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Killer Fish at night — flame effects from the head, DJ in the mouth, crowd at White Stage, Defqon.1 Australia 2017.

DEFQON.1 AUSTRALIA 2017

Killer Fish

Creative Director · Six Stages · 33,000 Guests

A nine-meter scrap-metal monster fish built as an inhabitable stage, with a DJ performing inside its mouth.

Its world combined flame effects from the head, holographic projection deep inside the gullet, moving sawblade teeth, integrated lighting and a custom Defqon.1 disco ball.

I was the Creative Director of Defqon.1 Australia, leading the creative and technical direction of the festival across six major stages and the wider site environment.

I transformed the Sydney International Regatta Centre from an Olympic rowing facility into a temporary immersive world for 33,000 guests. Killer Fish was one of the hero environments I designed and built within that larger vision.

Across the event I developed scaffold layouts, lighting and PA systems, adapted international designs to locally available fixtures, coordinated pyro, vendors, production and installation, and carried the creative intent from individual stage environments through to the experience of the site as a whole.

Built & drawn

Killer Fish close-up — scrap-metal plates, glowing eyes, sawblade teeth and custom Defqon.1 disco-ball lure.
Killer Fish orthographic views — front, side, section and isometric with dimensions.
Killer Fish at night — gullet lit from within, sawblade teeth and flame plumes beside the stage.
Killer Fish centreline section — scaffold, DJ platform, projector and flame-head locations.
Killer Fish by day — inhabitable scrap-metal stage with a DJ performing inside the mouth.
White Stage technical renders — Killer Fish with flanking PA towers and site perimeter.

A highly concentrated single-day world with the scale, visual density and technical ambition of a pop-up theme park built for one extraordinary day.

Site transform

Night drone aerial — Sydney International Regatta Centre transformed into Defqon.1 Australia for 33,000 guests.

We weren't decorating a festival site. We were turning an Olympic rowing facility into another world.

Mythic spectacle

Main-stage spectacle — fire-princess warrior figure with pyro, lighting and a dense night crowd.
Crowd facing a towering Defqon.1 logo stage built in scaffold and scenic mesh.

Mass crowd scale

Elevated view of roughly 33,000 guests moving as one before a major Defqon.1 stage.

Transform one kind of place into another, then make that transformation feel completely believable for one extraordinary day.

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