Exclusive Interview with Source Code

"We're kind of blurring the lines between math science, and art."

Ariel Ouroboros, Blake Idol, and Elisabeth (Lisa) Callis have transformed spandex and light into an art form with their company Source Code. This is their story - going from an experiment at a party to the forefront of North Carolina nightlife.

Synaptic: What was your first experience getting into the EDM/art scene?

Ariel: The first festival that I went to was Equinox - it was called Reunion in 2007. That was the first time I had seen any sort of installation or artwork done with spandex. The atmosphere that it created was completely surreal. It was almost like I had stepped into another world.

Blake: My first experience getting into this scene was probably when these guys took me to Ignite for the first time and I saw some of this installation art there. But it wasn’t until I went to Equinox where I really got exposed to art that I had never seen before. I didn’t know that you could even use something like [spandex] as a medium and use it in three dimensional space.

Lisa: When I turned 21 I went to my first burn, and then I went to Equinox the same year. That's how I got into psytrance and that whole deal, back around 2006.

Synaptic: What was your first burn?

Lisa: Technically my first burn was Mayhem, which was more like a fundraiser burn for people to get to Tranformus.

Synaptic: What was the first time that you tried doing spandex designs yourself?

Blake: One year ago [Ariel] and I threw our birthday together and we were kind of playing around with spandex and it turned out really fucking good. Everybody was excited about it.

Ariel: We had a good time because we put our heads together, and afterwards we were like, “We should do this more often.” Soon we had requests to do other parties like Full Moon gatherings which we did for a little while. It was surprising how much the demand for it was. It was something that I realized was really lacking in some of the electronic music nightlife events; it's always about the music and lights but the immersive aspect, the atmosphere, is just lacking.

Synaptic: It sounds like you and Blake knew each other already?

Ariel: Actually we've only known each other for about a year and a half. I've known Lisa since about 2010.

Synaptic: How did you meet Ariel?

Lisa: I met him because his brother was one of my best friends. I met his brother at Trasformus my first year and we became really good friends. After his brother passed away Ariel and I started hanging out more.

Synaptic: Were you (Ariel and Blake) already doing decorations before Lisa came in?

Ariel: Not really, actually it started with me doing it for fun for one local event, and it really kicked off after that.

Synaptic: When did you come together and say "We're good at this, let's make our own company. Let's do this seriously."?

Ariel: Really not even a year ago. We did Neon Weekend which was just one side stage and the amount of response from that was really what inspired us. We started doing a couple things at Limelight, even though it was kind of small for the first two or three. We also had an area at Castle McCulloch’s Mardi Gras event-

Lisa: - We sold out the bar downstairs. -

Blake: - From a bar that they generally don’t have anyone going to at all. The bartenders were all like, "Oh man, I can’t believe I have to work THIS bar, I’m so upset" and then they ran out of everything like, beer, Everclear, everything. People were just attracted to it like fireflies to a campfire. That's what happens when you see that in the dark-

Ariel: - It's the atmosphere, it really does a lot to the venue.

Blake: It's just such an immersive experience because it just appeals to so many of your senses

Synaptic: What inspires the decoration that you do?

Ariel: One thing that really inspires us is combining science, music, spirituality, geometric shapes and optical illusions. We want to be able to incorporate those into the audiovisual experience that we create and make you really think about how all of these amazing things interacts.

Synaptic: So you're all very crafty, obviously. Do you do any art in your free time or is it just with the company?

Ariel: I do a lot of music production, like, sound design. I incorporate it into other installations, such as a nightlife environment and sometimes we'll use vinyl and incorporate that with the spandex. I guess that's the company as well, but, you know.

Lisa: I like to do a lot of different crafts but I really don’t do it outside my group of friends. I like to sew and all kinds of stuff, but I’m not very motivated when it comes to making my own things.

Ariel: Also we sew and make outfits, like costumes for burns or festivals and things like that as well.

Blake: I like constructing things - general construction type of things. A lot have to do with figuring out mathematical equations. Doing string art rally connected with me because I like doing meticulous measurements and watching it all unfold. It can be very artistic. I love applying what I already knew from construction and using it to design art.

Ariel: We really like to take a lot of inspiration from math. We like to see how we can take engineering, physics, and math and incorporate that into what we do.

Synaptic: I wouldn't have expected that so much math and science is taken into consideration.

Blake: We're kind of blurring the lines between math science, and art.

Synaptic: Has this idea translated into decent revenue for your company?

Blake: Most people don't expect to get paid to create their art in the beginning, so we're very fortunate to come out of the gate and have people wanting to pay us to do our art. Every penny we make we throw right back into the company.

Ariel: It hasn’t been very long and it's become at LEAST self-sustaining. I never would have guessed it would work out like that.

Synaptic: Sounds like you three have a lot of momentum.

Ariel: It's a little too early to tell, but it's definitely a good start and we’re excited to see where it leads.