Michael Azerrad

Michael Azerrad, Editor in Chief, the Talkhouse, and Editor, Talkhouse Music,is the author of Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 and Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. He is a former contributing editor for Rolling Stone and wrote countless pieces for the magazine, wrote for MTV News, was the founding editor-in-chief of eMusic and has written features for The New Yorker, Spin, Mojo, The New York Times and many others. He has written liner notes for musicians such as Paul McCartney, Gang of Four and Miles Davis. A musician himself, Azerrad was the drummer of the King of France, the Macaroons and the Leevees, recording albums and touring the U.S. with each. He has spoken at music conventions around the world, is a producer of the award-winning 2006 documentary Kurt Cobain About a Son, which was based on his interview tapes with the late Nirvana leader and was the editor of See a Little Light, the acclaimed autobiography of American punk icon Bob Mould. 

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What King Britt has done in the past could be considered very important. His curiosity has paved the way for the artist he is now. From creating house tunes for the legendary Strictly Rhythm, djing for Sector 6 comrades Digable Planets, starting Ovum Recordings with techno wunderkind Josh Wink, being tapped to underscore Michael Mannʼs Miami Vice and various commercials, to curating a full day at MoMA PS1 in New York, the list goes on and on. But Britt feels we put too much importance on the past and not the present. Presently, he is exploring many afro sonic possibilities with his Hyperdub released, Fhloston Paradigm project, The Phoenix. His aural experiments with friends appear on his imprint, The Buddy System Project and his recent curatorial pursuits have placed him in many academic environments, bridging the worlds of club, experimental and black music. This way of thinking has resonated with like-minded individuals globally, creating a powerful following and well respected fan base. Britt’s creativity is at a point where process meets end result. It's the journey and not the destination. No limitations. Come join the ride.

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Drew Daniel makes electronic music as The Soft Pink Truth and as one half of the electronic band Matmos with his boyfriend M.C. Schmdit. He has DJed in many settings, including: birthday parties for anarchist bookstores; proms for teenage homeless shelters; lesbian weddings; on NTS radio London, the BBC's “Mixing It” show and on ResonanceFM; at art openings for Yoko Ono; gay bars and dive bars and noise festivals and dance clubs across the planet and, on one memorable occasion, inside a decommissioned space station in New Zealand. As The Soft Pink Truth his most recent album “Why Do The Heathen Rage?” turned black metal classics into unexpectedly dancefloor-friendly shapes. As half of Matmos, he has collaborated with (among many others) the Kronos Quartet, Antony Hegarty, Terry Riley, So Percussion and Bjork. He lives in Baltimore with his boyfriend M.C. Schmidt and is a Shakespeare professor at Johns Hopkins University. 

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Interiors, Cameron Mesirow’s second full-length release as Glasser, is a more considered, confident and much more sharply personal album than its predecessor. Its central themes are love and anxiety and the spatial constraints of both in the landscape of one’s life. In the three years since Cameron released her breakout debut “Ring,” she toured around the world (with Jónsi of Sigur Rós, The XX and Delorean, among others) and left her California home for New York. Along the way, she discovered a new partner in producer Van Rivers (Fever Ray, Blonde Redhead) whose background in techno production added expansive spatial elements to her music that reflect both the looming, condensed architecture of Glasser’s new adopted home as well as the intricate internal worlds she conjures in on her own. Glasser has always valued a visual component to compliment the music. For Interiors Cameron worked with artist Jonathan Turner, a member of performance art group Yemenwed. Turner’s futuristic work establishes the visual palate for all the album’s visuals – all of the artwork, videos, and photos are the result of Cameron and Jonathan’s collaboration.

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Voted “BEST DJ” in the most recent Village Voice “Best of NYC” Readers Poll, Jonathan Toubin is best known for his dynamic DJ sets comprised of little-known original 45rpm early rock and soul records from the 1950s and 1960s with occasional punk detours—an aesthetic he calls ”maximum rock and soul.” He’s also the force behind the distinctive New York Night Train parties—which include world's most popular and prolific soul party, the Soul Clap and Dance-Off—which draws a capacity crowd at the Brooklyn Bowl, had an entire night dedicated to it at Lincoln Center Midsummer Night Swing, is the annual official South By Southwest closing event and appears in dozens of international markets and major festivals annually. Toubin, his bespoke suits and his exquisite 45s have popped up at over 1900 gigs in hundreds of venues on five continents since 2007—everywhere from Brazil to Iceland to Israel to Australia. He's also known for getting run over by a taxi while in a Portland, OR hotel room bed in 2011. He currently has DJ mix tapes available on Burger Records, two compilation LPs “Souvenirs of the Soul Clap” Vol. 1 and 2 on Norton Records, and the “Souvenirs of the Soul Clap” Vol. 3 and 4 LPs on the way in the May. 

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Geo Wyeth has participated in events at The Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA PS1, Recess, Kate Werble Gallery, Danspace at St. Mark’s Church, The New Museum, Human Resources (LA), Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, La MaMa ETC, The Pyramid Club, Tagine Morroccan Restaurant, The Manhattan Inn and the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art. He has received funding from the Jerome Foundation and Art Matters, and is a Yaddo fellow. Wyeth is currently in residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam for the year 2015/2016, making a project tentatively called “The Age of B.A.R.T. Samson.” He was born in New York City in 1984 and raised in Hell’s Kitchen and Montclair, New Jersey.