Virtual Riot & VJ Neurite: Crafting a Next-gen Audiovisual Experience

Are you a VJ, DJ, lighting engineer, or producer looking to step up your setup? Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite have partnered with Sweetwater to give the community of beginning and veteran artists the opportunity to win essential VJ and DJ gear certified with Virtual Riot’s and VJ Neurite’s seals of approval — gear they endorse because they use it, too!

This is your chance to kick-start the next stage of your music-making odyssey. We’re giving away an Akai Professional APC40 MKII, a rockin’ pair of KRK ROKIT 8 G5 8-inch monitors, and one booming KRK S8.4 8-inch subwoofer — but wait, there’s more! To keep your monitors free from disruption and positioned with precision, we’re including a set of Gator Frameworks studio monitor stands and isolation pads as well as a pair of 10-foot XLR-to-TRS cables from Gator Cableworks’ lauded Composer Series.

Whether you’re growing your home-studio setup or taking your first steps into the realms of production and VJing, these are all the essentials needed for an electrifying foundation. Enter below!













Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite Gear Bundle Giveaway!

Enter your email address below for a chance to win the ‘Step Up your Setup, a Virtual Riot Inspired Giveaway!’







Note: The following article serves as a supplement to the Artist Spotlight and Rig Tour videos.

Overture: From the Banks of the Rhine to the Haus of House

Sonic Specters & Defying Expectations

Producer/Performer: Embracing Authenticity

Live with Virtual Riot & VJ Neurite: Gear, Gigs & Going Your Own Way

Virtual Riot & VJ Neurite on the Road!

Exclusive Virtual Riot “Sweetwater 2025” Playlist

Overture: From the Banks of the Rhine to the Haus of House

Rain falls, sunlight wanes, and a brisk breeze weaves through the nightlife-dotted landscape of Chicago’s North Milwaukee Avenue. It’s a stark contrast to the deliverance of audiovisual prowess that Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite would conjure only hours later with an explosive support lineup of Franky Nuts, Tokyo Machine, and HVDES cranking the heat along the way. At the venue, Carmen Aguirre — a.k.a. VJ Neurite, current med-school student and Riot’s manager — is finalizing the helm of lasers, keys, LEDs, and earth-pounding bass that she and Val — Virtual Riot — will deploy to a packed house in this third-floor venue, Concord Music Hall.

“Dino Killer” by Virtual Riot

The tour is an all-time run of aesthetic ingenuity, norm-shattering vision, and a testament to the power of authenticity; it’s a Promethean gauntlet of sound that embodies the mythic namesake of Val’s latest LP, Stealing Fire, with community at the center.

Maybe communitas is a better word, considering the first order of the night’s business is a meet and greet that Val and Carmen hold with their fans. They’re as fascinated as we are. Val dons an Oculus headset and picks up a PlayStation 5 controller, improvising a beat that Carmen’s Akai APC40 MKII-driven video wizardry shows us on the vivid LED wall behind them, before he conjures a light-filled frenzy of sonic spell casting via his custom-built keyboard.

“WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING VIP” by Skrillex, Virtual Riot, Nakeesha

Getting here, however, was no easy feat. Stealing Fire, and its accompanying spectacle of support, is both a meditation of the past and a proclamation of identity that marks the triumph of agency over the chaotic forces that are all but inevitable in a life of music on the road.

Cross-country moves, a road of reflection, and a refusal to conform — this is Val and Carmen’s journey, stealing the flames of Olympian conventions and emerging victorious, artistry intact, with a renewed fervor for taking this scene to stratospheric peaks. It’s a journey they’ve undertaken together, one that their collaborative magic uniquely equips them to undertake, paving their own way through the ever-evolving landscape of electronic music and empowering the next generations of visual artists and music makers as they go.

