You might want to wrap your eyes and ears around this…
It’s the latest update from Current Value’s CVAV project: One of the most ambitious and sense-blurring performance concepts to hit drum & bass since Noisia’s Outer Edges, CVAV will launch this Saturday in Vienna’s famous Fluc club. And, quite frankly, it looks incredible.
A Lemur-controlled show exclusively comprising his own music and bespoke eye-melting visuals, he announced it on UKF six months ago, explaining how the concept’s objective is “constant adaptation and invention” and how it is effectively a way of illustrating drum & bass’s many forms and creating a visual language for his sonic aesthetic.
Immersive, hypnotic and a promise that no show will ever be the same; it seems each CVAV experience will be unique as he improvises with the order and elements and continues to update the show with new music and new visuals. As he explains below, this isn’t a one-off tour: this is life now for the respected studiosmith and it’s set to enjoy a whole series of reboots as he develops it… Especially as he releases his forthcoming album on soon-to-be-named label that’s just as respected as his own studio skills.
CVAV will launch at Fluc, Vienna this Saturday September 23 and is already confirmed to headline two major European festivals this season including Let It Roll Winter Slovakia on November 18-19 and one that is yet to be announced. A whole new harmony of audio, visual and technological innovation; CVAV is only set to amplify as he hurtle into the future… A destination Current Value has always had his sights set on.
We caught up with him to find out how the project has developed since we last reported on it.
Six months since we last spoke to you about CVAV. Has the concept developed in the way you envisioned or has it taken a life of its own like this projects often do?
It’s pretty much where I expected it to be. I think we will be able to say more once we’ve had our first shows but the tests were quite stunning so far! The Lemur controller setup turned out to be perfect for CVAV.
You mentioned last time you’ll be making fresh material for each performance… Does that mean visual material or musical or both?
People can expect a fresh experience for each performance – the order of tracks, and which elements I use and in which order will be changing each time. We have about 100 minutes of dynamic content, which will be configured into 60 minute sets each time, so we have plenty to experiment with for the current season. People can also definitely expect to hear new music for each performance. It should also be expressed that this isn’t a one-off tour – CVAV is a new creative entity that will continue growing and evolving in terms of audio and visual content for the foreseeable future. The visual material takes time to conceive and create, but we plan to work with Greenaway & Greenaway to update it regularly and add new material, so future audiences will have new experiences to look forward to when they visit concerts multiple times.
What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced during this development?
It’s definitely the technical side that keeps you up. And the devil is in the details! For example we didn’t expect to have to do extra scripting in the Lemur editor to make things work. You never stop learning. It’s a project with a huge scope, so it’s natural to face all kinds of issues on that journey – but everything’s always resolvable.
Is CVAV completely locked into the system now and ready to boot when it launches on Friday or will there be last minute tweaks, changes, upgrades and hacks?
It’s being constantly refined, but it’s definitely at a point where it’s going to take people by surprise and deliver something that I feel is completely new for the audience. So no major last minute tweaks at this stage!
What else do people need to know at this particular juncture?
Aside from the premiere at Fluc Wanne in Vienna this weekend, I can announce a headline slot for the main stage of Let It Roll Winter Slovakia this year, and another very significant festival booking TBA.
CVAV launches with Methlab / Push 4 at Fluc Saturday September 23
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