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More Than One Way to Spin a Cat
Digital Video Mixers Inspire Bill da Cat
Video clubs isn’t new, but its proliferation, thanks to technologies that have made it more feasible, is obvious.
DJ Bill da Cat at Papa Lou’s in Petowskey, Mich., is one DJ whose
use of video has given a new depth to on-premise nightlife. Despite the
lack of technology for producing high tech visuals to which VJs now
have access, da Cat began implementing visual effects into his set in
the late ‘80s.
“I got my break in ’88, spinning house music,” he says. “One night,
the owner comes in and says, ‘Don’t forget to use ambient wallpaper.’”
It was then that Bill da Cat began mixing his music with ambient
video wallpaper, animated graphics that move with the music.
“When the music drops down, it drops down. When the music rises,
it rises.”
Primitive Beginnings
It was only about four years ago that Bill da Cat began his first video mixing for a club he played in Florida.
“There was a projector and big screen, but (the bar owner) had it
for NASCAR, baseball and the NBA,” da Cat says. “Boy, he had no idea
what I had in store for him.”
Even then, Bill da Cat had very limited options. His setup at that
time included starting a video by playing track 1; then part of the way
through the video he would hit the next button for track 2 to start.
“I had it laid out where the BPMs were just right,” he says. “The
tempos of the songs from track 1 to 2, if you were watching, you could
see it change. I had mixed the videos like CDs. I was working off old
videos from the ‘90s — Poison, Wreckx-n-effect, Heavy D & The Boys.
It was rough but I pulled it off.”
Bill da Cat got his chance to get more high tech after visiting the
Nightclub & Bar show in Las Vegas last March with Johnnie Walker
(the bartender, really) and Stacy Vadenbrouk of Papa Lou’s.
“After seeing 2nd Nature in action at the Pioneer Booth, all three of us
got bit by this video bug instantly,” da Cat says. Three weeks after returning to
Michigan, Papa Lou’s bought a DVJ 1000 by Pioneer so da Cat could start mixing video.
Finding Inspiration
Bill da Cat recommends that DJs wanting to break into digital video
mixing should check out www.2ndnature.com, or YouTube to find samples
of EBN’s videos. EBN, which stands for Emergency Broadcast Network, as
early as 1991 was mixing news clips and clippings from movies or
dialogues to create music tracks.
He describes the work that inspired him: “You’re watching a song
that’s totally instrumental, then news clips and dialogue from movies
create the lyrics to the song. As the song plays, you’re watching the
splicing of the video.”
This was long before equipment like the DVJ 1000 was available.
“With this equipment, you’ve got loop capability, three cue functions, reverse function and time compression.”
One of his samples includes the song “Bring it Here” by Wild Sugar.
Most people recognize the beat, which the Beastie Boys later lifted for
their “Brass Monkey” track.
“So, you’ll show the video of the Beastie Boys but with Wild Sugar playing,”
he explains. “Then you have people going, ‘Where did that come from?
I’ve never seen that video before. Can I get a copy?’” da Cat says.
“And I tell them, no, I don’t even have a copy. I just made that.
“A DJ is no longer a DJ; he is an on-site producer.”
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