Interview about VJing with head strategy of c/o pop "Sound of Cologne"
Ralph H. Christoph (Head of strategy c/o pop) & Tasso Treis (Okinawa 69/ Kompakt)
How did you come up with a festival idea of c/o Pop?
c/o pop has been taking place anually in Cologne since 2004. The festival
was invented after the Popkomm, once the biggest and most important music
trade fair in Germany, moved to Berlin. We took the chance to do something
fresh anf new, together with the local networks like labels, clubs and
promoters. The programme of the festival is dedicated to contemporary pop
culture in all its variety. Parallel to the festival, c/o pop hosts a
business forum known as the C’n’B – Creative Business Convention, which is
directed to professionals from the creative industries. The convention
focusses on networking between the different creative industries. Another
major c/o pop project is »Europareise«, a network of 70 festivals which
helps to connect the festival scene from Europe and beyond.
What kind of strategies do you follow for the improvement of c/o Pop?
With c/o pop we present Cologne as the most important music centre at least
of the country of Northrhine Westphalia. We visit other festivals and
conventions and undertake special activities there. So we have own stands at
the conventions and conduct mini festivals there with bands from Cologne and
Northrhine Westphalia. These we do for instance at events like Eurosonic,
SXSW (Austin), Sonar, Amsterdam Dance Event, but also at the Expo 2010 in
Shanghai. In Future we will also extend our efforts at important meeting
points in order to present the advantages of Cologne.
And we want to pursuit with our strategy. This includes the rise of our
export efforts and he expansion of our network with other festivals to which
we want to send bands from cologne. More over we offer learning and
professionalization opportunities for young people, newbie and existing
companies in the music sector. We also try to establish new formats like a
festival in the context of the games convention Gamescom. These are the
activities we want to achieve within the next three years. More over we were
able to realize a new music centrum within a short period of time in
Ehrenfeld, in the centrum of Cologne, with low lease costs for creative
companies. Round about 50 companies with 250 employees will start their work
there.
What is your strategy for finding sponsorships and how do you think sponsors
can be together with video-music festivals?
VJing is such an important art form which cannot be separated from music
anymore. But of course it helps to offer more possibilities for the sponsors
to present themselves. The biggest VJ event at c/o pop so far took place in
2005. This event then was fully financed by the German Federal Cultural
Foundation, and included various events, parties, installations, but also
workshops. Funding still is the most important source to realize special
projects.
What is the role of VJ-ing in c/o Pop / Sound of Cologne ?
In what ways do you think live visuals contribute to music festivals like c/o Pop?
As mentioned music and visuals can´t be separated anymore in a festival and club context.
Most bands/acts and DJs bring their own visual artists with them these days.
They want to give the audience a 360° audio/visual experience, catering all senses.
That's also how more artists get involved, representing diverse cultures.
How was the venue in general for VJ-ing in Cologne about 10 years ago and what changed up today?
Over the last decade, VJing made it to the next level. Visualists have specialized on different music styles,
VJs work much closer with the bands and labels. The content is more specific and the video setups are much better.
Today, events provide powerful projectors and advanced LED systems.
The VJ today is being respected as a fully developed artist by the audience and by the promoters.
What do you think about the future of VJ-ing in Germany and Europe?
I think the VJ is goning to be better integrated in the band and will actually become a member.
Musicians don´t just want to have some visual show, they want to have their own visual show.
A show developed together with the Visualist and specially produced for them.
Vj-ing will come out of the club, into galleries, onto the street and into the internet.
There will be more installations, that can be shown as works in galleries,
mapping projections in urban spaces and music video clips produced by visualists.
Vjs will release more mix and tool DVS for clubs/ bars and home usage (e.g. vms-at.com)
and produce more clips that can be downloaded (e.g. lightrhythmvisuals.com) by other VJs.