Durham, North Carolina, April 18, 2017 – Today Moogfest announces their last and final additions to the 2017 festival, rounding out an already impressive lineup with DJ Premier, Zola Jesus, King Britt, Jana Hunter, Baltra, IDEO, Modular on the Spot, and Durham music collective The Floor. This announcement builds on Moogfest’s trajectory: balancing Future Sound (performances) and Future Thought (conference) conversations and workshops, with artists and technologists who participate in both sides of the program.
Grammy-award winning producer and half of the legendary hip hop duo Gang Starr, DJ Premier will grace the stage at this year’s festival. Premiere’s prized productions have threaded through the decades, defining the sound of multiple generations of hip-hop. Always evolving yet timeless, celebrated rappers and lyricists from KRS-One to Kanye West, have called on Premier to create the sonic foundation for their voices.
Dark wave electronic artist Zola Jesus is set to perform from her unreleased 5th studio album, TAIGA. Described by the artist herself, “The music on the record is massive, with big brass and beats, crystal clear vocals.” King Britt has prepared a Moogfest exclusive part-live/part-DJ set fusing his mastery in track selection with live hardware electronics, while NYC-based producer Baltra will perform a DJ set showcasing his expertise of gritty underground techno productions.
Moogfest is proud to invite select 2016 participants to return this year, but has prompted them to contribute in entirely new ways. Last year award-winning design firm IDEO created a much-talked about sound installation. This year, they return to Moogfest with a host of top-tier minds in a workshop series that explores creative confidence, rapid prototyping and future narrative through the making of speculative sound machines. Last year, Moogfest alum Jana Hunter (Lower Dens) hosted a conversation with Laurie Anderson. This year she hosts a late-night DJ set. Modular on the Spot founders Eric (Rodent) Cheslak and Bana Haffar bring back their unique environment-specific outdoor eurorack synthesizer performances to downtown Durham.
Last year, the best underground after-party at Moogfest was organized by The Floor, a local collective known for amplifying the talents of regional DJs. For the 2017 festival, Moogfest organizers have partnered with The Floor to curate a lineup including DJ Bosslady, Andrius, Sound Resurgence, Ladyfingers, 3ZKL, and Strider -- talent that is all local to North Carolina.
Today’s announcement also includes 6 additions to the festival’s film program -- Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present which examines the pioneering work and life of the artist Tony Conard;Tomorrow: Travel the World of Solutions a in-depth documentary exploring solutions to climate change from around the world; Two films led by Moogfest 2017 artist Zena Loxton SpeakUP: The Power of Lyrics, which follows the life of a group of creative activists, hip hop artists, and journalists who came together in 2012 to create a revolution through music in Senegal and SpeakUP: Women of Africa, which looks at Grammy-winner Angelique Kidjo journey in Dakar as she passionately meets young female artists, inspiring them to continue using their work as a platform for social change; Transfiguration, an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival, scored by Moogfest 2017 performer Pharmakon, which follows a troubled teens fascination with vampire lore; and Life in Waves, a film which explores Suzanne Ciani’s pioneering work through her eyes.
The full list of participants announced today is as follows: DJ Premier, Zola Jesus, King Britt, Jana Hunter, Baltra, IDEO, Modular on the Spot, DJ Bosslady, Andrius, Sound Resurgence, Lady Fingers, 3ZKL, Strider, Virginia Tech ICAT, ONO, Brandon Stosuy, Elliot Inman, Johnny Turpin, Krista Anne, Fannie Mae, Frankie Hutchinson, Hisham Bharoocha, Joseph Murray, Marshall King, Valencia Wood, Elizabeth Traina, Zena Loxton, Jessica Collette, Raj Bhakta, Senator Jaiz, Give a Beat, Armida Ascano, Pierce Freelon, and films Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present, Tomorrow: Travel the World of Solutions, SpeakUP: The Power of Lyrics, and SpeakUP: Women of Africa, Transfiguration, and Life in Waves.
Below are some additional highlights from the artists announced today, and a closer look at some of the previously announced daytime programs:
Hacking Systems
Musical circuit educator Elliot Inman reveals the electric DNA of the modular synth genome via his limited-seating make-and-take workshop Musical Pencil Synth.
Artist Krista Anne leads two limited-seating workshops on building a web-based music visualizer with code, intuition, and magic. Krista Anne is a North Carolina-based artist, focused on making the feminine experience and the logic of the heart visible in technology and business.
Black Quantum Futurism
In addition to his Future Sound set, King Britt also participates in our Black Quantum Futurism programming alongside Moor Mother, P. Michael Grego, and Travis from industrial avant-gospel band ONO. In a conversation moderated by Moniker Records’ Jordan Reyes, titled Prisms, Mirrors, Lenses: Tricks of Light, Time, and Sound in Afrofuturism, atemporality and spatial distortions are explored as a vehicle for representing black experiences in terms of art, literature, and beyond.
