The 2006 RES 10: Eclectic Method
Words: Lisa Delgado
Photo: Tara Darby
As a veteran of the club scene, Jonny Wilson's seen enough blasé looks to last a lifetime. "Too much about being cool is about looking unhappy," he says. "A lot of clubs don't have enough humor in them."
That's never a problem when Eclectic Method, Wilson's AV crew with Geoff Gamlen and Ian Edgar, is rocking the crowd. They might get people giggling (and dancing) with a video mashup of Method Man rapping alongside a bunch of sweet, doo-wopping Muppet lambs. Or they might show off their chops by re-editing Uma Thurman's ballet of vengeance in Kill Bill, every smack, whack, sword stroke and crotch kick crafted into a pounding percussion track. Outkast vs. the Beatles, Dr. Dre vs. Indiana Jones -- as long as it keeps the crowd moving, anything goes. "The key is to present mixes that are unexpected juxtapositions but still accessible and fun. Freshness is the watchword," Gamlen says.
Wilson, Gamlen and Edgar first met in 2001, bringing together a wide set of skills in DJing, video editing and electronic music production. They began concocting some kitschy but catchy mash-ups of music videos, films and TV shows, and soon released the 24-minute CD-ROM The Bootleg Video Mix. That's how Eclectic Method was born. Since then, the London-based group has done a stint on MTV Mash and played at clubs around the world, using tools like Pioneer DVJ-X1 DVD turntables to mix videos the way the nimblest DJs mix records.
True to their name, they've sought out an eclectic array of opportunities. The trio has played at Lincoln Center, RESFEST, fashion shows and an NFL event where it remixed the Super Bowl. In 2005, Eclectic Method released a bootleg video mix DVD cheekily titled We're Not VJs. (In fact, Wilson sometimes refers to the group as DVJs, evoking the DJ and the VJ in one fell swoop.)
The threesome are consummate bootleggers, scoping out choice material through file-sharing services like eMule. But these days they're often commissioned for legit projects, such as their recent music video remixes for XL Recordings and Fatboy Slim. The mashup masters' live shows are also much in demand. But if you can't make it to see them perform in person, never fear: the group offers a rotating selection of clips on its Web site for viewing online or downloading to portable video players.