Sonic Specters & Defying Expectations

At a show in China, Carmen only learned upon arrival that she’d be VJing onstage alongside Val rather than working from the usual front-of-house spot. From this experience, they positioned themselves to revamp their entire creative-collaborative formula. Yes, there was always synergy between Val’s no-holds-barred production and Carmen’s relentlessly imaginative vision for audiovisual cohesion, but the prospect of co-performing was exciting, transformative territory to explore.

“Damage” by Virtual Riot, DJ DIESEL (a.k.a. Shaq)

Photo courtesy of @ellemarie.jpg on Instagram.

A happy accident led to a totally new way to bridge media and ideas — a back-to-back approach that challenges the DJ/rock star model, which makes the synergy and spectacle of the dynamic duo even more majestic. At a distance, it’s not hard to understand how much goes into a show, but to take the stage in parallel reimagines what the electronic-music scene’s creative model could produce for fans, artists, and fellow DJs alike.

Producer/Performer: Embracing Authenticity

Throughout Val’s formative years, bands including Dream Theater and Enter Shikari fueled a vision of hard-hitting sonic aggression that refused to conform to “conventional” models of how bands, DJs, keyboardists, guitarists, sound designers, and synthesists might be configured. Val cites the producer, DJ, and composer Feed Me — born Jon Gooch, who also writes and performs under the Spor and seventh stitch [sic] monikers — to articulate how he marries the electronic-rock, DJ, and prog influences: “producer/performer.”

This unwieldly term encapsulates the murky framework of the modern DJ. Think of this like the “singer/songwriter” label that attempts to capture how composition and performance intersect; it’s an effort to give the DJ a more fluid avenue, simultaneously as producer, to move from music making to gigging without the baggage of old-guard thinking.

“Give in to You” by Rezz, Virtual Riot, One True God

Live with Virtual Riot & VJ Neurite: Gear, Gigs & Going Your Own Way

Here is where their light-sound array explodes with spectacular fervor. Four decks? No. Val’s got three CDJs while the fourth channel is reserved for a constellation of performance possibilities. His MacBook Pro is running Ableton with a slew of virtual instruments, wrangling his aural augury with a two-pronged approach: an LED-laden MIDI keyboard controller that features entirely 3D-printed keys (courtesy of the folks at HappenCraft) and a Max for Live instrument that uses a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to conjure a kaleidoscopic array of drums and percussion, which are premixed, sidechained, and ready to rumble.

VJ Neurite bridges the audiovisual gap. Her Akai APC40 MKII is the beating heart of the duo’s sensory-spanning system of musical madness, thanks to a series of once-improvised connections of Blackmagic Design HDMI converters, invoking visual incantations that go far beyond a mere plug-and-play setup. Everything is designed and run with the industry-standard Resolume software, giving Carmen and Val absolute control over every detail of what populates the radiant wall of LEDs.

Like the ways Ableton gives Val an open channel of multimode effects and instrumental performance capabilities, Resolume does as much for Carmen. If they need to skip a track or deviate from the set list, then Carmen can easily do so. Maybe Val’s looking to speed up or slow down sections — Carmen instantly follows suit. Hand-drawn animations and unreal videoscapes abound as VJ Neurite slices, mixes, blends, and merges elements in real time.

It’s not just support — it’s the missing half of the totality that is Stealing Fire live!

Virtual Riot & VJ Neurite on the Road!

Don’t miss your chance to catch Virtual Riot and VJ Neurite with the full force of their explosive, side-by-side performance of Stealing Fire live! These are some of their most ambitious and biggest shows yet — don’t miss out!

Exclusive Virtual Riot “Sweetwater 2025” Playlist

Virtual Riot curated an exclusive playlist for Sweetwater! You can enjoy 25 tracks hand-selected by Val, transcending styles and sounds, any time, anywhere. Take a listen below or add it to your collection to take on the go!