Spatial Sound
Professors Mike Roan, Charles Nichols, Tanner Upthegrove, Eric Lyon, and Ivica Ico Bukvic of Virginia Tech’s ICAT program bring this year’s Spatial Sound theme to life through an array of workshops and conversations. The workshops include a 3D Audio Space Jam in which participants control the location of sound in 3D space with interactive devices like the Leap Motion and WiiMotes; a session on Creative Coding for Spatial Sound where participants learn to code spatial effects using the free, open-source program SuperCollider; and a conversation with musician Ry X on what it takes to set up and operate a 24-channel immersive audio system.
Instrument Design
Leading designers at IDEO; Matt Brown, Danny Deruntz, Ashley Holtgraver, and Peter Hyer explore creative confidence, rapid prototyping and future narrative through the making of speculative sound machines.
Techno-Shamanism
Elizabeth Traina, a working artist, award-winning muralist, and lightworker leads a workshop titled The Future is Now | Hypnotic Journeying for Consciousness Awakening, which explores the synthesis of entrepreneurship, art, healing, and consciousness awakening. Using her sacred geometry artwork, Traina will facilitate a guided hypnotic journey for inner exploration.
Spiritual instrumentalist Garth Robertson leads Sacred Sound Baths, an enhanced meditation augmented by the ancient harmonic vibrations of chimes, Tibetan bowls, flute, guitar, overtone singing, sansula, shruti box, harmonica, frame drum, didgeridoo, gong, and tuning forks.
Transhumanism
As announced previously, Google Brain’s Magenta project leads workshops exploring how machine learning can be used to create compelling art and music. Their workshops include an introductory session on the basics of training neural networks to generate musical sequences using the open-source Magenta library, an interactive “AI Jam Session” in which participants can play with the Magenta project’s newest technologies, and an advanced hackathon-styled workshop focused on the AI-based musical sequence generation API provided by the open-source Magenta library, which uses MIDI for communication.
Protest
Artist Zena Loxton screens the following two films, which she directed, and hosts a related Q&A session.
SpeakUP: THE POWER OF LYRICS follows a day in the life of Y'en A Marre, a group of creative activists, hip hop artists, and journalists who came together in 2012 to create a revolution through music in Senegal.
SpeakUP: WOMEN OF AFRICA follows multiple-Grammy-winner Angelique Kidjo as she meets young female artists across Dakar, inspiring them to continue using their work as a platform for social change.
The Joyful Noise of STEAM
Written by Brandon Stosuy, illustrated by Amy Martin, and blurbed by Björk, "Music Is..." is a board book that introduces the many moods, styles, and senses of music to the youngest audiophiles. At Moogfest, Stosuy will read from the book, accompanied by a DJ set by Hisham Akira Bharoocha (Soft Circle, Kill Alters, Black Dice, Lightning Bolt, etc). Afterward, Bharoocha will DJ an all-ages dance party.
Joseph Murray and Valencia Wood of IO Workshop & Mélong Ling present The Moog Mandala, a family-friendly workshop engaging participants in light warm-up stretches, meditation and partner poses. Kids and grown-up kids will create unique Moog Mandala art pieces, using cutout waveforms and shapes.
The Future of Creativity
VP of Insight at Trend Hunter Armida Ascano explores post-millennial identities and post-internet reality, drawing a distinction between those predicting the future and those creating it.
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There is still time to get priority access to our vast array of unique workshops. To ensure that you get your seat, consider the Moogfest Engineering pass where you can build a festival-exclusive synthesizer with a Moog Music engineer, or a VIP Pass that grants you access to all of the activities of Moogfest plus select VIP areas.
To view the full schedule, visit: http://sched.moogfest.com/
About Moogfest
Moogfest is the synthesis of music, art and technology. Since 2004, Moogfest has brought together artists, futurist thinkers, inventors, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists and musicians. By day, Moogfest is a platform for conversation and experimentation. By night, Moogfest presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city. This mind-expanding conference attracts creative and technology enthusiasts for three days of participatory programming in Durham, North Carolina. Performing artists include early pioneers in electronic music, alongside pop and avant-garde experimentalists of today.
Ticket information:
Engineer Festival Pass (nearly sold out) - $1500
This two-day synth-building workshop, led by Moog engineers, invites a select group of enthusiasts to build their very own unreleased Moog analog synthesizer and sequencer. The hands-on workshop is conducted in two three-hour sessions within the Pop-up Moog production facility. No experience is necessary, but basic soldering knowledge is recommended. Participants in the Engineering workshop also have VIP access for the duration of the festival. Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and events and gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Workshops are available via RSVP. Engineer Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis. Pre-Sale Engineer Festival Passes available for a limited time, while supplies last.
Buy here
VIP Festival Pass - $499
VIP access for the duration of the event. Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and events and gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Workshops are available via RSVP. VIP Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis.
