Riding the Digital Wave: Inside the Making of 島の水 FEST

Summer and vaporwave are an undeniable pairing. When the temperature spikes, there’s nothing quite like throwing on a pair of shades, grabbing a chilled tropical drink, and letting the hazy, sun-drenched frequencies wash over you. This weekend, that seasonal energy will be channeled into 島の水 FEST (affectionately dubbed FIJI Fest by fans), a massive, two-day URL music festival broadcasting straight from the shores of a virtual paradise.

Featuring over 35 musicians and visual artists from across the internet music landscape, this ambitious gathering marks the first inaugural Summer festival on the digital island. While I’m personally thrilled to join forces with District Lost for a special collaborative set, the real star of the weekend is the island’s own mastermind: producer, DJ, and visual artist FIJI島の水 (Fiji Daze).

I sat down with FIJI to talk about the lore behind the island, the logistics of wrangling a massive 35+ artist lineup, green screen mishaps, and what the future holds for this burgeoning summer tradition.

In your own words, how would you describe 島の水 FEST to someone stepping onto the virtual island for the first time? What is the core vibe, and when are we officially checking in?

FIJI島の水: 島の水 FEST is the latest installment in the world of FIJI島の水. You got to see a glimpse of that world in the VIDEOFUNK VHS: an alternate universe where we’d gotten everything we were promised, such as living the American dream, money to spare, living out our dream lives, retro-futuristic houses and cities, and living in a clean and brilliant utopia. 島の水 FEST is set on an island inside of that universe called the FIJI Islands, where FIJI 島の水 had come across this island somewhere in the ocean between Hawaii and Japan and made it her home. She’d also eventually be elected as Queen of the Fiji Islands, but not like any Queen, more like a leader that takes care of her people, invites them into her home, hosts the best parties every night, and tends to a community garden that everyone living there can harvest from.

She also allows artists and performers from all over the vaporwave scene to live there if they’d choose, though this bunch are carefully selected so long as they can uphold the Island rules and keep it a safe community space. It can also serve as a vacation spot for the vaporwave scene. Overall, the FIJI Islands are a tight-knit community concealed from the rest of the world, though they keep up with current events and are fully prepared in case something were to ever happen, though in this universe, it’s highly unlikely. And every year, for centuries at this point, a festival takes place right around when our current world’s northern hemisphere summer begins. People from across timelines, galaxies, and frequencies come to the island to perform, to relax, and to dance the night away.

The core vibe of this festival (out of universe) is a celebration of the beginning of summer, connection, and our love for vaporwave music. There are roughly 35 artists playing at this festival from all across the internet, and we all came together with our different styles and aesthetics to bring to you what we see in our eyes as this love for vaporwave.

Vaporwave and Future Funk have a historic relationship with hot weather, palm trees, and nostalgic beach imagery. What specifically inspired you to build an entire URL festival around a dedicated summer theme to start the season?

FIJI島の水: I just think that summer and vaporwave go together so well and make so much sense. In fact, seeing the imagery of palm trees and beach imagery in vaporwave so much, you really can’t help but to tie it to a specific season, especially if you’ve ever experienced driving through somewhere on a hot summer day, windows down, playing vaporwave, it all just feels so nice. I don’t think that feeling is really emphasized enough in the music itself, so I wanted to build on that, and decided to build the entire theme of the festival around it. Fans of my music might know that each album I put out has a theme, so of course this festival is no different.

Your moniker and title, 島の水 FEST, beautifully translates to “Island Water Fest,” though the community affectionately calls it “FIJI Fest.” What originally drew you to the name 島の水, and how do you feel about the community naturally adopting the “FIJI Fest” shorthand?

FIJI島の水: Well, first I should tell you how the name FIJI島の水 came to be. I went by the name Fiji Water in a few Discord servers I was active in a while back, despite my “main” name being “Rockkaebi” at the time, that’s what the Rainbow Six Siege cosplay community knew me as. A friend from one of the other Discord servers called me “island water girl” as a joke, but when coming up with my artist name, somehow using FIJI and then taking “island water” and translating it to Japanese looked so cool and good to me that I went with it.

I was going to separate my cosplay and music personalities at first, then eventually fused them into one, my cosplayer/artist name now being Fiji Daze, while my music producer and DJ name is FIJI島の水. But even then, I still get called Fiji Daze in the vaporwave community sometimes, probably because it’s my handle on every platform now, lol.

So when I came up with the idea for 島の水 FEST, I knew it would end up being called “FIJIFEST” anyway, but I guess I wanted to give it a cooler “official” name. I’m perfectly fine with it being referred to as “FIJIFEST,” it’s the same thing after all!

Gathering 35 artists across the internet music scene is an incredible milestone. Did you ever anticipate the project expanding to this magnitude? How did you approach the logistics of splitting it into a two-day weekend event, and are you flying solo on management or do you have a crew helping you steer the ship?

