We first had the honour of working with Toronto-by-way-of-Nigeria collective grey93 in 2020, during the genesis of Refraction. Back then they had been making waves as tastemakers and collaborators, providing live visuals and creative support for music acts like Travis Scott and Drake. They've since gone from strength to strength as a media production company specializing in unique & expressive ways to create captivating digital narratives.
Our original commission — Grey93verse was an hour-long audio-visual odyssey into a futurustic world through the lens of their avatar, backed by a compelling, equally futuristic DJ mix of South African ampiano beats. For our latest drop, Refraction worked with the collective to release an excerpt from the original piece entitled 'Internet DJ' as a free digital collectible. We recently caught up with the crew to discuss the orgins of the project, how their roots in Lagos and new technology influence their work, and what the future holds.
First off, what has grey93 been up to lately?
In 2023, we've been heavily focused on content creation, particularly visuals for artists like Rema, Davido, and Wizkid. Our goal is to excel in producing stage visuals, lyric videos, and single visualizers within the Afrobeats industry while also collaborating with independent artists worldwide to tailor content to their brand.
Tell us about your original vision for Grey93verse. What was the genesis for the film?
The film's inception aimed to depict an avatar's everyday life, blurring the lines between dreams and reality in this unique world.
We loved how you incorporate images from your life and travels, what was going on then and why was it important for you to include those?
That's a recording featuring our photographer friend, Isabel Okoro. She's known for her outstanding photography, and we wanted to showcase a day in her life, contrasting it with the avatar's daily routine. Including clips of her at a Toronto amapiano party allowed us to merge the hypnotic amapiano sound with visuals, highlighting the genre's global growth.
Your work has always been rooted in a hypermodern aesthetic. As the world continues to progress, the notion of futurism is always in flux. How—if at all—has your aesthetic sensibilities changed over the last 3 years?
Absolutely, collaborating with organizations like Refraction has influenced our artistic direction, especially in combining art and sound. Over the past three years, we've explored various directions for our avatar concept. In our latest work, "Grey93verse," we adopted a more storytelling approach with the avatar as the central character. Post-pandemic, our aesthetic sensibility draws inspiration from digital art movements like NFTs and web3.
Since we first worked together in 2020, the world of creative technology has evolved. Do you see new tech influencing your creative output or curatorial narrative?
Certainly, we live in a fast-paced world where information spreads rapidly. Embracing new technologies like AI is integral to our creative process, as AI continues to evolve and offer increasingly intuitive ways to enhance our work.
Your work also plays with the ideas/images of utopia and dystopia. If you were to cast a view into the future, what sort of utopia do you see on the horizon and what sort of dystopia worries you?
In 2030, I envision a world with more self-made individuals due to technological advancements and greater access to online education. While this may lead to more innovative ideas, it could also exacerbate income inequality and poverty on a global scale due to aggressive capitalism.
How does your roots in Nigeria influence your creative vision?
Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria instilled a strong work ethic and hustle mentality in us. Lagos is often likened to the African New York, characterized by its rapid pace. We've translated this mentality into our creative pursuits, constantly exploring new ways to push boundaries and diversify our work.
A pillar of Refraction is the idea of community coming together to make something bigger than as an individual. How do you approach collaboration in the grey93 collective?
Collaboration is a cornerstone of our brand, and we strive for authenticity. We find collaborations intriguing when they allow us to venture into uncharted territories while staying true to our brand identity. It's crucial to us because it's a valuable learning experience that informs our future projects. The back-and-forth communication through group chats, emails, and calls is an exciting process that helps us manage people and expectations. It also provides insights into people's interests and artistic perspectives.
And who outside of your collective do you look to for inspiration?
Many individuals and collectives inspire us. One recent discovery is Sila Sveta, a multimedia production company known for their captivating visuals and stage designs. We aspire to create similar work in the near future.
Finally what is next for grey93, what can people look forward to from you in the near future and beyond?
We have several exciting plans. Before the pandemic in 2020, we were preparing to launch GREY PLAY, a global festival focused on alternative artists. We intend to revive this project. Additionally, we aim to develop products with enduring value for our customers. In the long term, we aspire to become a full-fledged production company, creating movies, documentaries, and reality TV.
Follow grey93 on instagram and go here to collect Internet DJ for free on Zora.
This March, together with LUKSO, we had an incredible evening at Austin’s favorite natural wine watering hole LoLo, exploring themes of identity, ownership, and the New Creative Economies through immersive art by Cibelle Cavalli Bastos and Tabitha Swanson.
