Joel Peterson is a bassist, multi instrumentalist and composer, known for the groups Chatoyant, Faruq Z. Bey 4et, Jack Wright Nonet, Odu Afrobeat Orchestra, Scavenger Quartet, Viands.

"Kirsten Carey is a guitarist, composer, and performer. She was raised in Chicago, IL and, after two years in Los Angeles, presently resides in Detroit, MI. While perhaps most well-known for playing the very skronky guitar solo on clipping's "Stab Him in the Throat," Carey's primary projects include the angular no-wave duo Throwaway, the classical-rock-improv Uroboros Sextet, and the Ulysses Project - a suite based on James Joyce's novel that combines free jazz, rock, and theater.

Carey's work plays with the boundary between music and the more theatrical and presentational aspects of performance, and constantly tampers with genre. She has performed extensively across the USA and Japan, as well as in Canada, Europe, and Thailand. Carey has also been commissioned to compose for new music projects such as the Hinge Ensemble and Chris Sies of Latitude 49.

In 2019, Carey was awarded a cultural exchange grant to study the shamisen in Japan by the Asian Cultural Council. Once that exchange was finally realized after a pandemic-induced delay, she was awarded an Emergency Grant by the Foundation of Contemporary Arts in 2023 to continue her work building bridges between the Japanese and American experimental music scenes.

Carey was a resident artist at the 2018 Co-Incidence Festival in Boston, MA, attended the 2018 Banff Jazz & Creative Music Workshop, and has been a featured performer at the International Society of Improvised Music Conference. Her composition "Sasquatch / Happening" is featured on Clean Feed Record's solo guitar compilation I Never Meta Guitar III, curated by celebrated guitarist Elliott Sharp.

(List time!) Carey has shared the stage with Tyshawn Sorey, Okkyung Lee, Elliott Sharp, Fay Victor, Val Jeanty, Wadada Leo Smith, Weasel Walter, Thollem McDonas, James Ilgenfritz, and Karl Berger, among others. Her groups have also opened for the Sun Ra Arkestra, Deerhoof, Circuit Des Yeux, Thumbscrew, and Anthony Pirog. She has been written up in Downbeat, All About Jazz, the Detroit News, the Detroit Metro Times, the New York Jazz Record, Ghetto Blaster, Post Trash, Tinnitist, Current Magazine, and more.

Carey earned her BFA in Jazz & Contemplative Studies (focusing on guitar) in 2014 at the University of Michigan, working primarily with Frank Portolese, Andrew Bishop, and Geri Allen. She is currently studying Tsugaru shamisen under All-Japan national champion Reigen Fujii.

Additionally, Carey works as a video game / anime editorialist, researcher, and influencer, with her work around the anime and manga series One Piece garnering viral attention. She has been a guest on The One Piece Podcast and has been published on The Mary Sue, The Daily Beast, Screen Rant, and the YouTube channels Channel Frederator / the Leaderboard. Carey is also a sound effects and music editor, and her credits include Disney's The Lion Guard, Rodney Ascher's A Glitch in the Matrix (Magnolia Pictures, featured at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival), and an upcoming Netflix Japan show.

Hooray!"

"Sandy Ewen was born in Toronto, Canada in 1985, Sandy Ewen received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. Since then she has resided in Houston, TX where she pursues musical and visual projects and her architecture license. Ewen has released several albums, including a duo with guitarist Tom Carter, a trio with bassist Damon Smith & drummer Weasel Walter, and a rock album with Austin's Weird Weeds. Ewen's visual work is closely tied to her work in sound; she uses both mediums to explore texture, composition and materials.

Ewen's microcollages, enlarged through projection and digital printing, are an exploration of material and technique. Using a unique process pioneered by the artist, natural materials and polymers are torn, liquefied, scorched, melted, cut, and fused. When enlarged, the microscopic nuances of these manipulations are manifested in exquisite detail. Ewen has presented prints of her work at 14 Pews (2012), Spacetaker/Fresh Arts (2012), Khon's (2013) & Galeria Regina (2014).