Buy here
Festival Pass - $249
General Admission for the duration of the event. Access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Workshops are available via RSVP. VIP Festival Pass holders will receive first priority on a limited basis.
Buy here
Payment plans are also available. Simply select 'Monthly Payments with Affirm' as your payment method during checkout. More details are available here.
A growing list of participants includes:
Flying Lotus, Michael Stipe, Animal Collective, Talib Kweli, Suzanne Ciani, Mykki Blanco, Derrick May, Omar Souleyman, 808 State, DJ Premier, Jessy Lanza, Simian Mobile Disco, Moor Mother, Syrinx, Zola Jesus, Dr. Kate Shaw, Joe Davis, Princess Nokia, Function
ATLAS @ CERN, Adam Rogers (NCSU Libraries), Alexander Lerch (Georgia Tech), Alissa Derubeis (S1), Andrius, Andy Cavatorta (MIT Media Lab), Armida Ascano (Future Festival), Ashley Holtgraver (IDEO), Avalon Emerson, Baltra, Berklee College of Music, Bosslady, Brandon Stosuy, Charlie Gersbach (Duke), Chris Ianuzzi, Church of Space (CoS), Colleen, Container, DJ Lance Rock, Danny Deruntz (IDEO) Dave Harrington, Dave Rossum, Deantoni Parks, Dr. Timothy Hsu (Georgia Tech), Driftless Recordings, Duke University, Elliot Inman, Elizabeth Traina, Elon Katz, Elysia Crampton, Eric Lyons (Virginia Tech ICAT), Fannie Mae, Felisha Ledesma (S1), Flatsitter, Frankie Hutchinson (Discwoman), Gaika, Georgia Tech, Gerhard Behles, Gil Weinberg (Georgia Tech), Goldsmiths, Gotye, Greg Belson, Halsey Burgund (MIT Open Doc Lab), Ivica Ico Bukvic (Virginia Tech ICAT), Jana Hunter, JDH & DAVE P, Jason Evans Groth (NCSU Libraries), Jason Freeman (Georgia Tech), Jessica Collette, Joe Zobkiw, Johnny Turpin, Jon Gibson, Joseph Murray, Jubilee, Julia Kaganskiy (NEW INC), Kate Shaw (ATLAS @ CERN), Katherine Hayles (Duke), K-Hand, KING, King Britt, Kill Alters, Krista Anne, Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein of S U R V I V E, Hisham Bharoocha, Ladyfingers, Lafawndah, Laraaji, Lars Larsen, Lauren Di Monte (NCSU Libraries), Laurie Spiegel, Lena Willikens, London O'Connor, Marshall Jones (Give a Beat), MIT Media Lab, MIT Open Doc Lab, MNDSGN, Magenta by Google Brain, Marc Fleury (CoS), Marisa Anderson, Mark Katz (UNC), Mark Kruse (Duke and ATLAS @ CERN), Marshall King, Mary Lattimore, Matt Brown (IDEO), Matthew Davidson (Berklee College of Music), McQueen Adams, Metropolarity, Michael Bierylo (Berklee College of Music), Michael Clamann (Duke), Michael Winslow, Mick Grierson (Goldsmiths), Mike Roan (Virginia Tech ICAT) Miguel Nicolelis (Duke), Modular on the Spot, Monte McCoin (Give a Beat), Mumdance, NCSU Libraries, NEW INC, Nanny Cantaloupe, Nick Zinner, Nona Hendryx, Not Waving, Noveller, Octo Octa, Ono, Peanut Butter Wolf, Peter Hyer (IDEO) Pharmakon, Phi Unit (Give a Beat), Pie Face Girls, Pierce Freelon, Princess Nokia, Public Science (Francis Tseng & Fei Liu of NEW INC), Pye Corner Audio, Raj Bhakta (NC State), Rebecca Fiebrink (Goldsmiths), Dr. Richard Boulanger (Berklee College of Music), Rob Wall (Give a Beat), Russell E L Butler, Ry X, Ryan Shaw (Duke), Scott Metcalfe (Peabody Institute/Johns Hopkins), Senator Jaiz, Silent Servant, Sound Resurgence, Stephanie Dinkins (NEW INC), Steve Goldfarb (ATLAS @ CERN), Strider, Sudan Archives, S U R V I V E, Suzi Analogue, Synth Library, Taeyoon Choi (NEW INC), Tanner Upthegrove (Virginia Tech ICAT), Tasha The Amazon, The Afrofuturist Affair, The Haxan Cloak, Tom Richards (Goldsmiths), UNC, Valencia Wood, VHVL, Virginia Tech ICAT, Visible Cloaks, Vivan Thi Tang (Goldsmiths), Walt Gurley (NCSU Libraries), Wolf Eyes, Zena Loxton, Zoltan Istvan, and 3ZKL
