At last, Moogfest 2019 is upon us. Like with our Freebies & Local Fun staff picks, the Durham Beat staff put together our general must-see picks. Here’s what each of us had to say:
Riley Says:
NCSU Libraries Workshops
Life is a Digital Picnic & Visualizing Sound with Code & Digital Making Playground; Please Program the Flowers; I don’t really know what any of these workshops are actually about, but I have spent a lot of time in the NCSU libraries and they’re always inventing new trippy ways to display information, so I’m sure it will be cool. Whatever it is. In one of them you make virtual reality floral arrangements.
Building the Sounds that Break Down Walls At first, I thought the title of this workshop was a sly hint about like, liberal multiculturalism but no, they mean literal walls. You get to build something called the Death by Audio Doomsday Oscillator.
Drum & Lace:Psychology of the Score: Cues, Memory Makers and Emotional Guidestones In another life, I went to school for music composition. In reality the actual work of composing orchestra music note by note is extremely boring to me, but I love hearing people talk about their process.
Stephen says:
THURSDAY
Moog Pop up Factory @ ATC Bay 7…I have no idea what will happen, but Moog and Factory sound killer.
FRIDAY
Jax Deluca 5:15-6:45PM @ ATC Federal Funding for Emerging Artists. This sound like a great workshop for those looking to enter the Long Game and make a living and lifestyle as an artist. I wish these workshops were available when I started playing touring and scribbling.
Craig Leon and Jimmy Destri from Blondie 4-6PM @ATC The production and musicianship on Blondie albums are world class. Their recordings shaped so many artists and recording engineers and probably some of your favorite music.
SATURDAY
Thomas Dolby!!! This will be a nerd and freak fest!! He is pretty mind blowing. If you have never heard him get your freak flag out and wave it with pride! Hopefully he plays “Submarine”.
Ari says:
QuestLove… Drummer/Dj/Curator of musical culture transitioning well beyond “just” hip hop. This guy’s crates move through it all. He’s also the DJ that Prince showed Finding Nemo over… See, Storyville #2 Questlove vs Prince for reference. There’s a free one Sat afternoon and a late show at the Fruit. I’m planning on free by day.
Nucleo Concordia (Installation)
Spatial Sound
Had me at brain cortex. I’m super into musical experience immersed in science, so this is RIGHT up my alley. Throw in Johannes Kepler’s work and I’m THERE.
Vorticity (Installation)
Same here. Bell Labs… Audio and Visual immersion based on a sliding bubble? The nerd in me needs this.
Adair says:
15-Minute Songwriting
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019
I’ve recently started dabbling in songwriting, and find myself constantly creating lines, and melodies in my head while I’m out and about with no way to capture it. I’d love to attend this workshop to see how to remedy that so I don’t lose good ideas.
Matthew Dear 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM | Thursday, April 25, 2019 I’d be lying if I said electronic/techno was my favorite kind of music, unless we’re talking about LCD Soundsystem, which is really electronic light if we’re being honest. But if I’m going to listen to electronic, I’m down to pair it with an artist with an amazing and unique voice like Matthew Dear.
Craig Leon and Jimmy Destri of Blondie in conversation
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019
Honestly, I love a good conversation. I like listening to people talk about interesting things (for clarity, I like this live, podcasts and talk radio bore me). Craig Leon has produced some amazing bands, and Jimmy Destri is from Blondie, so c’mon. Blondie!
Zoe says:
JOSHUA ESTOCK – FOCAL MONITORS
Focal Presents: Hear Your Music, Not Your Monitors.
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019
Full Frame Theatre | Conversations
When I first started recording, I found out very quickly that it’s much harder than I thought. I hope they have tricks for getting rid of that incessant buzzing.
MADAM GANDHI
Own Your Voice: Electronic Music Making as a Source of Personal Liberation w/ Madame Gandhi
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019
All I can say is YES. I’m tired of going to shows that have no onstage diversity, and I know the fear of performing in a cis-white-guy dominated space. This is on both Friday and Saturday, so there’s 2 chances to catch it.
LP GIOBBI with LP Giobbi, Drum & Lace, Suzi Analogue and Madam Gandhi Moderator: Tiffany Naiman / FEMMEHOUSE: A Conversation About Gender Socialization and Visual Representation in Electronic Music
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019
ATC Workshop 2 | Conversations
So many awesome musicians in one room! I’m excited for this on so many levels.
Matia (me) says:
VIVEK BORAYwith Vivek Boray, Abhi MeerCreativity, Technology and Democracy in the Global South 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Thursday, April 25, 2019 Carolina Theater – Cinema 2 | Conversations This sounds super informative and relevant toour here and now.
PATRICK GLEESON 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM | Thursday, April 25, 2019 Carolina Theater – Fletcher Hall | Performance A legend. A pioneer. Almost certainly the oldest artist on the lineup, Gleeson played with Herbie Hancock back in the 70s and has had a career that spans over 5 decades, starting back in the 1960s. Wicked jazz head.
THE FLOOR B2B SHOWCASE 10:00 PM – 3:00 AM | Thursday, April 25, 2019 Fruit – Basement | Performance The Floor is a local collective and they’ve got a few sets lined up at The Fruit. DON’T MISS OUT.
STEPHAN BODZIN 11:30 PM – 1:00 AM | Thursday, April 25, 2019 The Armory | Performance German DJ likely to lift you from the ground with his cutting-edge tunes. Put another way: you will be compelled to DANCE, y’all.
MADAM GANDHI
Own Your Voice: Electronic Music Making as a Source of Personal Liberation w/ Madame Gandhi
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Friday, April 26, 2019
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019
Really looking forward to this. Madam Gandhi performed at last year’s Moogfest and returns this year for a few talks on empowerment and identity in making music.
THE FLOOR PRESENTS: TOMIE B AKA DJ REAL, TAYLOR HOUCHENS, AND PANGEAN 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM | Friday, April 26, 2019 Fruit – Basement | Performance Five hours of The Floor. Go. Just go.
MOUNT KIMBIE (DJ SET) 11:30 PM – 12:45 AM | Friday, April 26, 2019 The Armory | Performance Gonna be a riot. Breaking out my dancing shoes for this.
RP BOO AND SUZI ANALOGUEThe State of Black Electronic Music Composers 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019 ATC Workshop 2 | Conversations Super relevant, especially among our local electronic artist community.
THE FLOOR PRESENTS: STRICTLY SOCIAL TAKEOVER – ALVIN SHAVERS, FREDDIE FRED, AND KINGTHINGS 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM | Saturday, April 27, 2019 Fruit – Basement | Performance More Floor.
MEZ 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM | Saturday, April 27, 2019 ATC Cage | Free Programming Raleigh local!! Recently performed at Dreamville, now at Moogfest.
QUESTLOVE 12:00 AM – 2:30 AM | Saturday, April 27, 2019 Fruit – Black Box | Performance I feel like this is self-explanatory.