In the biggest stop of his 2024 tour, German DJ and producer Tino Piontek, AKA global dance sensation Purple Disco Machine, was set to lord over the Sahara Tent at The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. London-based production studio and live event powerhouse High Scream reached out to Superbien to create striking and engaging digital visuals to compliment Purple Disco Machine’s music and really take his set – and his tour – to the next level. What followed was nothing less than “Fireworks” (for the uninitiated, that’s a banger of a PDM track!).

Purple Disco Machine – the name a mashup homage to Prince (Purple Rain) and Gloria Estefan’s Miami Sound Machine – is heavily influenced by classic house, funk, dance and – you guessed it – disco. The visual aesthetic that goes along with his music certainly echos the look of the 70s and 80s – lots of reflective lettering, soft purple skies, and stylized illustrations that evoke the covers of records your coolest cousin had strewn around her room when you were a kid. Purple Disco Machine’s music and visual identity rely on this expressive kind of storytelling and Highscream expressly wanted to mirror that with the set design, the lighting design and most especially in the electrifying digital backdrops they created with Superbien. 

With this aesthetic and sensibility in mind, High Scream worked closely with the Superteam’s motion design squad and employed a hyper-colored, retro-future vibe across all 11+ tracks. From Tron-inspired typography zooming into and out of frame, to iridescent tiles undulating and flashing along an updated Yellow Brick Road, to a blazing sunrise shifting the shadows and pink light over a mountain oasis – Superbien masterfully blended a range of textures and colors with Purple Disco Machine’s funky tracks. The result is a powerful sensation of maneuvering through a fluorescent dream. Though the content is varied, each visual vignette is connected to the next through its forward trajectory. The all-encompassing narrative is a journey through joy – a road trip to future playgrounds where everyone is invited and the soundtrack is stellar.

For nearly 200,000 fans at Coachella 2024, the collective experience of a blowout festival weekend was no doubt something that won’t soon be forgotten. For those who caught Purple Disco Machine’s set or got a ticket to one of his 30+ other 2024 tour dates – and thanks to Highscream’s crystal clear vision – the playful visuals and the infectious bops that inspired them will hopefully foster a strong sense of nostalgia 40 years down the line, just like the music that inspired them in the first place.