FIJI島の水: Honestly no, I was not expecting so much interest in the FEST! I planned on it being one day only, but because it was open submission, it grew way more than I expected, so it became a two-day event! I just started a new job so I can’t quite take the day off on Saturday to start it earlier in the day, so it’ll run from 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM EST on day one, and then day two will run from 12:00 PM – 11:00 PM. Next year for sure will be a 3-day event (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) with even more time to submit a set than before!

With 36 artists (including myself) submitting up to or a little over 30-minute sets, and with the little commercial breaks and me appearing at certain times in the event, we were looking at a 14-hour day. I do NOT think I could make it through that, and didn’t want to put everyone else through that, so I decided to split it into two days.

My fiancée will be helping me out with keeping the FEST rolling while I focus on appearing when I need to and interacting in chat. I’ve already managed each individual set and ensured that you know who’s playing when during the FEST so no one is asking “who’s playing??” “Who’s next?” LMAO!

While Classic Vaporwave and high-energy Future Funk are perfect for a summer festival, you’ve mentioned the lineup spans across the wider internet music scene. Were there any unexpected sub-genres or fresh, atypical sounds from the artists that completely surprised you by how perfectly they locked into the summer vibe?

FIJI島の水: Well, WVSQD for sure has an interesting theme for this set, it’s very “dreamscape”, but I think it ties into the theme fairly well, especially the more into the set it gets. We’ve also got Black Visor with their trip-hop and shoegaze focused set, but it ties into the theme with how danceable it is imo. Not everyone did summer-themed visuals for the set but that’s alright; inclusivity is more important to me than sticking to a theme, just as long as you bring good energy with your set :).

With such a stacked roster, are there any particular artists or sets you’ve been personally spinning lately that you’re especially hyped to share with the crowd?

FIJI島の水: Oh yeah, I was very happy to see that Blokebuster had submitted his set, very excited for that one! Strawberry Station is another artist that I play a lot in my mixes, glad he was able to send over a set for the FEST as well! And of course having FrankJavCee on the lineup is great. We’d exchanged music when we were in Detroit for New Visions; I’d played a couple of his remixes before that, but now I have a lot more to play from him!

In the past, a lot of your visual work has embraced the classic, nostalgic 4:3 retro CRT aesthetic, while a lot of modern streaming fits standard 16:9. Do you have a personal stance on the 4:3 vs. 16:9 debate? Was it tricky managing a massive influx of different video dimensions for this event, and would you ever implement a strict aspect ratio rule for future iterations?

FIJI島の水: I embrace both ratios, though 4:3 is a classic and really fun to work with. I made both ratios work for the FEST, especially those that recorded their sets in 4:3—it does make it feel like you’re watching the set on an old CRT. Normally I would put a background or something in the spaces that 4:3 leaves, but this time I didn’t because I wanted the focus to be on that particular set rather than what’s going on behind it. Though if that somehow doesn’t work live or is too distracting, it can absolutely be added to (I’ll just throw something behind it, lol).

For a digital festival, the visual landscape is just as crucial as the audio. Were there any specific promo clips, background loops, or videos submitted by the artists that completely wowed you and perfectly bottled up the essence of summer?

FIJI島の水: Oh yes, I do have a commercial for i2k.LIVE that perfectly captures that summer vibe, and not to mention it’s also set in August of this year! I will show it during one of the commercial breaks in the FEST! Children of Vapor also made a commercial originally for the VIDEOFUNK VHS, but it will also appear in the FEST. I’m very excited for those who haven’t seen it yet to check it out!

You teamed up with 本物NoreMac to craft the visuals for their upcoming set. How did that connection happen, and what was the collaborative workflow like? Did you go into it with a concrete visual concept, or did the music dictate the imagery as you went?

FIJI島の水: 本物NoreMac had DMed me that he wanted to submit but wasn’t able to get to a visual artist in time, so I took up the set for myself to give him a chance to be part of this and to see what I could do as a visual artist to match the vision he was looking for with this set. His set is very inspired by XXYYXX, with a couple other of his fave tracks added in.

I had him send me some other things he wanted to see in the set, and he sent me a playlist of mostly found-footage videos that I thought fit really well with how I saw 本物NoreMac before working with him: this shrouded, dark ambient vibe that fully embraced late-night lofi, very similar to how I see vcr-classique. I had some videos that I thought would work with this set and I downloaded a few more videos for it, and then the one towards the end of the set ended up going really well with the music so I rolled with it.

Overall, I started with the summer theme concept in mind for his set, then went with the flow of the music as the set went on. This was a really great learning experience for me too, and I would love to work with others on their set in the future if given the chance to! I hope everyone enjoys it.

Anyone who tunes into Thursday Night Funkin’ on Twitch knows that a huge part of the experience is your distinct personal aesthetic, from the signature blue ambient lighting and cozy room setup to your incredible cosplay debuts. Can fans expect some of that classic FIJI flare from you during the festival broadcasts, or do you have some entirely new visual surprises up your sleeve for the weekend?

FIJI島の水: Hmm, well you’ll just have to tune in to find out! Maybe I’ll have a mix of both, and maybe I’ll be debuting a new visual identity for FIJI島の水 just for this event, who knows?

