Phantogram – Live Visuals

I have been working with Phantogram of Saratoga Springs, NY since they were known as Charlie Everywhere – roughly 2008 to the present. I have performed live with them a number of times, and they have toured with a recording of my visuals.

Here is an interview I did with Phantogram for Microsoft where we discussed my use of the Kinect for visuals for a special concert:

2014: I made a custom openFrameworks application that allowed me to projection map their bodies in real time using a Kinect. Allowed me to use their bodies as a canvas and source for the projection imagery instead of my usual video clips. I use computer vision/contour tracking for most of the effects and VDMX for some of the filter overlays and other visuals. We used this specialized setup for a one-off performance in September at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

2010: In January 2010 they were about to go on a national tour in support of their debut album Eyelid Movies and I put together an entire sets worth of visuals. Everything was synced to their drums and ended up being about 50 minutes of varied material. They toured with these visuals through the summer of 2010.

I mostly used my custom visual performance software to improvise along with each song in their set, and then recorded the improvisations. I then took the best parts of each one and edited and fine tuned them in editing software so that everything matched up correctly. Phantogram then played the video out of their iPhone which kept down the cost of running an extra laptop, and saved stage space. The clip below is from one of the songs in that set.

2008-2013: I used my custom Max/MSP/Jitter visuals patch to improvise along with the band live – using my own video footage. We employed a lot of different projector setups, and my visual effects grew in complexity as I developed the software through the years.

I have performed with them live at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA, Governor’s Island and Terminal 5 in Manhattan, Tang Museum in Saratoga Springs, Revolution Hall in Troy, and the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn among other places.

Press:

“Phantogram: Talent is no illusion.” Saratoga Today. 2009.
http://www.saratoga.com/today/2009/09/phantogram-talent-is-no-illusion.html

“Phantogram: Music Hall of Williamsburg” Pitchfork Media. 2009.
http://pitchfork.com/news/36906-cmj-friday-the-xx-sleigh-bells/

Older video from 2010:

Random Live show videos: