We were lucky to catch up with AJ (AJ The Vj) Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi AJ (AJ the VJ), thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of my earliest risks involved a huge leap of faith into the unknown with a moment of serendipity that still leaves me feeling thrilled to be VJ to this day. I was invited to do projections at a small micro-Burning Man festival (Deep Playa) in rural upstate New York, I had no idea what I would be projecting on or what the set-up would look like.

I remember feeling so nervous about this gig, one of my first VJ opportunities, that along with meticulously preparing my visuals I did a little self empowerment manifestation/ritual to the full moon a week before the event . I consider myself pretty logical, not an extremely woo-woo person. But when your life feels a little out of control and you’re anxious as all-heck, why not call a little magic into your world to help you feel like you have some grasp on controlling the outcomes of your own future?

Afterwards, I got to the event scared as hell about what I would encounter. To my shock and delight, I found out my main projection surface in the middle of the woods was a giant 20 foot wide inflatable full moon. I couldn’t believe it! I ended up having an incredible weekend, I met lovely people who helped me set up and projection map on the “moon”, and I was encouraged to experiment and have fun with my projection art without worrying about being judged.

At one point after VJing “on the moon” for several hours in the middle of the night, my fingers were frozen cold, and I was teetering on a container box for a chair, a group of festival goers came up to me and told me how mesmerized they were by my projections. People could actually climb inside the moon and experience my visuals with the music beating to it. They gushed over the fantastic experience I had given them that night, and that they would never forget this, before frolicking off into the night.

This was the moment I knew that I didn’t just want, but NEEDED, to VJ in some form or capacity for the rest of my life.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve considered myself an experimental video-collage artist since high school where I took my first film classes. My interest in it deepened in college before I moved to New York in 2014. I spent years feeling unfulfilled in corporate jobs while making my art on the side. I wanted to do something with the video art I made, and I knew I loved music and events. I wanted so badly to break into projection design and VJing but I just didn’t know how.

The turning point happened as restrictions from the pandemic eased up in 2021, I ended up being invited to do visuals for a small music event. I had no idea what I was doing. I improvised by projecting youtube video loops of my art on a small hanging screen. That night, a visiting VJ noticed my videos. He encouraged me to pursue VJing professionally. He invited me to his company’s studio and introduced me to Resolume, the industry standard projection program, even giving me a spare license to use before I could afford one myself.

Immediately I was obsessed, and I was determined. I spent every day practicing in the program and learning everything I possibly could about VJing, aiming to become skilled enough to start assisting at events. It took several months of training and assisting before I connected with a friend managing a club that happened to need a new VJ. The first night at the club was my first test. At the end of the night the owner of the club came up to tell me he loved my visuals, and I was signed on for upcoming events.

Today, I provide stunning visual environments for a wide range of events such as parties, concerts, theater, raves and festivals with projections I play and manipulate in real time to match the tempo of the music. I spend hours creating with animation or graphics programs to first put together bold, colorful and eclectic visual content that tells a story, often incorporating collaged archival footage. I stray away from using just a projection screen, preferring to map on the actual walls or architecture inside a building to produce a more immersive environment.

Some of my proudest moments have been VJing for Chance the Rapper at the Chocolate Factory in Brooklyn, projecting under the K Bridge for Ricardo Villalobos, projection mapping inside the Williamsburg hotel for Louie Vega, and being a resident VJ for Descendants afro-tech event house at Silo. One of my most complex and memorable mapping projects in 2024 was on the architecture in the sanctuary of one of New York’s oldest reformed synagogues, Central Synagogue, for a Barbie themed Purim.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Visuals don’t have to be robotic, scary or “masculine”. They can be whimsical and feminine and even a little silly and absurd and still hold deep power and strength. I want to share my creations with the world and allow people to experience a sense of awe. Studies on the feeling of “awe” have shown it creates a deeper sense of empathy and compassion for oneself and others. I believe we need more of that in the world.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think something non-creatives may struggle to understand is how important the live performance aspect of VJing is, and how performing visuals live falls under a completely different skill-set than just the act of creating content by yourself at home.

It was a learning curve to take the clips I previously made and transform them in real-time to match the changing rhythms of the music over the course of a performance. You’re not just presenting something that you’ve made, you are constantly reacting to the music, the crowd, and the vibe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ajthevj.com
• Instagram: @ajthevj
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzafK3kowGY
• Other: TikTok: ajthevj

Image Credits

AJ Portrait and AJEYE/Personal Photo—- Quinn Nguyen

AJ in Action —-Chloe Heymans

Chance the Rapper —–Shura McComb

Orange —– Jaime Marrero

Sunset Park, Synagogue, AJArt1 — (me)

so Credits in order starting with Personal Photo /going left to right:
Quinn Nyguyen
Quinn Nyguyen
Shura McComb
Chloe Heymans
AJ the VJ
AJ the VJ
Jamie Marrero
AJ the VJ
Chloe Heymans