May 12, 2020

Meet Sam Moritz of Onyro Creative in Ruby Hill

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Moritz.

Sam, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born in Boulder, grew up in Louisville where I rode my bike everywhere. As I grew into my teenage years, I started pushing legal boundaries and getting into trouble. Eventually I started getting into b-boying with some friends and ended up falling in love with HIP HOP culture. It was enlightening to learn about the origins of the culture and how these art forms developed in some of the most oppressed neighborhoods in New York, and has now grown to be a global phenomenon. Eventually, I started dancing at battles, raves and clubs. I gravitated towards dance for the rhythm and the feeling of being physically moved by music. I was also really into drawing, I would study graffiti magazines and draw my own letter forms, characters and color schemes. This quickly led to spray painting, then silkscreen printing and then graphic design. I started a clothing company with some close friends, which was awesome because we collaborated on designs and were all dedicated to the art form and the hustle. Since then I’ve found that I work best in environments where I can work on the computer and also be hands-on with equipment and materials.

I was accepted to the Digital Design program at UC Denver, and was fortunate enough to learn from some amazing professors there. I started with an interest in print design but eventually was more attracted to motion graphics, 3D and user experience design as a career path. Our interaction with technology and how it shapes our world and experiences, for better or for worse, is fascinating to me. I worked as a User Experience and User Interface Designer for about five years before I started feeling the itch to get back into motion graphics. I started making trippy pictures at first, just to make something consistently. I have to credit to Beeple for the inspiration to create something every day. I actually called and interviewed Beeple for a project in college and he told me, “to make something every day, even if it comes out like shit, because even from that you probably learned something new.”

I started doing more motion graphics in After Effects after I would get home from work. Eventually I felt the need to combine the visuals I was making with music to maximize their impact. I started out collaborating with some local musicians who were looking for a visual component to their music. After doing more shows I started meeting other VJ’s, I bought my own projector, and got launched into the VJ and art scene at Sonic Bloom. Since then I’ve been working on projects that involve interactive art, live visuals, projection mapping and 3D animation, stage design and lasers.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There’s always going to be obstacles and challenges when you decide to pursue your dream, though this year hits especially hard. There are constant challenges like refining my skills more vs learning new programs, running a business, technology not working when it should, but that’s all part of it. you just need to be able to adapt and problem solve. and keep pushing toward your goals. All that still applies to our current situation with COVID-19. I was looking forward to a stacked summer of working some big shows and events, but now our entire industry has had to adapt to a summer without large gatherings. I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in several livestreams, and I’m taking this extra time to hone my craft, learn new programs and just create more in general. It’s not ideal, but I’m definitely taking advantage of this extra time.

Please tell us about the company.
Onyro Creative is my company and I create vivid visualizations and distorted realities by using light and media. Oneiro (OH-NYE-ROW) means “To Dream” and a dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. So essentially, it’s the pursuit of my dreams by simulating dream states and psychedelic experiences using digital media and creative technology.

I do a lot of 3D Animation, Motion Graphics, UI Design, Live Visuals, Projection Mapped Murals and some art installations. I like creating large scale projections that allow you to distort or enhance reality and create captivating visual content that tells stories.

Last year, I collaborated with graffiti artist Tuke One to create an interactive projection mapped mural for Colorado music festivals, Sonic Bloom and Arise. I invited Ethan (Tenstriip) to help me construct an interactive “Artcade” that could projection map a mural for the whole duration of each festival. At Sonic Bloom we experienced basically every kind of weather. First it was hot and then it hailed really hard and then it got super windy and cold. We learned a lot, but overall, it was a success and everything survived! I loved seeing people walk up to inspect The Artcade and then start pushing buttons and see their faces light up as they realize they’re manipulating the mural. As a UX designer, those are the golden moments and it really does make me happy to witness those moments of joy between people and technology. Although, there were also people who thought it was a drinking fountain… So, we worked on our lighting, got a fresh paint job and added some signage for Arise Music Festival.

At Arise we were able to curate more visual content for the mural and we definitely saw an amazing response from people walking by. One guy brought his portable speaker after main stage closed for the night and set it on top of The Artcade and messed with the visuals for hours. To me, I count that as a success! We had plans to develop The Artcade 2.0 this year for both festivals but as everything got cancelled everyone’s priorities shifted. That said, we still plan to develop the new design with customized arcade buttons and joystick functionality by late summer. So, keep your eyes out for updates!

I guess for me personally I’ve always been fascinated with visualizing sound and music. Being able to explore different emotions, with shapes, textures, colors and movement. I vividly experience this when I’m running with headphones in my ears or back when I was dancing more. Rhythm and visuals are the things I seem to respond to in pretty deep ways and I guess I just decided to run with that.

I’m incredibly thankful to all the friends and creatives I’ve met on this journey, it feels really nice to be able to work collaboratively on projects and bring something fun to life for so many people to enjoy. I’ve had the pleasure to work with Photon7, Scott Young, Jantsen, Crush Walls, Alt Ethos, Tuke One, and Felix Fast4ward among many others, and I look forward to new friendships and collaborations to come!

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Well I’m definitely looking forward to shows becoming a thing again, but there’s a lot of unknowns right now so that’s kind of thrown a wrench in my plans. Ultimately, I’ll keep creating art and visuals and finding new ways to provide visual experiences. I’m planning another projection mapped mural this summer, looking to finish building The Artcade 2.0, I’ll also be releasing visual packs and posting more artwork for sale. One of my goals is to get a studio space I can work out of, which would be amazing for tinkering with equipment and creating art.

Contact Info:

Email: sam@onyrocreative.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onyro_visuals/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onyrovisuals/
Other: https://society6.com/sammoritz

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