Feel The Future: How UDO is Engineering a New Reality for Live Music

The future of live performance isn’t unfolding on a giant festival stage. It’s happening in a dark room somewhere in London, where Nigerian creative technologist and artist Ugochukwu David Ogbuehi, better known as UDO, is quietly reimagining what a concert can be.

His latest installation, Fear & Faith II, is bigger than a  show in the traditional sense; it’s a portal, a four-walled, projection-mapped experience where sound doesn’t just surround you, but also moves through you. With the experience UDO has created, music isn’t just something you hear; it’s something you feel in your bones.

For UDO, the story behind the project runs deep. “I remember being a kid and staring into old electric lamps,” he says. “The chrome and glass, the weird refractions of light – I saw entire futuristic worlds in there.” That fascination with hidden worlds, combined with a later-life diagnosis of mild tinnitus from years spent engineering sound, shaped a new artistic mission. “It forced me to reflect on what a life without the ability to listen to music would mean,” he shares. “It became my obsession to create experiences that aren’t solely dependent on hearing.”

Fear & Faith II brings that obsession to life. Built with cinematic visuals in Unreal Engine, the installation projects mythic imagery across the architecture of the room, immersing the audience in a visceral story of trauma and transformation. But visuals are only half the experience. The space hums with sub-bass frequencies calibrated so precisely that the entire room becomes an instrument pulsing, breathing, and channeling emotion through vibration. The result is a performance that hits deeper than sound.

Beyond its artistic brilliance, UDO’s work is also a step toward inclusive design. His research draws inspiration from pioneers like DJ Troi Lee, MBE, founder of Deaf Rave, who describes haptic technology as a breakthrough for Deaf audiences – a way to “understand, interact with, mix and create music in active ways.” Fear & Faith II answers that call directly, building a shared sensory language that bridges ability, experience, and emotion.

This new chapter in UDO’s career feels inevitable. As a member of TCMO (The Collective Members Only), he’s helped shape major cultural moments – from curating for Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre to producing community projects with Boundless Theatre. Years in the live music trenches have now evolved into something more experimental and human – an effort to deconstruct the concert and rebuild it for a wider world.

With plans to expand his practice internationally, from London to Lagos, UDO’s vision is clear: the next era of live music won’t just be heard. It will be felt.

Find out more about UDO’s work at udo8o.com and follow his journey on Instagram @udo8o.