THE OSCILLATOR
Known for his use of his baritone vocals and his very own modular synth, John Maus has been revving up in popularity in recent years. When he released his first album, “Songs”, in 2006, he wasn’t taken seriously by critics. It wasn’t until 2011 upon the release of his album, “We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves”, that he started to gain traction. John’s songs feature catchy bass-lines and the use of a modular synth rig that he built himself, along with deep gothy vocals, all brought together by Ableton software. His music falls under pop, but completely redefines what pop music can be.
Suzanne Ciani is one of the pioneers of synth music. She is known for her work with the Buchla synthesizer, and even calls it her boyfriend. When she first started out, she was often turned away from studios due to her gender and because most studios at the time couldn’t accommodate her large Buchla equipment, as it was the 70’s and technology wasn’t very advanced. Working through the sexism in the music industry at the time, she worked for BBC, and even by chance got a gig with Coca-Cola creating the classic bubbly soda noises in their commercials. Many synth artists at this time were also put to work creating film scores, which she did, but her main work is across her own studio albums that she has been creating from the 70s up to the present day.
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Laraaji, an ambient, experimental, synth artist, has also been doing music since the 70s. He was playing a show and, by chance, Brian Eno happened to be there and watched his set. Eno enjoyed it so much that he asked Laraaji to collaborate with him on his Ambient series, which has become extremely popular over the years. Laraaji’s work ranges from chill synth pop, to ambient, and he uses a Casio MT-70 synthesizer, along with many other instruments, such as a zither and a steel guitar. His biggest thing in recent years is his interest in laughter meditation, which he now teaches classes on.
SUIC
Suicide was Alan Vega and Martin Rev’s cry to the future. After seeing Iggy Pop in New York, the two threw together one of the first bands to be billed as punk. Starting in 1970, they played as regulars at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s as a punk rock guitar/drums/electric keyboard trio. Nearly a decade after their founding, they’d long since pared back their sound to a drum machine and keyboard. The world got a taste of the Suicide sound: a Farfisa keyboard crunched through distortion pedals laid over the dusty analogue pulses of an old Seeburg Rhythm Prince.
CIDE
Possibly the most iconic busker of all time, Susan Schneider, AKA The Space Lady, is known for her street performances in Boston and San Francisco in the 80s and 90s. Playing both covers and originals, her folky, distorted, and ethereal synth/keyboard songs have gained large amounts of popularity in the last 20 years. Her life was filled with fantastic stories and events, most notable was when she and her first husband avoided the Vietnam War draft by destroying their IDs and going into hiding (this, at one point, included them living in a cave in Mount Shasta). After many endeavors, including a break from music for roughly 10 years, popular demand and encouragement resulted in her coming back to music and touring once again. She is now active, creating, and performing to this day.
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CLAIRE MONROE 2020