Across the many mediums of the music industry, there are countless talented creatives whose work often goes unrecognized. We were lucky enough to sit down with one of them — the multifaceted VJ, designer, and visionary behind STEF.FX.
With an impressive VJ portfolio that includes collaborations with artists like Zingara and Meduso, Stef’s visuals have lit up festival stages such as Rendezvous, Hulaween, Autumn Revival, Sacred Sessions, and more. The STEF.FX project is quickly becoming a household name — not just within the Tipper and underground bass communities but across the broader visual arts scene.
But her creativity doesn’t stop at live visuals. As the Creative Director of Art on Our Sleeves — formerly Mind Warp Merch — Stef is redefining what artist merchandise can be. Her brand focuses on wearable art and is carving out space for tattoo artists and other creatives to transform their designs into fashion-forward merch.
Electric Hawk had the chance to chat with the radiant force that is STEF.FX — diving into her VJing origins, how she manifested her dream career, the realities of burnout in this fast-paced industry, and so much more.
In Conversation with STEF.FX
seradopa: Can you give us a more in-depth backstory on what got you into VJing?
STEF.FX: I think it was around 2017 or 2018 when everything shifted for me. I went to my first electronic music festival — EDC Orlando — this massive, immersive world that felt completely different from anything I’d experienced before. I was surrounded by friends, lights, sound, and energy. But what really struck me—what truly changed everything—was the visuals.
We rushed to catch Troyboi’s set, and I remember just standing there, completely transfixed by the art playing across these massive LED walls. Until then, I had only been to club shows—spaces that didn’t have the budgets or setups for visuals like that. Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, the electronic scene was small, and production like this felt out of reach. But suddenly, in the middle of EDC, I saw the full scale of what was possible.
I turned to my friends, my eyes wide, and I said, “I want to do that. I want to make visuals for massive shows like this.”One of them looked at me, kind of dismissively, and said, “No one’s doing that — it’s just playing.”
But something in me knew better.
The very next day, I went down the rabbit hole. I googled everything — what VJing was, how it worked, what software was used, and how I could start. I saved up and bought the programs. From that point on, every single festival I went to became both an inspiration and an education. As an 18-year-old kid in the crowd, I didn’t just want to watch anymore — I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to make something that could move people the way I had been moved. That moment was more than just a spark; it was the beginning of everything.
seradopa: What led you to buy the software and learn how to VJ?
STEF.FX: One night at a small event, I met Austin — a mutual friend I hadn’t known before, but someone who would completely change my life. We stood in the crowd, watching visuals together, and he started telling me about his favorite VJs, including Jonathan Singer, who’s now one of my biggest inspirations. We fell in love shortly after, and over the next year, he pushed me to believe in myself as an artist.
He took me to my first Tipper and Friends, helped me buy my first MIDI board, and was the first person to say, “You can really do this — but you have to just start.” That belief meant everything.
At the same time, I was trying to reach out to other visual artists for guidance, but no one replied. The silence made me feel like maybe I didn’t belong. So I channeled that into creating my original content, building my voice before ever performing live.
Then, out of nowhere, I got a message from VJ Kobra. She saw my bio that said “Aspiring VJ in Jacksonville” and said, “Why haven’t we met? Let me teach you.” She even let me know that Resolume was on sale, and that same month — November 2019 — I bought the software and fully committed.
Without Austin and Kobra, there would be no STEF.FX. Their belief in me lit the fire.
seradopa: How does it feel to fulfill your passion through your visuals and showcase them to a variety of audiences?
STEF.FX: Sharing my art with a crowd — especially at big events — is deeply fulfilling. Every visual I create and perform live comes from a personal place. They’re rooted in emotion, intention, and a desire to connect. When I’m on stage, I’m not just mixing visuals — I’m sharing a piece of myself, and in doing so, I find calm. I hope the crowd feels that calm, too.
A lot of my visuals reflect my love for nature and often carry subtle messages about the world we live in. I’ll include clips — like a woman picking up trash on a beach — that hint at issues like global warming. I think there’s something powerful about planting small seeds of awareness through art.
I’m not here to help people escape reality with trippy visuals. I want to show you something real — real places, real emotions, and real-world issues — and maybe spark something meaningful in the process.
seradopa: From an outsider’s perspective, how would they describe your creative style compared to how you would describe it?
STEF.FX: Everybody says my visuals read very organic and realistic. Which I agree with, but I also see them as much more than that.
I see my visuals as my own memories. I have traveled to 5 continents so far in my 25 years; I hope to see all 7 before I’m 30. The nature footage I display in my VJing comes directly from my camera, capturing moments I’ve actually experienced! When I perform my visuals live, I get flooded with the memories from those trips where the content was taken. It’s interesting to be reminded of all these beautiful places compared to somebody who’s looking at them for the first time.
