Even if you haven’t heard the name ‘Wolves’ before, you’ve likely seen their work if you’re a regular or even an occasional attendee at gigs or festivals in the country. Childhood friends, Joshua D’Mello and Jash Reen, launched Wolves back in 2012 and over the years, they’ve collaborated with some of the world’s most prolific music artists and major music festivals (including Anoushka Shankar, Sunburn, Mutemath, Glastonbury, Beyond Wonderland in California, Noisia, The upbeats, EDC India, EDC Vegas, and Flux Pavilion), and emerged as one of India’s leading visual agencies.
In this candid interview, they tell us a little about creating interactive visuals, and some of their favourite shows till date.
1) Tell us how you came to design the first set for Nucleya – and on that note, how it felt to come full circle and design the rig for his Bass Yatra Tour?
At the time, Nucleya’s album art was the Koocha Monster which was designed by his wife, Smriti. We created a cut-out of MDF, animated the face and mapped it, and it turned out to be a big hit! Ever since, we’ve been working together.
2) Talk us through your creative process – what does it take to get the telepathy (so to speak) right between you and the artist you’re designing for?
Liking the music plays a big part, of course, and with Nucleya, it’s pretty difficult not to like what he puts out, as it’s so full of energy.
In general, after talking to the artist and getting an idea of what they want, we start ideating and sketching. After a bit of back and forth to refine the concept, the content is created, and live syncing is done completely by ear on site. It’s just us freestyling with the artist.
3) How do you balance the massive set visuals with the persona of the artist? How does one not over-shadow the other?
EDM isn’t only about the artist anymore. The lights, lasers, visuals and stage production play a massive part in putting together a great show. You have to just find the right balance between everything.
4) Where do you and your team look for inspiration when designing?
TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and action figures.
5) You’ve worked on many projects, but which one would you say is the one you’re most proud of?
There’s two of them so far.
One is the ‘Imperial Guard” and the second is the Bass Yatra Setup. Both of them were designed by us from scratch – stage design to content to execution.
There’s no greater joy in seeing something you created from the ground up come to life.
To check out more of Wolves Visual’s work, head on over to their site, or their Facebook or Instagram pages.
Words by Pavi Sagar
Featured image source: Wolves Visuals
