John Gearty, CEO of PulseJet Studios – Interview Series

PulseJet Studios, the firm behind the virtual reality platform PulseJet, has been hard at work fusing its CG “artistic wizardry” with an interconnecting network of live performances and immersive experiences. With this approach, folks who choose to don the headset will not only have the opportunity to feel the rhythm of their favorite artist’s work, but to have a seat at the front row for countless hours of musical showcases, too. And that’s just the beginning; PulseJet Studios is also working to create even more content for its catalog, which will reportedly include a collaboration with Launchpad Infinity.

Of course, I wanted to learn a bit more about the work that the folks over at PulseJet Studios have been putting out as of late, so to that extent, I reached out to CEO John Gearty.

Thanks for sitting down with us today. Before we delve into the musical sphere and touch base on PulseJet, let’s take a closer look at your background as a creator. Tell us, how did it all start for you, and what fueled your passion for this field of entertainment, in particular?

John: For me, it all started with ‘Lawnmower Man’. I’m dating myself but that movie was an early look at the possibilities for VR and hugely inspirational for me. It literally has driven most of my career.

That, in combination with my never ending passion for music, led me to immersive music experiences as an incredible opportunity. I’ve attended hundreds of concerts and festivals and I never want to leave so thought it’d be great to bring it home for people. I’m also driven by a force called FOOMO which is the ‘Fear Of Others Missing Out’, so I want everyone to be able to share these incredible music experiences. Finally, the graphics nowadays in VR headsets present an incredible creative opportunity to describe music as never before. Many musicians also have a visual scene in their head about the song and for really the first time, we’re able to bring that to the masses. What do you think the Beatles had in their mind while singing Yellow Submarine and wouldn’t you like to see it?!

Let’s talk about PulseJet Studios. Mind if we ask how the idea to fuse a genuine love of music and immersive virtual reality experiences came to fruition?

John: Yes, well it wasn’t easy. It’s hard enough just to produce a good music album and it involves bringing a lot of parts and people together. To bring this vision to fruition, we had to combine even more elements including rapidly changing headset technology, incredible graphics and animation, great music, and emerging photographic camera and cinematic technology. Our people are really expert producers who know how to bring together a massive number of technological and creative elements for our viewers.

Tell us more about your platform, PulseJet. How does it work, exactly, and what are you hoping to achieve with it?

John: We have some secret sauce that I can’t divulge but basically, we bring together a mix of graphics and music to create the experience. We use a lot of existing VFX industry authoring platforms like Blender, Unreal Engine, and 3DSMax to create and animate our scenes. There’s a lot of CG artistic wizardry that goes on.

In terms of what we’re hoping to achieve, we hope that our platform creates a world that people really enjoy and want to spend time in with friends and family. Until now, VR has been a place that people go occasionally to play a game but really don’t want to be in there for long. If our vision works correctly, it means you’re living in an artists’ world and you want to stay there and invite your friends.

Please could you tell us more about these 17 experiences that PulseJet currently has to offer as part of its ever-evolving interactive catalog?

John: Our first content is a mix of VR concerts and music videos. VR Concerts are just what you’d expect, like attending Joshua Tree Music Festival in VR! We bring the festival to you! Our VR music videos are something different. We’re taking the music videos you’ve seen on MTV and YouTube for years and wrapping them around your head. We put you in the scene with the artist inside their world or the studio where they make music.  

When we published the app, we included 6 performances from Joshua Tree Music Festival including Nicky Genesis, Father Taj, and Diggin’ Dirt. We also included VR music videos from Pamela Parker and Couzteau. We have concept videos of what we think EDM and Heavy Metal videos should look like in VR including Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth.

Of course, the sky’s the limit when it comes to bringing live music to virtual worlds. The question is, which world is next in line to be inducted into the PulseJet lineup?

John: We’re working on an exciting piece with local San Francisco producer, Launchpad Infinity, that comes with graphics from Visual Drip productions based in Canada. We’re really excited about both the music and the visuals for this one!

The sky’s the limit for sure but we have lots of San Francisco Bay area artists and venues lined up to bring you insane experiences!

We would certainly love to stay up to date with PulseJet. Are we able to share any social networks, streams, or upcoming demonstrations with our users?

John: Of course! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube! Our best experience is available on Apple Vision Pro and you can also load Joshua Tree on Meta Quest. Links below….

https://www.pulsejetstudios.com

https://www.facebook.com/pulsejetstudios

https://www.instagram.com/pulsejetofficial/

https://www.youtube.com/@pulsejetstudios

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pulsejet/id6504533651

https://www.meta.com/experiences/joshua-tree-music-festival-2023/25234075122905388/

Would you like to add anything to the page before we go ahead and close the book?

John: Well, I’ll simply add that my hope for the future is that musicians have the opportunity to fully express their creative vision and listeners have a way to enjoy it in full stereoscopic immersive 3D. Join us!!

Thanks for your time! We look forward to seeing more of PulseJet over the coming months!

You can find more information on PulseJet Studios’ PulseJet by following the team over on their official website here.