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Official Rules
No purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win and will not increase the odds of winning. Void where prohibited by law. 
By entering or otherwise participating in this Promotion (“Promotion”), sponsored by Sweetwater Sound, LLC (“Sponsor”), you agree to be bound fully and unconditionally by these Official Rules (“Rules”) and to Sponsor’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion.
GENERAL RULES:
The Giveaway is void where prohibited by law. By accepting a prize, all winners agree that Sponsor, their affiliates, and all of the officers, directors, employees, representatives and agents of Sponsor, will have no liability whatsoever, and will be held harmless by winner for any liability for any injury, loss or damages of any kind, to winner or other person, including (without limitation) injuries, loss of damages arising out of or relating to death, and, injuries, damages, or losses to property due in part, directly or indirectly, from the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the prize or participation in this giveaway. In the event that a third party provides the prize, Sponsor will not be held liable for any and all issues (including any lawsuits, loss or damages of any kind) arising between the winner and the third party.
HOW TO ENTER
To enter go to https://www.sweetwater.com/giveaway/ (“Sweetwater Website”) during the Promotion Period and fill out all requested information. Limit one (1) entry per household per month. The Sponsor reserves the right to, and at its sole discretion may, reject any entry for failure to comply with these entry requirements.
Submit an Alternate Method of Entry (“AMOE”) to the Promotion by emailing giveaway@sweetwater.com and providing the entrants’ name, valid email address, the name of the giveaway promotion entered, and affirmation of agreement to be bound by these Rules.
Only one entry allowed per eligible natural person during the Promotion Period. Employees, officers, and directors of Sponsor or any affiliate of Sponsor including any brand or any licensor or licensee of Sponsor, along with any immediate family members1 or individuals who share the same household, whether legally related or otherwise, are not eligible to enter the Promotion or win the Prize. 

Eligibility

This Promotion is open to any person who:
(a) is at least 18 years of age or older at the time of any entry with a valid government issued photo identification; 
(b) is a legal resident of the 50 United States and District of Columbia;
(c) Submits an Entry.
(d) This Promotion is void in Florida, New York, Rhode Island, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and where prohibited by law.

Promotion Period and Drawing of Winner

The Promotion starts at 11:59 pm EST on May 13, 2025 and ends at 11:59 pm EST on June 14, 2025 (“Promotion Period”). At the end of the Promotion Period, one (1) prize package will be awarded to one (1) eligible entrant selected at random by Sponsor from all qualified entrants (“Prize Winners”).

Prize

The Prize for the Prize Winners is a package (collectively, “Prize”), consisting of the following items:

(1x) Akai Professional APC40 MKII Pad Controller

(1x) KRK S8.4 8 inch Powered Studio Subwoofer
(1x) KRK ROKIT 8 G5 8-inch Powered Studio Monitor Pair

(1x) Gator Studio Monitor Isolation Pads – Small

(1x) Gator Frameworks GFW-SPK-SM50 Studio Monitor Stands

(2x) Gator Cableworks Composer Series XLR Male to TRS Male Cable – 10 foot

Prize is not transferrable or assignable to any third party. Prize will not be paid out in cash directly to winner. If the winner is not eligible, Sponsor will randomly select an alternate winner.
In the event a Prize becomes unavailable, a prize of equal or greater value will be substituted.
The Prize Winner will be solely responsible for all federal, state, and/or local taxes, or for other fees or costs associated with the Prize or the entrant’s receipt of the Prize. The Prize Winner may be required to provide Sponsor with a valid social security number or submit a W-9 before the prize is awarded for tax reporting purposes. 

Winner Selection

Winners will be selected in a random drawing (“Drawing”). The Drawing will take place within fourteen (14) days following the close of the Promotion Period. Odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible entries received.