Every major production has its unforgettable moments behind the curtain. Are there any standout stories, funny moments, or heartwarming community reactions from the making of 島の水 FEST that you want to share?

FIJI島の水: Omg, so I’ve had to remake my set 3 TIMES NOW. As of writing this, I plan on doing the 3rd remake tomorrow. The first go-around, the sound was cut for the entirety of the set because I forgot to switch the virtual audio cable on. The second go-around, I was wearing a top that had too much green in it, so when I chroma-keyed the set to add the background visuals, it keyed out most of my top, so it looks like the top half of my body is floating. T_T I really wanted to try to fake it somehow so I wouldn’t have to remake the set but uh, there’s no saving it. 3rd time’s the charm I guess?

Also, I had a chance to record my FURCON.SPACE set from last [week]. The DJ that brought the deck told me how to do it and where to hit record, but I forgot, so I figured I’d just re-record it and include it as the second set from me to end off the night. I was so, so proud of that set and wanted to share it with you all. It is a mix of other Future Funk sets I’ve made before, but every track flowed together perfectly so I just have to share it with you all somehow!

When the final stream ends and the weekend wraps up, what do you hope people walk away with? What kind of lasting impact or connection do you want this event to leave on the community?

FIJI島の水: I just hope those that tune in for the weekend can learn a little more about me and are given more of an insight into my world. I feel like I hear too often that people think that I’m a private person, and while I can agree with that to an extent, I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable with me or shy away from me because they don’t want to pry or feel like they are overstepping. I hope this is a chance for both artists and fans of FIJI島の水 to feel more connected to me and the energy I want to create with my art.

Other than that, I hope people will want to look forward to next year’s 島の水 FEST, where it will most likely be even BIGGER than this year’s, and maybe more lore in the world of FIJI島の水 will be added in!

As you mentioned, you just performed a live set at FURCON.SPACE on June 13th! Congratulations on another amazing real-world show. How did that performance feel, and do you have dreams of bringing 島の水 FEST into a physical, in-person venue somewhere down the road?

FIJI島の水: Thank you! Ohh man, I’m sure no one there really knew who I was, I was a last-minute pick, and with attending furry raves in the past, I KNOW furries love to dance, so I needed this set to be as high energy and fun as possible. I really can’t wait to share the video from the set though; I really surprised myself with this set. Once I got to know the deck I was playing on a little bit, I got more comfortable playing on it as the night went on.

I stepped away from the deck to dance in the middle of the crowd (I could hear someone go “oh okay!” as I did it xD), and I was able to cover up my mistakes pretty well when they did happen. There was someone in a fursuit with a neon blue nose ring that was up in the front dancing with me the entire time with their partner. I appreciated that a lot. If I can keep 1 person engaged the entire time, then I feel fulfilled as a DJ in a “niche” music scene.

I absolutely want to make 島の水 FEST a live event one day, kind of like Sanctuary where there’s a live portion and a URL portion. I already know of some venues/bars I could talk to to get that ball rolling, but maybe soon! I want to be able to pay the artists that come out if I can to make it worth their time.

I can’t wait to see this come to life! Where exactly should everyone tune in to catch 島の水 FEST live when the weekend arrives? Along with the festival link, where can folks find your Twitch channel for Thursday Night Funkin’ and stay updated on your new music?

FIJI島の水: 島の水 FEST is THIS WEEKEND, June 20th & June 21st! Tune in to https://www.twitch.tv/fiji_daze or https://www.youtube.com/@fijidaze at around 4:30 PM EST on Day 1 for the countdown to the FEST and for me opening up the event, then same thing at 11:30 AM EST on Day 2!

I do have a promo kit that is open to the public that includes the promo video, updated schedules, and random elements that can be used towards promo. This folder will remain active for next year as well: Google Drive Promo Link

Thursday Night Funkin’ was my old sandbox DJ show that I sadly had to retire when my autoimmune condition started to progress, but now that I’m getting it under control and have a consistent working schedule again, I may be restarting my DJ show for Nightwave Plaza, VHS POP BREAK, very soon! VHS POP BREAK is a shorter, more curated version of TNF with a subgenre theme for the mix. This is me going all out in a 30-minute timespan, and hopefully my mixes will get better and better from there!

All Thursday Night Funkin’ mixes are up on my YouTube channel in a playlist, feel free to check those out if you want and keep an eye on my socials for when VHS POP BREAK starts back up!

How to Check In

Pack your virtual bags and clear your weekend calendar. The countdown and opening ceremonies begin 30 minutes prior to showtime each day:

• Where to Watch: Tune in via Twitch at twitch.tv/fiji_daze or on YouTube at youtube.com/@fijidaze.
• Get the Promo Kit: Want to check out the schedule grids, promo videos, and graphic assets? FIJI has made the public 島の水 FEST Google Drive Promo Folder accessible to everyone.
• Listen to FIJI島の水: Go to her bandcamp and support her music.
• Connect: Follow FIJI島の水 on her socials.

See you on the island!