Though classified as VJs, Hello World doesn’t really like the term. So what would the duo prefer to be called? “Live video performers,” says member and London talent Skot Deeming.
While the term “VJ” can be an accurate label because Deeming and his partner Meghan Athavale often perform at clubs and alongside bands, the duo will take the practice to another level at this weekend’s London Ontario Live Arts Festival — Hello World will turn VJing into art, something Deeming assures is not an easy task.
What they do goes above and beyond the typical VJ job description. Deeming and Athavale — also known by their stage names mrghosty and PO-MO, respectively — have different video mixing styles they will showcase in tandem at this weekend’s festival.
Using an extensive library of clips and diverse images — including anime — Deeming applies his experience as a film and music video editor to manipulate the clips with editing software. Athavale’s practice is similar as she uses her current experience in the animation industry to create images that will be used for manipulation during the shows.
As live video performers, Hello World’s creativity tends to come on the spot.
“It’s all improv,” Deeming says. As such, the images they create onscreen are not separate from the music — rather they go hand-in-hand.
Often collaborating directly with musical acts, Hello World interprets what they see and hear onstage to form their own unique images onscreen. This weekend, Athavale and Deeming will accompany all of the musical acts with their artistic talents via a large screen on the Rogers Main Stage.
The festival has welcomed Deeming as mrghosty before, but this is the first time LOLA will showcase the duo together, as Hello World is a fairly recent creation — after his last showing at LOLA in 2007, Deeming moved to Winnipeg where a friend introduced him to Athavale.
Thanks to funding from the Winnipeg Arts Council, Hello World hits the stage this afternoon, starting with Deeming’s video accompaniment to London’s own A Horse and His Boy.
Aside from performing at events like LOLA and VJing for bands and at clubs, the duo is constantly looking for ways to expand their creativity.
Deeming recalled their occasional “guerrilla show” stunts where they would buy out parking lots, find musical accompaniment and project their shows onto a wall for passing pedestrians. Athavale is currently working on similar architectural experiments, where she projects her images onto buildings — most recently her own home.
Deeming says live video performers like himself and Athavale are a rare breed in North America – “the VJ cult” is a far greater phenomenon on other continents.
“In North America VJs are seen more as sidekicks to the main show, the ones who just support the music,” he says.