Doug Coombe Speaker Series featuring Brendan Gillan & Sam Valenti

309 South Main Street,Ann Arbor MI 48104

09 July, 2022

Description

Brendan will lead this talk about the history of techno in Ann Arbor and beyond. Sam will join virtually. About Brendan: Brendan M Gillen is the founder of cult label Interdimensional Transmissions, central figure in Ectomorph, and legendary DJ and live act under his moniker BMG. His 25 year musical vision and near encyclopedic musical knowledge have led him to be one of the key figures and visionaries in contemporary dance music. His parties (most famously but not limited to No Way Back) are the greatest contemporary manifestation of the Detroit party continuum that reaches back to the parties of Plastikman, the Music Institute, Voom, and beyond. A master weaver of true psychedelic musical tapestry, BMG has a way of making the strange familiar and the familiar strange. Expect the unexpected. About Sam: Sam Valenti IV is the founder of Ghostly International, home to two of America's finest independent record labels, Ghostly and Spectral Sound. Valenti grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, fascinated by the city's musical transition from Motown to techno. He picked up his first pair of decks at the age of 15, adopted the moniker DJ Spaceghost, and began tutelage under some of D-town's most respected DJs. At the age of 19, Valenti noticed a distinct lack of options for American electronic music, and began envisioning a genre-less label that would respect the freedom and intellect of both its audience and its artists. Recruiting a team of musicians and visual artists who explored the fringes of experimental pop and dance music, the Michigan-based company has carefully built a reputation for artistic quality and innovation since its inception in 1999. Today, Valenti's Ghostly International label is a unique force in American independent music, balanced carefully between pop culture, leftfield experimentation, and studied artistic tradition.