Winner Notification

The Sponsor will notify the winners by emailing the winner within two (2) days of the Drawing (“Prize Notification”). To claim the prize, the winner must verify one’s mailing address, and any other personal information required for Sponsor to issue the prize, within 14 days of the Prize Notification, or an alternate winner may be selected. In no event is Sponsor required to attempt to contact the winner more than once. The prize will be forfeited if the winner cannot be reached; the winner cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason; the winner fails to timely respond to the Prize Notification; or the winner has violated these Rules. If the prize is a trip, the winner has 60 days to book the trip within the dates allowed. No transfer, assignment, cash redemption, or substitution of the prize (or portion thereof) is permitted, except by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. Prize winners are responsible for all federal, state, and local taxes. Winner must provide Sponsor with a valid Social Security number or taxpayer identification number before prize will be awarded. If one or more prizes, with a total value of $600 or more, are awarded to winner during any calendar year, a proper tax form will be issued. In the event a giveaway prize becomes unavailable, the Sponsor will make reasonable efforts to substitute the giveaway prize with a prize of equal or greater value.

6. Operation of Promotion

The decision of Sponsor as to the selection and eligibility of potential winners will be at the Sponsor’s sole discretion and is final.

7. Odds of Winning

The odds of winning will vary depending on the number of total eligible entries received.

8. Publicity, Waivers, Disclaimers, and Releases

By submitting an Entry, Entrant grants Sponsor the right to contact the Entrant via telephone or electronically. 
Subject to applicable law, Prize Winner irrevocably grants the Sponsor, and its licensees, successors, assigns, and sub-licensees, the right and permission to use his or her Entry to the Promotion (including any text, photographs, or other content), his or her name, address, and general and biographical information about the person including a photo for advertising, promotional, and/or publicity purposes in connection with this Promotion or other similar marketing initiatives of the Sponsor, in all forms of media and by all manners (now or hereafter known), worldwide, in perpetuity, and without any obligation to provide notice, royalties, or consideration beyond the awarding of the Prize to the winner, unless otherwise precluded by law.
By submitting an Entry, Entrant represent and warrant that he or she owns all intellectual property rights in the content including ownership of any copyright and that the content does not violate the rights to publicity, copyright, trademark or other rights of any other person or entity; that any third party featured in the content is over the age of 18 or is a person for whom you have the rights such as your children; and that you have the legal right to use such content in your Entry. 
Entrants including Prize Winner agree that Sponsor has permission and a license, worldwide, perpetually, on a royalty-free basis the right to repost or utilize all entries to the Promotion for its own marketing and promotional purposes in any manner Sponsor chooses.
By participating in this Promotion, each entrant agrees to release, discharge, indemnify, and hold harmless Sponsor, its affiliates, and each of its respective licensees, brands, directors, officers, employees, agents, advisors, successors, and assigns from and against any and all claims, liability, costs (including attorneys’ fees), losses, damages, fines, or injuries (up to and including bodily injury and death) of any kind arising out of or related to i) the entrant’s participation in the Promotion; ii) any acceptance, possession, misuse, or use of the Prize; iii) any alleged violation of the rights of publicity or privacy, claims of defamation or portrayal in a false light; iv) any error or limitation, whether intentional or unintentional, that causes the entrant to be unable to fully participate in the Promotion; and v) any typographical, technical, electronic, human, or other error in the printing, offering, selection, operation, transcription of registration or entries, or announcement of any Promotion related activity and/or Prize.
Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Rules will not constitute a waiver of that provision or bar the Sponsor from enforcing that term in the future. Entrant waives any right it may have to claim ambiguity of these Rules or any advantage or effect on interpretation that may arise from any such claim. 

Disqualifications

If the Sponsor, at its sole discretion, determines that an entrant has or intends to take any action or inaction that is designed to or has the effect of allowing the entrant to cheat, obtain an unfair advantage, to circumvent the Rules, or otherwise interfere in the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Promotion (“Cheating”), the Sponsor may disqualify the entrant from the Promotion as well as other existing or future Promotion that may be offered by Sponsor in the future.  Any winner or potential winner determined by Sponsor, at its sole discretion, to have been engaged in or attempted Cheating will be immediately disqualified and will forfeit any right to a prize or be obligated to refund the prize to Sponsor if already awarded. 
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entrant who Sponsor determines is inconsistent with the values of Sponsor and its brand including but not limited to individuals who through speech, social media posting, or actions condone, engage in or promote discrimination, violence, obscenity, hate speech, defamation or libel, degrading or demeaning any group or persons based on race, religion, disability, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or sex. 

