Three months out from its inaugural appearance in Durham, Moogfest has announced a few additions to its 250+ strong list of artists. Grimes and Miike Snow will join the festivities, as will Chicago house star The Black Madonna. Health, Skepta, Patricia, Bob Moses, and Raleigh’s Eyes Low will perform, and Morton Subotnik and Sarah Davachi will pay tribute to the work of Don Buchla with Alessandro Cortini and Suzanne Ciani.

There’s more to do in the daytime, too: Erika Anderson (aka EMA) will lead one of the festival’s lengthy Durationals performances, while tAz Arnold will guide a daytime music meditation workshop at the Nasher Museum of Art. So far, only one artist has dropped from the lineup—London’s Simian Mobile Disco.

The festival has also announced some of the art installations that will appear in and around downtown Durham throughout the event. Some the titular critters of Burt’s Bees will contribute to a sound installation at the American Tobacco Campus. Another, titled WiFi Whisperer, will turn errant signals and data from cell phones and other devices into a dynamic combination of visuals and sounds.

Tickets to Moogfest, which runs May 19–22, are still available. And while you wait for May, Moogfest has released a streaming EP of collaborative work from past and present festival artists. You can listen to that and read this morning’s full announcement below.

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GRIMES AND MIIKE SNOW JOIN LINEUP OF MORE THAN 250 MUSICIANS,
ARTISTS, AND TECHNOLOGISTS APPEARING AT MOOGFEST 2016

MIT Media Lab, Google, IDEO, Research Triangle Park, Gray Area Art & Technology Center, NEW INC. at The New Museum, among partners set to explore how tech is transforming the future of creativity at 3-day festival

Durham, North Carolina (February 9) – Grimes and Miike Snow will join more than 250 of the world’s most forward-thinking musicians, artists, and technologists — from GZA, Gary Numan, and Blood Orange to virtual-reality pioneer Jaron Lanier, transhumanist visionary Dr. Martine Rothblatt, and cyborg activist Neil Harbisson – for Moogfest 2016, organizers announced today.

In addition to Grimes and Miike Snow, Moogfest, taking place from May 19-22, also unveiled the full lineup of performers and an initial roster of artists and innovators that will be collaborating with Moogfest on art installations, exhibits, discussions, and workshops including Research Triangle Park, Gray Area Art & Technology Center, MIT Media Lab, Google, IDEO, EYEO, NEW INC at The New Museum, Duke University, IBM Watson, Burt’s Bees, and Kickstarter.

Inspired by the legacy of Dr. Robert Moog, who invented the Moog synthesizer and other technologies that continue to change how people hear and experience the world, Moogfest is a four-day festival exploring how new technology tools are transforming the future of creativity. The citywide festival takes place in venues across Durham, North Carolina, named one the hottest cities for tech in 2016 by Business Insider, and just a few hours from the employee-owned Moog Music factory in Asheville.

Hailed by The New York Times for “its mom-and-pop technosophy and its insistence on immersive experiences in small, comfortable spaces,” Moogfest stands out from other festivals thanks to a distinctive format where many headlining artists not only perform in the evening, but also join conversations and lead participatory workshops during the day. By putting a premium on experimentation, collaboration, multi-night residencies, and newly commissioned work, Moogfest is an incubator for world-premiere and one-time-only performances and art installations that festival-goers will not experience anywhere else.

Bringing that collaborative spirit to life, Moogfest today released “Translational Drifts: Volume 2”, a collection of four contemporary acts remixing covers of tracks by seminal electronic musicians that have performed at Moogfest. Highlights include Afrikan Sciences’ remix of Dan Deacon’s cover of Brian Eno’“1/1”and The Haxan Cloak’s remix of Moses Sumney’s cover of Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman.’

Tickets for Moogfest 2016 are available for purchase for $249 (Festival Pass), $499 (VIP Pass), and $1000 (Engineering VIP Pass).

Other highlights of Moogfest 2016 unveiled today include:

Music:

Evening performances by Grimes; Miike Snow; Black Madonna, invigorating a Moogfest dance floor with her singular blend of Chicago house, techno and disco; Skepta, UK’s king of grime, bringing his much-lauded A/V show; Health and their onslaught of epic noise rock; the electro-pop savvy dance tunes of Bob Moses; Patricia with a live performance of techno produced on eurorack modular synths; Eyes Low for that home-grown, hard, and dirgy brand of North Carolina dance music; and artists Morton Subotnik and Sarah Davachi join Alessandro Cortini and Suzanne Ciani in a special concert to celebrate the pioneering work of Don Buchla.

