Tune in on Sunday, October 27th at 2pm to hear Frontal Lobe speak with multi-hyphenate experimental beatmaker Photay (Evan Shornstein) ahead of his October 30th show at Oakland’s The New Parish.
The conversation touches on the elemental impetus behind Photay’s newly-released 5th studio album, Windswept (Mexican Summer), collaborations with friends and luminaries such as Carlos Niño and Laraaji, and the twin foundations of drumming and turntablism.
Shornstein’s insatiable interest in music emerged young: he started his DJ and scratching experimentation back in middle school, when he was heavily influenced by 80’s club music and IDM greats like Aphex Twin. Over the next decade, he honed his technical acumen as a drummer in myriad bands, traveled to West Africa to learn from Guinean polyrhythm masters, and rigorously explored manipulating sound with DAWs and editing software. His 2014 debut self-titled album showcased dizzying cascades of samples and subtly infectious, surprising beat patterns.
Four studio albums and countless EPs later, Shornstein continues to relentlessly experiment, collaborate, and push the boundaries of what it means to make “electronic” music.
Photo: Carson Davis Brown