They might think, “Oh, that’s a cool place! I want to visit there!” They’re probably seeing it a little more simply than I do.
seradopa: I honestly didn’t know you were actually filming your own content!
STEF.FX: Yes, I actually started being involved in the music industry in Media.
I got my start in college, capturing moments at local clubs — photographing and filming shows, working with teams like MP3MAG, the Hulaween Media Team, and Alliance Nightlife. It was my first step into merging music and visuals.
As I dove deeper into creating my own visual art, I realized I already had a library of footage that meant something to me — nature videos I’d filmed during my travels. Instead of relying on the same VJ packs everyone starts with, I wanted to use something more personal. My own lens, my own perspective.
It felt more honest — a way to root my visuals in real experiences and the beauty I’ve witnessed firsthand.
seradopa: What is going through your head while VJing? Is it a freeing feeling to be sharing a story with hundreds of people?
STEF.FX: At first, there’s always a rush of anxiety. The second I arrive at front of house, I go straight into focus mode — checking every cable, every screen, making sure the tech is solid. It’s my biggest fear: something going wrong mid-set. I’ve always seen myself more as a visual storyteller than a technical VJ, so I obsess over making sure the technical side doesn’t get in the way of the art.
Then, the music starts — and my heart is racing. But the moment I see those first few visuals run smoothly, a wave of relief hits me. I breathe. I settle in.
With slower tempo sets, something else takes over — something deeper. I enter this flow state where I’m no longer thinking; I’m just feeling. It’s like a form of synesthesia… where the sounds become colors, the rhythm moves through my hands, and I’m just there, fully immersed, channeling it all into motion. That’s why I love working with downtempo and more spiritual artists — it feels like my visuals finally belong in that space. Like they were meant for it. And when the visuals and music lock in together, and I can share that with a crowd… there’s no feeling more freeing.
Not every show has been like that. Early on, I worked sets where the music didn’t align with my style, and it made everything harder — more stressful, more disconnected. But over time, I learned how to evolve, how to adapt my voice to almost any genre without losing what makes it mine. Now, no matter the music, I find a way to express something real.
Still, nothing compares to the feeling of seeing your art stretched across massive 4K and 8K LED walls, knowing that thousands of eyes are watching — even if they have no idea how many hours you spent behind a screen, building it piece by piece. And honestly, it doesn’t matter whether there’s one person in the crowd or ten thousand.
What matters to me is that I get to show up, share something meaningful, and leave a piece of my heart behind at every stage.
seradopa: What is one of your proudest moments in your VJ career?
STEF.FX: The memory that always brings tears to my eyes is my first performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
For years, it had been a dream — the dream. That legendary stage nestled in the Colorado rocks had always felt like the pinnacle of possibility. So when I got the booking offer… through a Facebook message, of all things… I was convinced it had to be a scam.
I remember staring at the screen thinking, There’s no way this is real. No way I’m getting booked for Red Rocks just like that. I had dreamt about this moment for so long — how could it come so suddenly?
But then I called Franz, one of my mentors — a brilliant artist manager and publicist who’s always believed in me — and he told me, “This is how it happens. You’ve built your presence, you’ve put in the work, and people are seeing it. Respond to the message.” The next thing I knew, I was on the advance sheet. The show was in two weeks. And I dove headfirst into prep mode. What made it even more surreal is that I had written Red Rocks into my five-year goals right before I moved to Colorado… and I reached it in five months. It happened fast — and I wasn’t ready in the way I thought I’d be. But emotionally? Spiritually? I had been preparing for that moment for years.
There’s a memory I hold close — a moment that feels almost like it called this into existence. Back in 2021, during my first visit to Red Rocks, Austin brought me there during the day. We sat on the steps. He pulled out my sketchbook, started drawing the rocks, and told me, “Write this at the bottom — ‘I will VJ at Red Rocks.’”
So I did.
Then, before we left, he turned to me and said, “Now go to the top of the stairs and yell it. Out loud. Say, ‘I will VJ at Red Rocks.’” I was embarrassed. My face turned red. But I stood at the top, took a deep breath, and screamed it into the sky: “I’m going to VJ at Red Rocks!”
And I did.
When I look back on that first performance, I don’t just feel proud — I feel deeply affirmed. Everything I put out into the world, all the hard work, the vulnerability, the vision — it all came full circle in that moment. Red Rocks wasn’t just a bucket list show. It was proof that manifestation and dedication walk hand-in-hand. And I hope with all my heart to return to that stage again. It was one of the most magical, humbling, and unforgettable experiences of my life.
seradopa: We both know that in this industry, it can be mind-numbing to be creative. How do you avoid burnout for yourself as a creative?