As an improviser in both art and music, Ewen sees herself as guiding materials and space rather than executing a preconceived composition. "I like to explore mediums and materials and tease out their essence," says Ewen. "Working with slide projections has focused my eye on the subtitles of natural processes of decay and transformation. Through my work, I am asking questions of the materials rather than dictating answers." "

"Swedish-born and New York-based experimental guitarist Anders Nilsson produces music that is at once bracingly direct and utterly unclassifiable." - Matt Miller, tuneOUToptIN. As an electric, acoustic and 11-string alto guitarist, he has performed at festivals and concerts throughout Europe and North America. His solo guitar music is featured on the albums "Night Guitar" 2012 and "Äventyr" 2022. "Anders Nilsson, a guitarist-composer comfortable with everything from free improvisation to avant-garde metal, celebrates a fine recent solo effort, Night Guitar, that traverses ghostly mood-setting, bluesy twang and overdriven riffage." - Time Out, New York. He leads three bands playing his music; Anders Nilsson Group with Satoshi Takeishi drums, percussion and David Ambrosio electric bass, bata, Outer Space Caravan with Stephanie Griffin viola, Michael Attias alto sax, Ken Filiano bass, Anders Nilsson's AORTA, a jazz-rock band in Malmö, Sweden. He plays on over 40 albums and has performed and/or recorded with many artists such as Mohsen Namjoo, Gordon Beeferman, Jason Kao Hwang, Kalabalik, Paquito D'Rivera, Elliott Sharp, Fay Victor, and Angelblood. Nilsson's work as a composer has produced 100+ compositions ranging from brief to epic solo works to large experimental ensemble works, many of which have been released on several acclaimed albums. He has also written music for string quartet, short films, butoh dance performances and theatre.

I extend endless thanks to the many special collaborators I've been fortunate to work with over the years including;

Drummers: Peter Nilsson, Michael Evans, Tom Bruno, Satoshi Takeishi, David Nuss, Lou Grassi, Michael T.A. Thompson, Jeff Arnal, Gerald Cleaver, George Schuller, Hamid Drake, Vinnie Sperrazza, David Gould, Tim Keiper, Michael Wimberley, Kevin Shea, Calvin Weston, Antonio Sanchez, Lukmil Perez, Martin Brandquist, Jeremy Carlstedt Bassists: Ken Filiano, David Carlsson, David Ambrosio, Joe Fonda, Sean Conly, Michael Formanek, Matt Heyner, Reid Taylor, Kermit Driscoll, Felipe Cabrera Cardenas, John Benitez, Ed Schuller, Mark Helias, Francois Grillot, Stuart Popejoy, Ratzo Harris Cellists: Tomas Ulrich, Fred Lonberg-Holm Violin: Sarah Bernstein, Charlie Burnham Keyboardists: Sebastian Schunke, Daniel Kelly, Evan Gallagher Trumpeters: Tomas Hallonsten, Matt Lavelle, Roy Campbell, El Indio, Ralph Alessi Saxophonists: Mattias Carlson, Sabir Mateen, Daniel Carter, Ras Moshe, Michael Attias, Darius Jones, Sven Andersson, Cennet Jönsson, Sam Newsome, Tony Malaby, Helge Albin, Henrik Frisk, Mats Gustafsson, Martin Kuchen Clarinetists: Paquito D'Rivera, Perry Robinson Vocalists: Fay Victor, John Sinclair, Bonnie Barnett Percussionists: Chris Tunkel, Burkhard Beins, Brahim Fribgane Guitarists: Gene Bertoncini, Raoul Björkenheim, Aaron Dugan, Elliot Sharp Banjoist: Eugene Chadbourne Tubaist: Jose Davilla The world's only Flexicordist: Herman Müntzing."

"Peter Maunu is the archetype 21st Century musician -- a master at using technique and technology to forge great art.

The creative breadth and beauty of Peter Maunu's textural guitar work can best be appreciated by examining his musical roots. He began his career as a classical violinist and concert master, earning a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music while still in his early teens. After hearing the groundbreaking work of Hendrix and The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", Peter became fascinated with the sonic possibilities of the guitar and it soon commanded much of his interest. His orchestral approach to playing has always infused his guitar work.