Daytime performances will include Erika Anderson, the performer known as EMA, headlining one of the Durationals (a daily series of extended performances co-presented by experimental video label Undervolt & C), while Grammy Award-nominee tAz Arnold will lead a guided music meditation at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art.

Art Installations & Experiences:

The Research Triangle Park, a Moogfest 2016 Presenting Sponsor, will host Convergence, a striking visual workspace (by art & design collective Floating Points) and interactive conversation series that will inspire collaboration and dialogue between art, sound, science, and technology enthusiasts and demonstrate how the convergence of creative minds can build a vibrant future for cities, ecologies, and communities worldwide.

Exhibits and workshops by members of The New Museum’s New Inc., the world’s first museum-led incubator for creative practitioners working in the areas of art, technology, and design.

WiFi Whisperer, by world-renowned media artist Kyle McDonald and made possible by McKinney, will “listen” to leaky data from festival-goers’ devices to create stunning data visualizations and ambient soundscapes and melodies.

Sounds from the Burt’s Bees hives will inspire an extraordinary sound-art installation at the American Tobacco Campus, a redeveloped former tobacco company site that is home to American Underground, a hub for more than 240 startups, investors, and more.

Antenes will repurpose old telephone switchboards into working modular synthesizers. For this first-ever exhibition at the Carrack in Durham, Lori Napoleon will transform the entire space into a manual telephone exchange office, combining audio synthesis, sculpture, hacking, and telephony.

Throughout the day, the rarest and largest collection of Buchla synthesizers will be exhibited in the foyer of the Durham Arts Council.

Program Partners:

Duke University will present a range of programming that includes a discussion with GZA about hip hop, space and afrofuturism led by Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture; an art installation by electrical & computer engineering professor Martin Brooke and dance professor Tommy DeFrantz; workshops with Duke Institute for Brain Sciences ; and a presentation by Electrical and Computer Engineering professor Steve Cummer, who uses technology to make sound waves behave in unnatural ways.

The future of cognitive enabled apps, products and services will be explored at sessions hosted by The IBM Watson Ecosystem, while festival-goers will be able to to collaborate with IBM Research’s DJ Watson on composing snippets of new songs.

Festival-goers can participate in hands-on classes around the newest, open-source software on the leading edge of creative coding and attend a curated night of artist talks dedicated to artists/designers who work with code/technology as their medium, hosted by San Francisco’s Gray Area Art & Technology Center.

Ryan Germick, head of the Google Doodle team, hosts RogueFest, talk-show format conversations about the future with guests like Google Cardboard’s Manuel Clement, Pixar artist Emma Coates, and comic theorist Scott McCloud.
IDEO, the award-winning global design firm, hosts a conversation, workshops, and an interactive installation that explore the question, “How might we explore creative confidence through music and play?”

EyeO will host workshops on “sound art and sculpture” with leading creative coders, data designers, artists, and open source instigators.

See and hear Hyperinstruments, new instruments, interfaces, and technologies created by Opera of the Future Group at the MIT Media Lab, which is dedicated to exploring concepts and techniques to help advance the future of musical composition, performance, learning, and expression.

Creators of innovative instruments funded through Kickstarter campaigns will be showcased in the Modular Marketplace, a pop-up shop showcasing the next generation of mind-bending instruments.

MEGAPOLIS Audio Festival will lead “Radical Radio”, a series of conversations and workshops exploring the history and traditions of radio and its role as a medium today and in the future.

Topics ranging from intergenerational collaboration to fair trade in the art world will be explored in workshops led by RVNG Intl., the New York music label.

Shimon, a robotic marimba player developed by Georgia Tech’s Robotic Musicianship group, will listen to, understand, collaborate with, and surprise festival-goer, pushing musical experiences to uncharted domains.

Virginia Tech’s Dr. Ben Knapp, Director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT), will lead a workshop on the use of embedded technologies and open-source software (Pd-L2Ork) to design real-time synthesizers and effects processors which respond, react and adapt to the environment around them.


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. This mind-expanding conference attracts creative and technology enthusiasts for three days of participatory programming in Durham, North Carolina. By night, Moogfest presents cutting-edge music in venues throughout the city. Performing
artists include early pioneers in electronic music, alongside pop and avant-garde experimentalists of today.

Tickets:
Festival Pass $249
General Admission for the duration of the event, May 19-22. Access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations.

