On a monday morning we called Arne Koefoed, head of ideas of the company that produces the whole Rock ‘n Rave Circus: Wink. We were still a bit tired from the weekend (when we say ‘a bit’ we mean ’snoring sounds’), and Arne talked like a tuned up scooter because he is a very, very busy man. But he did make jokes in between, which was nice, because that gave us some time to keep up with writing down his answers… pfffieeww…

Arne, first of all, how did this whole Rock ‘n Rave thing come to start?
Most of the time we receive concrete assignments by companies with a clear idea and budget. The Rock ‘n Rave Circus was quite an unconventional assignment for us, for we teamed up with Joost van Bellen from the start of this project. Like real partners. The question was how we could provide an event as good as possible to celebrate his 25 years as a DJ. After our first brainstorm session it became clear we needed a sponsor.

So you went to Diesel.
Yes. We made a presentation of the concept, Joost perfected the text and we asked graphic designers Hotel to design the look and feel in order to create a succes story that would attract a sponsor. We presented this to Diesel, who at first were in fact not able to support us, because they already booked a large event this year. But they cancelled that in order to become our partner for the Rock ‘n Rave Circus. Which was great, because they are a strong partner that immediately set the standards. Diesel is not only a big bag of money on this project. They are real partners and care for the PR, think of every detail, provided Bas Kosters with basic material, scouted MeloManics and maintain the quality that you can expect from them.

Can you tell us something about the inspiration and concept of the Rock ‘n Rave Circus?
Well, it was really a partnership between Wink and Joost van Bellen. From the beginning it was obvious how it should be. It had to be a circus, in the broadest sense of the word. It had to be a contemporary translation of rock ‘n roll, so we made it rock ‘n rave. Tongue in cheek of course, with a lot of performers, interaction, video and a decor that would set the atmosphere. Therefore it was also clear we wanted Bas Kosters to design the costumes.

How about the decor?
It was necessary that we designed a modular decor, because it is a travelling circus. So we needed to make it fit for every location. We travelled to all the different venues to measure the space. Besides that our budget was of course divided 9 times, and yes we cried about this, for every edition. So we needed to make a low budget decor that still would cause a big impact on the crowd. The tone was nasty and sexy. We worked with some material that was in stock, had to kill some ideas last minute and eventually decided that the common denominator had to be the moustache. Also because of the Rock ‘n Rave logo made by Hotel, we wanted this to be the eye catcher of the decor. Next to that we did a lot with light bulbs to really give it that circus feeling and to be able to play with that during the night.

drawing of the Rock 'n Rave Circus DJ-booth

Your team is responsible for the production. How many people work on this project and what are their roles in it?
I don’t have a clue, I am just the art director, haha. No, wait, I’ll pass you through to Pasquinel, our producer, he knows the ins & outs.

Pasquinel: Besides all the artists & their managers, performers, visagists, bookers from Barkers, photographers, door hosts, drivers etcetera we have a team from Wink that consists of a director at the front stage, a stage manager, a lighting man, VJ’s and Sander Stenger (from Star Studded Studio’s). They are the main crew. On top of that we have people that build and take down the decor. For the opening of the Rock ‘n Rave Circus the whole office was working on this project. It was crazy. During the event there are about 8 people that work on decor, lighting etc. It takes a whole day to build up the circus at the venue, and in total another day to break it up and get it ready for transport again. That is also because we are responsible for every part of the circus, from the decor to the double high hat of Joost van Bellen.

O.K., thanks. Now give the phone back to Arne! Hi Arne. Have you had any problems already?
Not really, just that we might have underestimated this project. It is such a big job. A lot of work. And because we work with a lot of partners, sponsors and venues, it is more work than any other big project. I think I might have been receiving over 30 e-mails a day on this project for weeks now.

So would you do a project like this again?
Oh certainly yes! Especially when it considers Joost. He is a great inspirator!

What would be your ultimate project?
Wow, let me think…

The opening of the Olympics?
Haha, yes. No, more something like our own festival. Hopefully we can work on a festival on Vlieland next year, called Into The Great Wide Open. Or something that is more mainstream, like the MTV Awards. Organizing a big award show in which we can stick some more of our creativity. And the great thing is that I have got a lot of inspiration for this from the Rock ‘n Rave Circus!

Wink team at the Rock 'n Rave Circus meeting

“Of course I have my own design principles. I love working with studs and sequins, and like it when the outfit looks unfinished and frayed. I also work with certain hand painting techniques. For the Rock ‘n Rave costumes I used a technique where you sort of pour the paint on the fabric, so you get these big nasty staints. They make the clothes look dirty, which was necessary, because they had to be not just circus, but also rock and rave. A part of the outfits are Diesel clothes that I made a re-edit of. And every circus member is wearing Diesel shoes.”

We asked Bas to show us some of his original sketches, to give us a better idea of how the outfits came to be:

JOOST VAN BELLEN

"For Joost van Bellen I had to make three outfits. The first one was to establish his role as master of ceremonies, the circus proprietor, in which he welcomes the crowd. I made a re-edit of a Diesel coat by adding little leather elephants on it and making it more glamrock. On top of that he is wearing a double high hat. For his DJ outfit I had to consider the fact that he must be able to move freely and that only the top part of the outfit is shown on stage. So the focus had to be on his upper body. This is again a re-edit of a Diesel jacket, on which I made a shoulderpiece from sequined fabric that looks like a waterfall when it reflects the light. It is punk meets glamrock and very cool! And his last outfit was obvious: the resurrection! So I made an oversized see through dress, with underneath it a pair of underpants that says "NEXT" written in poo. It is very trashy rock & roll."

WANNEBE A STAR

"Wannabe A Star is the first star to enter the circus stage. And since there are not a lot of ladies in this circus, we wanted to make her a sexy showgirl. I started thinking about a Moulin Rouge style, but in the end I wanted her to look more like rave culture, with bright colors, a red suit with studs en blue trimmings. I also made her a head cap with big feathers. With her it was the same thing as with Joost: she had to be able to DJ, so the outfit had to be practical. I like it when clothes have to have a function next to being beatiful. Making a puzzle out of it really is exciting."

MONSIEUR PLASTIQUE

"Paul (Monsieur Plastique) crosses all boundaries. The trick is that during the night, he will be wearing less and less. First we thought: let's throw all his outfits over eachother, but that turned out to be too impractical. So I made four outfits, from semi-dressed to more or less naked. The first outfit was a short cape by Diesel with fluor and a tail made from net fabric."

AUX RAUS

"The image of the Aux Raus show is hypnotic, hardcore and nasty. I got my inspiration from the cover art of their album: black and white, cut and frayed. It would be fun if their outfits get dirtier every show, and at the end of the tour they will be completely trashed, with beer stains and footsteps all over it."