Peter's musicality and command of many styles has led to recording and live performances with an eclectic group of artists including Airto, Billy Cobham, Jean-Luc Ponty, Heart, L.A. Express, The Pointer Sisters, Wang Chung, Lou Gramm and Bobby McFerrin. In the late 70's, he and several Bay Area friends -- Mark Isham, Patrick O'Hearn, Terry Bozzio -- formed the pioneering instrumental alliance Group 87, which released two ahead-of-its-time albums. Maunu's longtime involvement with composer Mark Isham has encouraged his experimental side, leading to Peter's many contributions in film music. His solo album "Warm Sound in a Gray Field" is a showcase for his adventurous compositional style."

"Once described as "the only guitarist who has played with both Frank Sinatra and Nels Cline", guitarist Jim McAuley has been integral to LA's creative music scene for over 30 years. After a brief stint as a commercial session musician in the early 70's, he began focusing on his original solo material, quickly landing a contract with John Fahey's Takoma label in 1976. In the eighties he gravitated toward free improv and was honored to perform and record with such LA legends as John Carter, Horace Tapscott and James Newton. He earned his MFA at CalArts in '91 (mentored by Frederick Rzewski, David Behrman and others) and in '94 formed a collective called Gongfarmer whose revolving roster included Alex Cline, Jeff Gauthier, Marty Walker, David Johnson and other Los Angeles new music stalwarts. 2001 saw the release of "Acoustic Guitar Trio"-Nels Cline, (the late) Rod Poole and Jim McAuley-on Derek Bailey's Incus imprint. Wire Magazine hailed the album as "displaying the range, strength, boundary crossing and genre-melding fertility of contemporary improv" and "high on the list of favourite releases for this year." McAuley's first solo outing, "Gongfarmer 18" (Nine Winds Records) received a similarly warm reception from critics, landing on the "Best of 2005" lists in numerous major publications. This album demonstrated McAuley's wide range of influences, creating a style he calls "pan-idiomatic." Cadence Magazine called it "a mood-altering and mind-bending album...He makes his instrument hum with excitement while stepping away from rigidity and into an open and free world of music", while the Wire simply declared it "great stuff." His most recent album ("The Ultimate Frog", 2008) is a 2-CD set of duets with the late Leroy Jenkins, Nels Cline, Alex Cline and Ken Filiano. The New York Times wrote: "Mr. McAuley's precise writing and playing is full of blues figures and rich-toned, acoustic-folk resonance. It's peaceful and rigorous music." A track from "The Ultimate Frog" was featured on the April 2009 Wiretapper compilation CD which accompanies Wire Magazine."

"Described by Spin Magazine as "An apocalyptic, supersonic general of the banjo..." Brandon Seabrook has made a name for himself in the New York avant-garde music scene as an explosive guitar and banjo performer, relentlessly committed to immediacy and precision.

Seabrook honed his terror-inducing riffage skills at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He has since performed extensively in North and South America, Mexico and Europe, as a solo artist, bandleader and collaborator. He has been summoned by the likes of Anthony Braxton, Elliot Sharp and Joey Arias for his unpredictably spiked approach to improvisation and impeccable caterwauling. He has been profiled in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Magnet Magazine, Fretboard Journal, NPR and The Wire.

Seabrook Power Plant, the nuclear trio donned "a manic clusterfuck of merciless banjo torture" by the Village Voice, is Brandon's brainchild, blending the brutal energy of punk-rock with the intricate execution of through-composed avant jazz. The band has released two albums to much critical acclaim. Time Out New York praised the band's eponymous debut as "not only one of the most baffling experimental releases of the year... also one of the best."

Brandon is an accomplished solo artist, named Best Guitarist in New York City by the Village Voice 2012. In 2014, New Atlantis Records released his first solo album titled Sylphid Vitalizers. Noisey called the album a "dissonant guitar army...(with) mind-blowing prog-rock complexities - all at mind-numbing breakneck speed."

Brandon is currently working on two new albums with his noise-prog trio, Needle Driver and a new sextet featuring immoral, percussive compositions under the name Die Trommel Fatale. This recent work is a poly-rhythmic exploration of the dark side of the drum, layering cello, bass, electronics, voice and guitar against dichotomous drummers."