3D is, without doubt, one of this year’s biggest buzz words. The massive Box Office boom of mega-movie Avatar has had a huge part to play, so too the launch of Sky’s 3D TV service onto a wave of sleek new, fully immersive flat-screens manufactured by the likes of Sony and Panasonic. But clubland, increasingly so, is making its own name for quality, multi-dimensional entertainment.
In fact, it was ‘on it’ years before the arrival of lanky blue aliens and fancy set-top boxes. Just ask Nik Barrera, promoter of fast-rising dancefloor brand 3D Disco. “We set up back in 2006” Barrera opens, “and were developing our own 3D concepts for nightclubs way in advance of Avatar. But, undeniably, the current trend is benefitting what we do. We’re really busy right now.”
Barrera belongs to the Newcastle-based Novak Collective, a group of talented digital ‘creatives’ from three separate design agencies, who for the past five years now have been producing sophisticated visual and AV content for everything from shows at major music festivals like Glastonbury to television adverts for corporate clients such as the Yorkshire Bank.
It was a boozy pub session that kicked everything spectacularly off. “A lot of us had links to clubland” Barrera explains, “and we felt really frustrated by what a lot of venues and promoters were doing in terms of visuals and décor. There was a lot of standard VJ content; basic, flat wallpaper content which offered no connection to the audience. We knew we could change that.”
The 3D Disco concept took serious shape at local Newcastle club night Wax On. The night’s organisers were prepared to let Barrera and co. experiment and perfect their set-up. A new, fully branded and rather unique dance experience developed and the crowds soon swelled.
“We started to realise that our idea had real potential” Barrera recalls. “It was an exciting time; we felt all those long hours planning and designing were finally justified.” The local momentum was enough to attract the interest of drinks brand Smirnoff, who were dishing bursaries to innovative nights with forward-thinking swagger, and so 3D Disco was given a platform to push its agenda further afield.
Novak have racked up some pretty stellar achievements since those early days. Barrera talks fondly about promoting the 3D experience at major concerts in Trafalgar Square with Calvin Harris and the Chemical Brothers, in mainland Europe alongside tech legends Kraftwerk and at reputable festival gatherings such as Big Chill and, of course, Glasto.
So what form do these 3D visuals actually take then? “It’s a fantastically diverse format” Barrera begins. “We can take our visuals anywhere, to any kind of arena. We use images and patterns with bright, graphical appeal; they’re kaleidoscopic, they mess with perspective so that when you layer them for the 3D effect, they really come alive for clubbers.”
Who surely wear special glasses on the dancefloor… does that not isolate people from one another? “Not from our experience, I’ve never really considered that that might happen” Barrera ponders. “All I can say is that the nights keep going down really well. I actually think there’s a real bond and sense of collective excitement when a crowd dons the glasses to experience our visuals properly. It’s a pretty special atmosphere.”
One that is further propelled by an assured soundtrack of smart, contemporary club beats and special edits – a 3D Disco acolyte can expect to hear everything from wonky house and dubstep to ‘Juke’ dance, Baltimore, classic house and Queen. “We offer a melting pot of sounds” Barrera grins, “which does include Queen and even special edits of music from Ghostbusters and Flash Gordon. We do a lot of special remixes and edits to work specifically with the experience; anyway, the whole notion of 3D, and wearing special glasses, dates back to the 1970s… it’s quite a kitsch thing, which means we can get away with certain things.”
Others are also ‘experimenting’, as clubland seeks to widen its appeal in ever more turbulent (or so it seems) global economic conditions. The London-based night Kreatures, for example, is making good use of animatronics – specifically made for film and TV by the folk at John Nolan Films, but put to great secondary use in a clubbing environment synonymous with jagged electronica and sassy, well-respected DJs including Starkey and Untold. The robotic faces, mouths and animals on stage at Kreatures offer a number of movements and expressions which, controllable by the DJ, sync with the music, and generally beguile the loyal crowds. John Nolan’s film credits, of course, include Hellboy II and Where The Wild Things Are.
“For us, clubland feels healthier than ever” Barrera says. “And some of the music being released is amazing; it gives us a lot of inspiration, we’re actually composing our own original tracks now.” The demand for 3D Disco is relentless, with Novak’s unique talents now being summoned, on a regular basis, from all four corners of the clubbing and festival world. The demand has allowed Novak to fund new ideas, experiments and sounds; not to mention pick up lucrative commissions from Magnetic Man (the live electronic project headed by master dubsteppers Skream, Benga and Artwork) and Jameson Whiskey (along the same lines of the Smirnoff bursary).
“But we realise that clubland is getting harder than ever” Barrera adds. “We’ve got our unique selling point, I guess, but for many promoters, dance music is more cutthroat than ever and a lot more chaotic. You feel like things could change very quickly; therefore, we’ll keep working hard on developing our productions and ensuring that they standout in what is now a highlight competitive industry.”
One such development is set to be 360-degree 3D Disco, an even more immersive nightclub experience with potential for wider daytime use within the corporate event and kids’ entertainment markets – “think Planetariums”. Longer-term, Barrera and his comrades are looking at interactive AV technology which will effectively enable clubbers to help steer the course of a DJ or VJ set purely by virtue of the moves they bust on the dancefloor.
The future funk is well and truly here…
Words: Ben Lovett
For more details on 3D Disco events check www.3Ddisco.tv
