 31st January – Capitol, Perth
Friday 6th February – Cant Say, Melbourne
Friday 13th February – Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane
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