VIP Festival Pass $499
VIP access for the duration of the event, May 19-22. *Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and VIP/artist events. Gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Special merch deals. More perks to be announced.
*Subject to capacity and based on first come first served

Engineer VIP $1,000
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 a pop-up Moog production facility. No experience necessary, but basic soldering knowledge is recommended. Participants in the Engineering workshop also have VIP access for the duration of the event, May 19-22. *Priority access to all festival venues for performances and conference programming: conversations, workshops, and installations. Access to exclusive VIP viewing areas and VIP/artist events. Gift bag. Complimentary food and drink in select locations. Passes available for pick-up at your hotel. Special merch deals. More perks to be announced. *Subject to capacity and based on first come first served

All prices exclusive of applicable fees.

*Complete alphabetized list of talent below.

A growing list of participants include: Actress, ADULT., Alessandro Cortini, Afrikan Sciences, Amos Gaynes, Angus Taylor, Anna Friz, Antenes, Arthur Russell’s Instrumentals, Ben Frost, Ben Russell, Bicep, The Black Madonna, Blazer Soundsystem, Blood Orange, Bob Moses, The Body, Bootsy Collins, Christian Rich, Chuck Lightning, Daniel Bachman, Daniel Lanois, Dave Tompkins, Darwin, David Katz, Dawn of Midi, Dawn Richard, Daye Jack, Demo Taped, Dennis Bovell, Denzel Curry, DJ Harvey, DJ Lance Rock & Yo Gabba Gabba, DJ Nanny Cantaloupe, Dorit Chrysler, Earthly, EMA, Emma Coats, Empress Of, Explosions in the Sky, Eyes Low, Floating Points, Gary Numan, Gil Weinberg & Shimon, Germick Brothers, Greg Fox, Grimes, Grouper, Gwenno, GZA, Hanz, The Haxan Cloak, Health, Heathered Pearls, Hieroglyphic Being, Hundred Waters, I Speak Machine, Jaakko Eino Kalevi, Jaron Lanier, Jeff Kolar, Jlin, Jon Wiley, Julia Holter, Juliana Huxtable, Julianna Barwick, Justin Grotelueschen, Kaitlin Prest, Karen Gwyer, Kate Stone, King Mez, Kode9, Kristen Gallerneaux, Kyle Hall, Kyle McDonald, Larry Gus, Laurel Halo, Laurent “Tippy” Alfred, Laurie Anderson, Leopold Ross, Lister Hewan-Lowe, Lotic, Lunice, M. Geddes Gengras, Mac McCaughan, Mad Professor, Made of Oak, Manuel Clement, Mark Mothersbaugh, Dr. Martine Rothblatt, Miike Snow, Mike Dean, Modular on the Spot, Morton Subotnik, Moses Sumney, Mykki Blanco, Neil Harbisson, No Effects with Jesse Cohen, ODESZA, Olivia Block, Oneohtrix Point Never, Onyx Ashanti, The Orb, Patricia, Paula Temple, Professor Toon, Qrion, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Rabit, RBTS Win, Reggie Watts, Rich Vreeland, Rick Smith, Rival Consoles, Robert Hood, Robert Rich, Ryan Germick, Ryan Hemsworth, Sam Conran, Sarah Davachi, Scott McCloud, Shallou, Shani Aviram, Sharon Mashihi, Silver Apples, Son Lux, Song Exploder with Hrishikesh Hirway, Sun Ra Arkestra, sunn O))), Susan Kare, Suzanne Ciani, Tim Hecker, Toby Heys, Tod Machover, tAz Arnold, Tory Lanez, Trandle, Tyondai Braxton, UV boi, Van Partible, Veronica Vasicka, Via App, Well$, YACHT, Zombi

*Simian Mobile Disco will no longer be performing at Moogfest 2016.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Translational Drifts
Released in concert with Moogfest’s expanded lineup announcement is “Translational Drifts: Volume 2,” a streaming EP featuring Moogfest artists – past, present and future. Calling on five contemporary Moogfest artists to remix covers of tracks by seminal electronic musicians, Volume 2 spotlights the sonic collaboration and creative cross-pollination that is central to Moogfest’s diverse lineup.

Rhythm czar Afrikan Sciences restructures Dan Deacon’s interpretation of Brian Eno’s “1/1” with an afro-futuristic swing. Dark drone diviner The Haxan Cloak conjures a dense electrical storm around Moses Sumney’s glossy rendition of Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’. Karen Gwyer focuses her personal brand of cosmic techno, constructing an intricate collage from ADULT’s cover of Pet Shop Boy’s “Shopping”. Slipping as easily into grooves as it does out of them, Nosaj Thing endeavors a sparse yet sensual remix of Grammy-nominated producer tAz Arnold’s adaptation of Kraftwerk’s “The Telephone Call.”