STEF.FX: It’s hard to avoid burnout entirely as an artist. I have experienced it many times as a live VJ. However, I have learned ways to lessen the feeling of burnout. Some advice I would give to other artists in the industry would first be:
Try and avoid isolating yourself for too long on the devices you create with.
“You have to take care of your physical and mental health extremely well to survive in the music industry. Get enough sleep, eat well, and stay active to maintain energy and focus. I also incorporate practices like meditation, journaling, and yoga to manage my stress, especially during music festivals.”
Honestly, I experienced burnout almost immediately after trying to make my live VJ project a full-time career. At the start, I was overbooking myself and took a lot of low offers for the experience and to get my name out there. Working in production full-time is exhausting and takes a lot of time, energy, and discipline. I look up to many VJs who do a great job of keeping up with a full-time career grind. I give a lot of appreciation to touring VJs specifically because I’ve accepted that that lifestyle might not be right for me – at least not yet.
Hopefully, in the future, I do want to challenge myself to run visuals on a full tour. As I spend more time improving my mental health and mastering the technical aspects of my craft, I believe things will be less stressful and avoiding burnout will get easier. Now I see the importance of turning down projects or gigs that don’t align with my goals or that I can’t fully commit to without overextending myself.
I think exploring other mediums as an artist has also helped me get past feeling burnt out as a creative. It didn’t take me long to realize my strength as a Visual Artist was my talent to create original content. Currently, I spend more of my time selling visuals to touring musicians and only accept occasional live bookings. I have expanded my STEF.FX brand and offer a range of services that I can do to have a wider source of income. Also, I’ve been designing merchandise for artists, and teaching VJ lessons for additional income sources and because I love it.
Realistically, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to stay in Colorado without being a more multifaceted artist. At this point in my career, I’ve had to decide how much time and energy I can realistically give to this scene without compromising my health or personal life.
seradopa: You are a multifaceted creative! How surreal is it to see people wearing merch you design as a designer for Mind Warp Merch?
STEF.FX: Working with Mind Warp Merch has been absolutely amazing! They are such an incredible group of people. My boss, Will, gave me such an incredible opportunity to design and produce merchandise for Mersiv and other artists on Mind Marp’s roster. It was truly a shocking job offer. A salary position working in the industry is rare and I felt extremely lucky and grateful to everyone at Mind Warp!
I have now accepted a new position as Creative Director and have helped my team rebrand the company from Mind Warp Merch, to Art On Our Sleeves. The reason for the recent rebrand was to expand to working with artists of all mediums, such as tattoo artists, and expand their artistry into wearable merch. I’m excited for the future of Art On Our Sleeves!
I’m getting used to seeing my merch designs in public. I either get a positive or negative feeling when I see the merch. Either it’s a dope feeling like, “Oh hell yeah! A Chmura shirt! I loved designing those.” Every time I see anything I’ve designed for Chmura, I’m immediately so stoked.
And then there’s some other merch I see in the crowds, and I’ll get a different feeling like, “Oh my gosh, that order was so rushed, and I had to stay up all night to get the order done. All I see in that piece are mistakes I made.”
Sometimes I remember how hectic it was to make an item. Working in artist merch can be tricky with certain deadlines. However, seeing how much people like what I’ve created makes all the work beyond worth it. It’s really cool to see your art as a part of somebody you don’t even know’s wardrobe.
seradopa: If you had to look back at the creative you were at the beginning of your career, what would you mention to her?
STEF.FX: That’s easy! I would tell myself not to quit, keep going, and sleep more before performances!
There were a lot of times when I first started where something would go wrong, like a system error during a live event, that I wasn’t able to fix on my own. I would get extremely hard on myself, feel very defeated, and want to quit.
I remember this pretty small festival, one of my favorite festivals I worked on, Wub N Dub, thrown by Kouch Kollective in North Carolina – I was VJing for Meduso, who I VJ for often. We had a headlining set at midnight and a sunrise set at 6am. There was a lot of preparation that went into these sets to make them special and very little sleep leading up to the event. For the headlining set, I was working up until the last minute and was pretty tired going into the set.
At this setup, there happened to be a double-output screen, and there was no main computer for me to plug into. I arrived at the set with not much time to set up and I rushed to connect to the LEDS. The set started, I triggered my opening clip and only one panel was received. As a VJ it’s pretty embarrassing to have a dark panel, especially when booked with a headliner. A million negative thoughts ran through my head instead of me focusing on problem-solving.
