Music showcase curators announced for Moogfest 2014

Press release

Along with inviting preeminent thought leaders of the world to participate in the daytime conference programming, Moogfest 2014 invites Moog-inspired record labels and the industry’s most respected taste makers to curate their own music showcases.

“These companies nurture brilliant artists that we are lucky enough to build instruments for. Our respect for them runs deep. They are experts in their niche of electronic music and we are excited that they will be bringing their unique perspectives to stages at Moogfest. We’re crafting an event that celebrates the innovative spirit of Bob Moog: different modes of thinking, new ideas and technology, and intensely diverse music. These are the right group of creative curators to make that happen on the music side.” said Emmy Parker, Senior Marketing and Brand Manager.

As Warp Records’ North American Label Manager, Josh Berman explains, “Many of our artists have been Moog users since they began composing and recording, from Clark to Flying Lotus.”

Music showcases will be part of programming that will feature diverse, landmark musical performances by new trailblazers, early pioneers of electronic music, and major headliners in over ten venues across Asheville. Headliners will be announced December 19th.

Fool’s Gold Co-Founder/DJ/Producer, Nick Catchdubs points out, “We love working with artists and brands who share the Fool’s Gold ethos to innovate and, more importantly, have fun while doing so. Moog is a legendary company that’s stayed DIY all these years, and you can tell their events are put together with real love and care. It’s already been a lot of fun starting the process of planning our showcase.”

Sam Fotiatis is Director of Operations for Paxahau, who are curating Movement Detroit’s showcase in addition to booking Moogfest’s nighttime line up: “The passion that the Moog team has for their product and company are principles that are extremely significant within our own company.”

Other curators include label No.19, who has become an internationally recognized beacon for quality underground electronic music, having taken the world by storm over the last few years with unforgettable ‘Social Experiment’ parties at events such as Sonar, BPM Festival and
Fabric, London. Joining are Crew Love, the collaborative concept of three record labels – Wolf + Lamb, Soul Clap, and Double Standard – known for their devotion to music that challenges the mind, moves the heart, and sways the hips.

Add on Moogfest’s North Carolina neighbor, Hopscotch Festival, and Austin’s Favorite Synth Shop, Switched On. Switched On goes beyond the scope of the typical musical instrument store and includes an educational component, making it a go-to shop for both promising and prominent artists such as Trent Reznor and Vincent Gallo.

Warp Records
Since its birth as a shop and record label in Sheffield, UK in 1989, Warp has become one of the world’s most respected and loved electronic and experimental dance labels. It is notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music. Running parallel to the music is an equally strong visual identity, famously established through partnerships with graphic design iconoclasts The Designer’s Republic and video auteur Chris Cunningham, placing Warp alongside legendary labels such as Factory in electronic music history.

Ghostly
Ghostly International is a multi-platform cultural curator, fulfilling the roles of art gallery, design house, clothing designer, technology innovator, music-publishing company, and, yes, record label. In the years since its birth in 1999, Ghostly has grown from a boutique label known for its experimental pop and techno acumen, to an internationally recognized platform for the work of the world’s best visual artists, designers, technologists, and musicians.

RVNG Intl.
RVNG Intl. is a Brooklyn-based music institution that operates on a few heavily fortified principals: dealing with forward-reaching artists sometimes categorized as electronic, avant, free, fried, etc. RVNG seeks to appease collector fandom with extravagant packaging and to remind hopeful audiophile generations of the sonic spectacle that transforms the surrounding airspace when needle presses vinyl.

Fool’s Gold
Brooklyn-based record label Fool’s Gold was founded in 2007 by DJs A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs and quickly established itself with a non-stop series of releases that bridged the worlds of hip-hop and electronic music. Dubbed an “indie innovator” by Billboard, a “tastemaker label” by The New York Times, and “one of the most influential indies in the music business” by Pitchfork, Fool’s Gold has a clever and constantly evolving aesthetic. The company has become more than an independent music powerhouse, but a trendsetting lifestyle brand

No. 19 Music
The Toronto based record label and events company created and run by DJ / Producers Jonny White and Nitin. The No.19 brand/concept was created based on ideas expressed in article No.19 of the declaration of human rights – “Freedom of Expression”. These are “promoting the search for truth, enhancing social and political participation, and enabling self-fulfillment and self-expression.” Alongside the No.19 label their events brand, Social Experiment is hosted the world over by renowned venues and major global festivals. In five short years No.19 has established itself as a breeding ground, responsible for breaking some of today’s most pioneering and forward thinking artists.

AFROPUNK
AFROPUNK is an emerging and influential community of young, gifted people of all backgrounds who speak through music and culture. Once seen as outsiders, they now directly affect pop culture worldwide. While the two-day AFROPUNK festival in Brooklyn is a well-known annual showcase, AFROPUNK is a year-round endeavor, staging live events, producing films and media, as well as hosting a website and a message-board that actively engages a global community.

Driftless Recordings
Driftless Recordings is the record label of Joel Ford and Patrick McDermott. The diverse roster is less about tracing sonic similarities and more about taking each project as a patchwork view of everyday life, through each artist’s vision. Driftless is not a pop label or an experimental label, but a label that unites a diverse cross-section of artists who are using music, field recordings and a general obsession with sound as a way of understanding the weird world we inhabit.

Crew Love
Floating on a wave of unending passion and creative energy, Crew Love is a collaborative concept from Wolf + Lamb, Soul Clap, and Double Standard, three record labels known for their devotion to music that challenges the mind, moves the heart, and sways the hips. Unhindered by set-times or velvet ropes, Crew Love is a deep experience of music and movement. Ever-changing live acts accompany spontaneous and unpredictable DJ sets.

Movement Electronic Music Festival
Detroit’s legendary Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual three-day event held Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the city’s electronic music legacy. Accolades reach far and wide from Beatport’s “20 Most Anticipated Dance Music Festivals Around the World” to Rolling Stone naming it “Best Niche Festival.” With multiple stages, dozens of official after parties and cutting edge art displays, it the ultimate stage for the city that founded techno music to showcase its electronic music muscle.

Hopscotch Music Festival
Celebrating its fifth anniversary September 2014, Raleigh’s Hopscotch Music Festival has cemented its reputation with adventurous bookings that pair local North Carolina talent with notable national and international acts. Recognized for a fan-friendly, closely-knit downtown footprint and thoughtful programming, Hopscotch continues to thrive on the belief that art should be experienced in an environment that suits the artist.

Switched On
Switched On is a synthesizer dream space, storefront, repair spa, and online retailer of music electronics. Founded in 2010 in Austin, Texas, the Switched On storefront has become an international destination for musicians, producers, and sound designers. Creatives are attracted to the store’s ever-rotating selection of vintage audio devices and innovative new instruments. Switched On’s specialized and personable staff offers creative consultation and knowledge of synthesis and audio production. The service department’s professional repair technicians revitalize prized gear from every era. Switched On aims to create a better model of how a musical instrument store can impact and enrich a worldwide community of talent.

DFA Records

DFA Records is an independent record label and production team, launched in September 2001 by Mo’ Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. The influence of musicians and bands like Brian Eno, Talking Heads,Liquid Liquid, Blondie and New Order can be heard throughout the DFA catalog. Rather than retread, however, DFA have taken the live dance music of the time and infused the techniques and themes with a modern aesthetic—alternately faster, heavier, dubbier, noisier, and generally more intense than their influences.