Slender gloved hands in my mouth, complimentary shades to undazzle the dentist lights, a healthy stream of nitrous oxide, and fish swimming in the convenient, overhead TV. Floating with tha fishes, I could wish that the stateside kru from www.honeygunlabs.com were in control of the television.
Describe your current act, honeygun labs?
Honeygun Labs is a collaborative live video experiment. The group consists of Bec Stupak (me), Carl Mok and Fabian Tejada. Our material is made in 3D Studio Max, Maya, After Effects, etc. We create loops in our machines, output them to miniDV and DVD, then mix them live at large raves and concerts.
What gear do u use and why do u like it?
All our material is in MiniDV format. The basic set-up includes MiniDV players, a Roland V-5 video mixer, an Alesis midi drum-machine (to interface with the mixer using midi) and 40-50 tapes. For longer, more elaborate shows we’ll add another Roland mixer, a few more miniDV decks, a spy camera, a couple DVD players and a switcher. Its a good setup because it can be very small and compact or infinitely elaborate.
What would u like to use?
We’re looking to move our setup onto DVD and stand-alone digital hard-disc recorders. Its slow going but the technology is coming around. We’re hesitant to convert everything to computers, because they’re unstable and could crash at any time.
What are the crucial elements for good visuals?
Anything that looks good – strong concept, design, that sort of thing. Sometimes we’ll go with abstract narrative, other times pure design. Lots of color, lots of excitement and energy. We also try to change our imagery frequently so it doesn’t become stale.
How does your creative audiovisual jamming / creating processes work?
Mostly in our studio, preparing and editing clips. We’ll shoot video, import it, tweak it, loop it, then output it to tape/DVD. The fun part happens when we get to go to the parties, combine it with good music and see how people react.
How much live flexibility do u have as an AV act?
We can bend and stretch all of our material the same way a DJ can. We have a lot of footage that can be grouped in different ways so we’re always finding new juxtapositions of our material. The mixers also contain some basic effects that can be used in moderation to change things up a bit.
Do u sell many of your VHS tapes?
We sell a few online. There’s always a really positive response to the tapes we send out – I think people enjoy having something like that they can chill with in their house and check out closely.
Favourite live moments?
A show in Saskatoon, Canada. Whenever I put a new piece of footage on the screen, the kids in the front row would bug out. It was really funny. They were watching it like TV. I’d switch tapes really quickly just to see how they’d react and they’d always bug!
What do u do to rest your eyeballs?
Sleep. If we’re not sleeping, we’re usually working on video stuff. Or working to earn money to make video stuff.
[…] ( longgg interview heavy piece focussed around late 90s onwards), The Light Surgeons (UK), VJ Honeygun Labs(US), Jasch (Switzerland), Eye-Fi(Sydney), John De Kron ( Germany), Falk (Germany), Lalila (Sydney), […]
[…] ( longgg interview heavy piece focussed around late 90s onwards), The Light Surgeons (UK), VJ Honeygun Labs(US), Jasch (Switzerland), Eye-Fi(Sydney), John De Kron ( Germany), Falk (Germany), Lalila (Sydney), […]