Music is half of the experience upon hitting the dance floor. Event promoters utilize creative lighting to add dimension to your nightlife adventure.  Progressive hosts will feature video projections, increasing the sensory overload we love so much.

Multimedia artist Michael Mcadow goes by many aliases, notably “Micho” or “Detronik”. Michael specializes in “experimental live visual manipulations and integration”, inducing the optical yin to the DJ’s auditory yang.

He has done art installations on his own and collaborated with Mike Doyle (Burnlab/Dethlab). His visuals were part of the environment at legendary Motor Lounge and recently at the Dorkwave event in May. We asked him a few questions about his VJ setup:
 
What were some of your first Audio/Visual setups like?
The very first A/V setups were actually done under the alias “Inter Animi” and included a lot of Detronik’s modified “hacked” gear including educational devices, toys, drum machines, sequencers, analogue synthesizers, shopping carts, oil drums, transistor radios, scanner radios, grinding wheels, and explosives, mixed with found scientific/documentary imagery and Super 8mm footage we shot in our warehouse.


What was Inter Animi?
Inter Animi was a live performance art army- a complex organization of artists, musicians, and technicians. We were a complete sensory overload in the early to mid 1990’s. It got to the point that we were being banned from Detroit clubs because the nature of our chemistry during a production was so volatile that typical conclusions to the evening included bloodshed and fires. We most often had to change our names just to get the show landed. Inter Animi was a hybrid between the electro/techno and industrial/punk worlds, adding live experimentation into an aggressive freeform performance. The sound was both mechanical and electronic as the visuals represented human adoption to the media.
 
Who are your favorite projectionists or A/V artist?
My partner in Berlin Goetz Kleinhaus AKA Dekonstruktiv, Mat Cat in the UK,  as well as old comrade Julie Meitz, now located in France. I also give high praise to Jon Hudson (Techno Vision Detroit) for carrying Detroit visually with me for years, especially during the Motor era.
 
What is mapping?
There is two definitions to mapping- one being mapping of controls for interaction within a software/programming environment, and the other representing experimental surface projection in which you augment the image to correspond accordingly. Detronik deploys mapping occasionally when possible. Projections step away from a flat 2D surface and follow contours, architecture and/or objects.


How important is making a show interactive?
Adoption of tangible interaction is imperative. The mergence of auditory and visual elements as well as human contact is vital to our progression as humans into our new world as cyborgs.

What about your favorite film or director?
Ridley Scott (BladeRunner) and Michael Radford (1984).


Anybody locally you would love to work with?
Bileebob and Los Hermanos. I much enjoyed working with Scan 7 and Aux88- perhaps we shall do more.


Who are some of the big electronic musicians you’ve worked with?
Detronik was originally based out of the Submerge Building @ 2030 Grand River in Detroit in the mid 90's. This location aided in our technique development and synchronization to electronic sound.  To name a few: Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, Richie Hawtin, Funkstorung… Although my history includes a direct correlation within the evolution of electro/techno here in Detroit, visuals have always been put behind sound and lights here.  Much of our earlier work reconstructed the environment for the event, transforming a bare space into a unique multi-sensory experience. Both Richie Hawtin and Carl Craig readily accepted and embraced my use of retro televisions and surveillance technology.


You usually have a ton of gear to set up- is doing a show pretty chaotic?
Ironic isn’t it? I lessened the system quite a bit and it still looks like heaps. Setups can be chaotic, but it’s very organized. In my head, I always consider every perspective with meticulous consideration. The chaos gives my heart the blood it needs to provide my body the energy to make a show [work]. In addition to my visual output systems, I specialize in hacking the available video network within the club. I will infiltrate what is available on the premises.


Care to mention some gear you use?
Surveillance equipment, a computer for clip storage and visual programming, and an Atari 2600. A lot of wire and DIY devices.

You produce music too- Is that a part of the video work or a separate beast?
This is complex. Detronik was actually the name of our audio project that developed modifications on archaic drum machines like the TR-606 and numerous toys back in the 90’s.  We recorded tracks and did a couple of releases as Detronik, mainly to promote these devices. The visuals were originally operated under “Synthetic”. Now with Detronik fully phased into live visuals, the name will also be present on my line of customized MIDI/USB controls. There has been renewed interest recently so we may once again be using the name Detronik, despite the metamorphism.


Your day job is in the technology field. You were doing video projects before the 9-5 job, right?
Yes, I specialize in Surveillance and Telecommunications.  However, I started doing live visuals while I was still in high school. I used to “borrow” the school’s equipment to do my earliest visuals back in 1991-1994, carrying 3/4“ Decks, 1/2” Decks and a couple crates full of video tapes.
 
What’s your idea of making it big or taking your ideas to the next level?
Even though I am considered the first “VJ” here in Detroit, I may never make it big here as that.  My main motivation is to bring a higher degree of creative evolution to the city. I have been to many cities across the US and Europe. Germany and the Netherlands are producing some of the most innovative visual experiments, mainly due to public support and acknowledgment. Detroit is already surrounded by an electronically dominated music scene- there is no reason why artists cannot progress from stagnant, motionless, and non-intelligent artistic expression.  Why would I want to look at a single painting when I can interact with the canvas and alter the image?  Why would I want to listen to music without a complex generative structure based on that sound?  Why do I want to step into a stagnant gallery when I can step into a reactive actuating landscape? The place and time for non-participative art has passed here in Detroit. My strategy is to broaden this regions perception of creative expression and encourage exploration within multi-media technologies and art.
Detroit is a very unique place.  We are in a constant struggle with our image and our future- a constant state of flux where we recreate, rebuild, and modify. The rudimentary mutation of this insight is our key to developing a new vision and state of being.


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DETRONIK
Visual Rekon Mercenary
Specializing in experimental live visual manipulations and integration

www.detronik.com
www.myspace.com/detronik
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