Though Summer is in full swing, we can’t help but already look forward to DGTL ADE in October. To get in the mood already, we’ve released a part of the special live show Coloray delivered back in April. We sat down with him to talk about the A/V show and what ADE visitors can expect on Thursday, October 19th.
Coloray @ DGTL AMSTERDAM
On Sunday afternoon during DGTL Amsterdam, Coloray performed an A/V show on our Live stage. “I loved it. It was the first time performing the new live show together with A/V. Feels special to not only tell a story in sound, but also visually”, he says when looking back on the experience. “In total the experience was something the whole team learned so much from. The show was a result of weeks of hard work and rehearsals, I feel lucky to do this with the whole crew and making this another ‘first’.”
In the midst of the pandemic, Coloray took his artistry to the next level with his audiovisual music concept ‘Future Static’. The album was released on Intercept x Atomnation, accompanied by a new live show and virtual world at the core of it all. Sonically it stood alone, ignoring genre norms, instead drawing on elements from Ambient, EBM, Techno, House, and Disco, to create his own sound.
Fresh off the back of his most significant year to date, Coloray returns with ‘Branded Content’, his first single of 2023. Known for his ability to merge acoustic and electronic sounds, the result of which consistently questions the possibilities of dance music. ‘Branded Content’ continues this approach, where the sounds of synth-pop and indie-dance merge to create euphoric results. Coloray’s mission is clear: become the genre-bending, multidisciplinary artist of the future.
A/V experience
When asking what makes an A/V experience so special compared to a different type of show, Coloray answers: “It’s more immersive for sure. Music always has a certain colour to it for me, and with A/V you can emphasize that. The LED walls on stages can be used as physical lighting installations, customizable with the music.” For the DGTL show, he used data of himself playing to generale visuals. “If i would turn the ‘cutoff’ of a synth, automatically a visual would change with that, making the experience a constantly changing one. This way I feel there is a possibility to make a live experience feel like it’s actually alive. In the future we will be doing this with more data, for example my voice, and combine this with AI. The possibilities are endless, keeping on telling a story instead of making a tech demo would be the hardest part.”
Looking forward to ways in which the A/V experience can develop in the future, Coloray mentions that there’s many different possibilities to look into. “I think the future will be split into two parts, shows which go to a ‘in the moment’, no tech feeling, or shows that embrace technology totally and make it into a new thing. Let’s see what it will bring but from an artistic standpoint it’s an exciting time.”
With Summer in full swing, Coloray’s schedule is a combination of both live shows and DJ sets. “I’m doing a select couple of DJ shows this summer including Lowlands and Best Kept Secret, but aside that I’m mostly performing Live. It had been great to bring the show to different stages and seeing different crowds resonate with that. DJ’ing brings for an exciting change of scenery and lets me do research into new sounds in dance music and get influenced by that for the future. Fall is looking pretty solid already but I’m excited to go on a holiday after this Summer!”
Coloray @ DGTL ADE
On Thursday, October 19th, we’re kicking off our ADE extravaganza with a heavy-hitting line-up of deeper and melodic sounds. Italo, house and disco deep cuts will be brought to you by none other than Bicep, and Stephan Bodzin will blow the roof off of the NDSM Warehouse with his driving, hypnotic and melodic sounds. Few artists walk the line between past and future as well as Dixon, so we’re very excited this pioneer will be joining our celebration.The fun doesn’t stop there, as we also welcome Amsterdam’s own Nedda Sou to our DGTL festivities, who will show us her unmatchable ability to unite people in and outside the club under one groove.
What people can expect of Coloray’s show during this night? “I think post-covid I realised while playing that there are different sides to music I like now, as opposed to the pre-Covid time. I generally like when there’s an element of fun/colourfullness in it, but combined with the abilty to dance at full energy and ‘trip’ out to it as well. House music is a huge influence, next to ‘loopy’ dance music which allows me to play with multiple decks. Forward feeling, dream like rave music.” Needless to say, you don’t want to miss out on this.
When looking forward to other exciting project coming up next year, he says: “I’ve been working on a new project for the last year and a half which is closed to finished. Very much looking forward to experience the end result and show people this. Next to that, I’m learning more and more about the visual world. I look forward to be able to sit in my studio one day and be able to combine visuals and audio in a new way.”
Click here to listen to a part of this special live show on Soundcloud and don’t forget to secure your spot on the dancefloor for Thursday, October 19th.