Privacy and Protection of Personal Information

Entrants understand and agree that Sponsor will obtain and store certain personal information, including but not limited to their full legal name, address, email address, phone number and if required to be provided to Sponsor by a potential prize winner, a social security number, along with general information about any prize winner for the purpose of administering and/or managing this Promotion as well as complying with applicable laws, regulations, and rules. This use is in addition to any other uses as specified in any applicable agreement, terms of use, or privacy policy of Sponsor. Entrants understand that such personal information may be transferred for processing or storage to a jurisdiction outside of the state in which it was collected. Entrants have the right to request their personal information not be used for the purpose of administering and/or managing the Promotion and understand that such a request will cause them to be automatically disqualified from this Promotion, as well as potentially other existing or future promotions offered by Sponsor. To engage in this privacy request, or any other similar request, entrants should contact the Sponsor in writing at the address described at the end of these Rules or as otherwise specified by Sponsor’s Privacy Policy.     

Governing Law and Limitation of Liability

All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules or the rights and obligations of entrants or Sponsor in connection with this Promotion are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Indiana without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Indiana or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of any other state’s laws.
ENTRANT AGREES THAT TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW: 1) ANY AND ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS, AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THE PROMOTION, OR ANY PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY, WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION OR AWARD; 2) ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, SETTLEMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL THIRD-PARTY, OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED (IF ANY) NOT TO EXCEED [$8,440.86 USD], BUT IN NO EVENT WILL ATTORNEYS’ FEES BE AWARDED OR RECOVERABLE; 3) UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ANY ENTRANT BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN ANY AWARD FOR, AND ENTRANT HEREBY KNOWINGLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVES ALL RIGHT TO SEEK, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, LOST PROFITS AND/OR ANY OTHER DAMAGE, OTHER THAN ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES, IF ANY, OR ANY RIGHT TO HAVE ANY DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCREASED; AND 4) ENTRANT’S REMEDIES WILL BE LIMITED SOLELY TO A CLAIM FOR MONEY DAMAGES, IF ANY, AND ENTRANT IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR EQUITABLE RELIEF.  WHERE SUCH EXCLUSIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED BY LAW, THEY DO NOT APPLY.
Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, unreadable, incomplete, damaged, stolen or misdirected entries; lost, interrupted, or unavailable network, server or other connections; miscommunications, computer or software malfunctions; transmission problems; technical failures; garbled transmissions; damage to user’s software or transmission devices; or other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether human, mechanical, electronic or otherwise. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor. Once submitted, no entry can be returned or confirmed. All entries once submitted become the property of Sponsor. 

Dispute Resolution

Sponsor is always interested in resolving disputes amicably and efficiently, and most participant concerns can be resolved quickly and to the participant satisfaction by emailing customer support at giveaway@sweetwater.com. The parties agree to finally settle all disputes arising out of or related to this Promotion only on an individual (not class) basis through arbitration which decision and award (if any) are final and binding with limited exceptions provided by law. The arbitration shall be administered by the American Arbitration Association, and the arbitrator shall be selected according to the rules following service of a demand for arbitration. 

Sponsor Contact

Sweetwater Sound, LLC, located at 5501 US Highway 30W, Fort Wayne, IN 46818 and giveaway@sweetwater.com. Sponsor will not confirm receipt of entries or provide general information about the Promotion that is provided in these Official Rules.

Winner List

A list of Prize Winners can be found at www.sweetwater.com/giveaway/previous-winners.php.

1 For the purpose of this Promotion, immediate family members are defined as spouses, partners, parents, legal guardians, siblings, in-laws, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. Further, for the purpose of this eligibility requirement of the Promotion, any roommates or housemates are considered to share the same household.

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