Moog Brings Synthesizer Residency to Rough Trade This Month
It’s been about five months since Rough Trade opened their first international shop, a 10,500-square-foot space in Williamsburg that includes a bar and a venue in addition to the record store. It hasn’t always gone smoothly, but in short order, Rough Trade NYC has carved out a space in North Brooklyn’s music community.
They’ve done so by booking a broad swath of compelling acts and events (just in the next two weeks: How to Dress Well; Talib Kweli; and Genesis P-Orridge in conversation with JG Thirwell). The latest? A 25-day synthesizer residency program and installation, the largest in the world, devoted to sonic experimentation with analog synthesizers. The program was created in collaboration with Moog to get electronic musicians and enthusiasts hyped for next month’s Moogfest, in Asheville, North Carolina–one free ticket to the festival will be given away each day of the installation, which runs through March 29th.
The residency serves as a “physical manifestation of the intersection of music, art and technology,” and is meant to be used as an artist’s resource. The installation includes a producers station, drone towers, 10 voice polyphonic analog synth, 6 voice Minimoog drum synth, and over 50 analog effects boxes. Employees from Moog’s Asheville factory will be on hand to assist anyone with gear.
Some of Brooklyn’s best electronic musicians will be stopping by all month to create “sound experiments.” Tom Tom Magazine curated an opening kickoff last week, featuring Lauren Flax, Maria Chavez, Suzi Analogue, and many others. Kiran Gandhi of M.I.A. and Anna Barie of These Are Powers are among the other musicians scheduled to perform.
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