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WedFrom misunderstandings to hostilities, relationships between musicians and journalists are fraught with a number of challenges. Amidst the attention economy, journalists face a lack of feasible economic models. Meanwhile musicians lament the lack of meaningful, in depth coverage.
From precarity to anxiety, challenges aren’t exclusive to either role, and both positions depend quite heavily on one another. How could means of mutual support be devised? How can we build dialogue, understanding, and solidarity between these different positions within the music ecosystem? How could we collectively contribute to a more collaborative, interdependent culture?
Angus Finlayson has been active as a music journalist for almost ten years. He was formerly a staff writer at Resident Advisor and has freelanced for Electronic Beats, FACT, RBMA, The Quietus, and others. He also makes music and DJs under the name Minor Science. His debut album is out in March 2020.
Aquarian makes raw, arresting music aimed squarely at the dancefloor. His take on hybrid, mutated strains of rave music is shaped by the sounds of London, Detroit, and Berlin. His debut full-length, titled The Snake That Eats Itself, is set for release this January on Bedouin. With Deapmash, he is AQXDM; the pair recently debuted on Houndstooth with new EP, Infrared.
Lyra Pramuk fuses classical vocalism, pop sensibilities, performance practices, and contemporary club culture in what can best be described as futurist folk music. Originally from Pennsylvania and now residing in Berlin, Pramuk is a regular collaborator of Holly Herndon, Colin Self and Donna Huanca, and is currently preparing her forthcoming debut album.
Emma Warren has been documenting grassroots music culture since she and her friends started Jockey Slut magazine in the mid 1990s. She worked on staff at THE FACE and then spent six years as an editorial mentor on Brixton’s youth-run Live Magazine. She independently published Make Some Space in Spring 2019.
Aida Baghernejad is a freelance journalist and ethnographer. She writes on music and food for a number of regional, national, and international publications—and sometimes about both at the same time. Mostly, however, she searches for the political in the sound, on the stage, or on a plate.