Wolves Embark On 90-Day North America Tour With Flux Pavilion

“It’s about to get really weird,” laughs Jash Reen as he attempts to map out the madness the next 90 days holds for both him and his partner, Joshua D’Mello. Together, the duo helm Wolves—a Mumbai-based Visual Agency that’s risen to acclaim by redefining the live music experience across the country using everything from 3D mapping installations to elaborate stage design and everything in between. Now, as they embark upon a 90-day-long North America tour across 40 cities as Flux Pavilion’s sole Visual Artist support, it’s clear they’ve cast their nets far beyond our constricting borders. Far beyond even what they could have expected. We caught up with them minutes before they boarded their flight to get a sense of what they’ve put together for the massive international collaboration. But first, a little context.

Even if you’ve never heard of Wolves or gotten behind the invisible veil so to speak, chances are you’ve been smack dab in the middle of their work before. Over the past few years, it’s become clear that music culture has evolved way beyond the performer alone. A DJ with a solid set standing behind a console doesn’t cut it; it’s the lights, the stage, the holographic dancing women jumping out of screens—it’s the whole goddam circus. And no one is more equipped to be the ringleaders than these guys. Untamed as ever.

As they’ve mentioned to various publications over the years, the high-school best friends have always allowed the heavy influences of their childhood bleed into their work, but always within the confines of who they’re working with. Their humble beginnings and a learn-it-as-we-go approach to some highly technical skills meant giving themselves a “crash course, tutoring themselves on the Internet through lessons on YouTube and discussions on Internet forums; and practising on makeshift tools and props, cheap screens and shoeboxes at home.” As luck would have it, their methodology worked well for the Flux Pavilion collaboration. From live visuals of 90’s robots to LED mapping that essentially distorts the reality we know to be, their work has always been expansive. How would all this find synergy at a tour of this nature? Jash says, “It’s like watching reruns on cable TV except no show is how you remember it. Maybe better, maybe crazier. When Josh sent across a moodboard of ideas and images he’s into, there were heavy doses of the film, video games and culture we were into. But he constantly interpreted and reinterpreted it in his own unique way, so we never got too comfortable with a particular style. The result is so many different styles of animation and themes crammed into one set.”

The tour is now set to make its way through standard gig venues as well as festivals across the country, making this Wolves’ widest undertaking yet. As they put it best, “It’s about working with flux and his crew to build a solid concept that will stand the test of Months on the road with a new venue pretty much every day. There’s also festival shows on that schedule so we’ve made the content in so many different formats - ready to take shape on any stage conceivable.” Anyone who’s familiar with their versatility in adapting to fit any stage knows this is true. But the reason it’s all so newsworthy goes beyond just their personal success.

Visual agencies like theirs are few and far between in a truly nascent industry in India. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who offers the kind of services—both creatively and technically—that they do in the country at all. And considering just how evolved this same industry is internationally, it’s of major significance to be recognised and rewarded at a playing field of this level. Perhaps one could have seen it coming given the milestones of the last few years. They’ve included a breakthrough moment working on a massive custom LED set for Nucleya, and multiple collaborations with international artists such as a music video for The Upbeats, live visuals for Anoushka Shankar at Glastonbury last year, work for Noisia and most recently the handling of visuals for a stage at Beyond Wonderland, California just a few weeks ago. Still, given the sheer scale of this one, it appears any glass ceiling is but a figment of our imagination. Not that either of these two measure milestones with the same tenacity as most. Given the chance, they’re much more at ease turning the conversation back to the tour.

“Instead of just making full length videos to hit play per song, we’re still true believers in live mixing with resolume arena,” they admit excitedly, jumping right back into the treasure trove of cross genre material they’ve created for the tour. From 2D animation to high concept 3D visuals, all of it has a role to play in the tour given that no two shows are going to be the same experience.

“Flux was always keen on having each piece of content explore different worlds. So we locked solid narratives to these worlds, then split the content further into different layers to play them like an instrument almost,” they explain. Traversing through these different worlds gives the viewer a sense of adventure. Something Wolves knows more than enough about.

The Wolves team shared snippets of the content they’ve created for this tour, some of which we’ve shared below. Scroll on to see it for yourself.

Follow Wolves’ journey and work on their Website, Facebook and Instagram.