“Meduso is never going to work with me again. I ruined his set,” I feared. Another VJ was able to help me get both LEDs working within the first five minutes of the set. But since I froze when things failed in the start, I was upset. For the rest of the set, I was just trying to get through it. In the end, I went and talked to Meduso expressing how sorry and disappointed I was, promising him the next set would have no issue.
I was taken aback when Meduso said something along the lines of “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’m so proud of you. These things happen. I’m not disappointed.” That’s why it’s good to work with artists who are understanding and supportive even when things don’t go to plan. I’m extremely grateful for Meduso and his team. They have continued to book me and allow me to grow and learn through my mistakes. I wish him all the success as he has played a huge part in my success.
As I reflect more on your question, I would also tell myself not to be so hard on myself, to focus more on having fun, and to take it a little less seriously. I’ve always been a perfectionist and I hold my art to a certain almost unreachable standard sometimes. It’s made it difficult to develop consistency and confidence. In the beginning, I wish I could have let go a little and realized the crowd was also enjoying my art even though it might have not been up to my standards. I would tell myself, the crowd doesn’t see the mistakes I see.
I’m a lot more confident now with just allowing it to be a more freeform way of making art and not focusing on planning it out as much.
seradopa: Last question! What do you believe is changing for the better in our industry, and what needs to be improved immediately?
STEF.FX: I’ve definitely noticed a shift toward more inclusivity in the scene — and that matters. More people are speaking up, and production companies are beginning to take the initiative by hiring more female and non-binary artists. There’s more diversity in lineups than there was even just a few years ago, and that’s exciting.
But diversity isn’t the same as equality. And while we’re moving in the right direction, we’re not quite
there yet. It’s hard to say whether female and non-binary artists are being paid the same or receiving the same opportunities as their male counterparts. I sometimes worry that companies are booking diverse lineups for the appearance of progress, for the social media praise, rather than from a genuine place of support and intention to uplift.
That said, I’m still hopeful. Real change is happening — slowly, but surely — and I’m proud to be part of
a generation of artists pushing for that change.
One thing I feel incredibly passionate about, and that I believe needs urgent attention, is the overconsumption of substances in our community.
It breaks my heart to say this, but recreational drug use has become so normalized in the scene
that we’ve stopped talking about it — stopped questioning the impact. I’ll never forget one set I
played where the sound of nitrous hissing behind the front-of-house was louder than the music. I
couldn’t concentrate. I was distracted, upset, and honestly heartbroken. It felt like the crowd was
trying to dissociate rather than connect.What people don’t realize is that from the front-of-house, you see everything. You see people being dragged out of the crowd. You see the aftermath. And for me, this issue isn’t abstract — it’s deeply personal. I’ve lost so many people to overdose. I lost my soulmate, Austin, to it.
And now I can’t stay silent. I don’t say this to shame anyone — I don’t judge. But I can’t pretend it’s okay to keep brushing this under the rug. I would do anything to bring my friends back. I would do anything to have Austin here again.
It’s time to have real conversations — not just about harm reduction, but about addiction, about overdose, and about the substances that are actively hurting our community. I want to see more education, more awareness, and more honesty. And most importantly, I want us to talk to our
friends — really talk to them — when we notice something’s wrong.
I’m so grateful for people who are curating spaces that are more about conscious partying. Sacred Sessions in St. Pete, Florida, has been
one of those for me — a place of healing, connection, and conscious creativity. Being part of
Sacred Snow’s visionary events have been transformative. She’s one of my closest friends and an artist I admire deeply for how she’s creating change from the inside out.
Those kinds of gatherings remind me of what this scene can be — spaces where art and mindful living intersect, where community is real, and where we take care of each other. That’s the future I want to help build. And I’ll keep showing up for it, every time.
STEF.FX continues on her journey and mission of conscious connection and intention
Now as 2025 moves along, Stef is focusing on sharing STEF.FX live visuals at more events, prioritizing appreciation for nature through her own personal experiences and bringing awareness to the things most important to her in the community! Naturally, she continues to explore her creative mind and expands in all different avenues. Whether you are watching her stunning visuals live at events or seeing people wearing her designs on their clothing, STEF.FX is quickly becoming a household name in the scene. With a lot more plans currently in the works, there is no doubt that Stef is making a positive impact in every space she steps into!
Stay connected with STEF.FX:
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Website
Stay in touch with Electric Hawk & all our coverage
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Twitch | Radio Show
Looking for new music? Keep up with our weekly Spotify Playlist, Fresh Hunts. Updated every Friday with all the latest releases. Whether it’s the newest drops from all your favorite artists, some old-school, or underground… we want you to hear it.
