Joshua Cordova (FIT Sound, PSR), FRANTZ, Relaxer, chuki

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:: Joshua Cordova is a DJ and musician, whose work spans acid house through punk electronics. He has toured extensively throughout Europe and North and Central America - with DJ sets that effortlessly balance early experimental electronics, psychedelic disco, and first wave of techno. As a producer in collaborations with Dasha Redkina, Sneaker DJ and Led Er Est's Sam De La Rosa - Cordova has released on the Detroit-born FIT Sound, Parisian label PSR, and Warsaw’s Syntetik, LUX REC sub-label MRT, Rompe Hechizo and holds a residency with Tbilisi-based Mutant Radio. His show is Memory Screen. Joshua is also Mures - what started 12 years ago as a non-idomatic musics group scraping by on the heels of punk gigs under the name Maramuresh. Evidence of the group only existed in real time with no documentation. As the idea of the collective group failed the project gained focus with a collaboration between Santiago Leyba and Cordova with an EP "Rare Metal" on Lux Rec. A cold take on punk electronics. After a few tours in the club circuit around Europe with Ethan Cummins now in the group its taken back the form it was found upon. Experimental improvised electronics showcased in the self-released live EP "Live XL Cut". FRANTZ: Alongside the usual glittering suspects, New York City is also home to plenty of lesser-known treasures. Frantz is one such hidden gem; both a DJ’s DJ and a dancer’s delight. An encyclopedic knowledge of music informs his instinctive understanding of what to play when in nightclubs, listening bars, and everything in between as he stakes out a reputation as one of New York’s finest selectors. As well as gracing the booth at some of the city’s best venues including Nowadays, Mansions, Eavesdrop, Gabriela, Nightmoves and Milagrosa, Frantz has also charmed crowds as far afield as Mexico City, Napoli, Berlin and Houston, introducing varied audiences to all the records they didn’t know they needed to hear. In 2023, Frantz forged a four-strong collective called Dancer’s Trust, throwing intimate club nights for discerning ears. In 2024, Frantz enjoyed his biggest year to date, with highlights including DJing a Tiki Disco afterparty at Gabriela, regularly playing FERAL (a leatherqueer fetish night where he indulged his love of industrial, EBM and post-punk), and getting booked to play at boutique private parties interstate. A popular mid-year mix for There Is No Planet Earth was a spicy exhibit of Frantz at his eclectic best. Whether he’s playing heavy disco, percussion-laden techno, deep house, or ravey breaks, Frantz is guided by one key principle — never be lukewarm about anything. If he doesn’t love it, you won’t hear it. If he does, chances are you’ll love it too. RELAXER: Vessel for sauce. Co-founder, Dripping. Lovers Rock Recordings. Relaxer is the project of Daniel Martin-McCormick, fka Ital, member of Black Eyes & Gaze, ex-Mi Ami, Halal & Relaxer, Sleeper Cell, Interplanetary Prophets, and more. Rooted in the US punk/noise underground of the late '90s and early 2000s, Martin-McCormick's music embodies a sensual, visceral edge that reflects and extends that legacy. His hardware live sets, honed over a decade of tours, are exhilarating, white knuckle rides, while his DJ sets fluidly cross genres and eras with a cathartic sense of play. He's been a repeat performer at Berghain (where the Relaxer project made its live debut), De School, Unsound, Nowadays and many others. On albums "Concealer" (Planet Mu), "Coconut Grove" (Avenue 66) and "Hedonic Fatigue" (Climate of Fear), his productions stretch out, weaving strands of wormhole techno, minimal, noise, UK hardcore continuum and fractured ambient into a rippling, mesmeric tapestry. Recent club-focused EPs "Licking" and "Candy" (Lovers Rock Recordings) sharpen the blade, amping up his music's animialstic snarl and erotic undertones. Following his recent composition studies with Morton Subotnick, Relaxer's music has evolved a new modality: alongside his club works there have been concerts of long form durational works featuring spoken word and richly spatialized sound design. His debut performance in this new style was a standout at Sustain-Release Year Seven. These works were released in the Summer of 2022 as "Force Field: A Guide for the Perplexed" on Club Night Club. "In Softening Air," the follow up, is out on Lovers Rock Recordings April 1st. Behind the scenes, Martin-McCormick has been a consistent force shaping the US underground. He is the co-founder of Dripping camping festival and NY-based event series. He was a key member of Sustain-Release from its inception and co-director from 2017-2021, founded the labels Lovers Rock Recordings & Climate of Fear, was one of the first residents at Bossa Nova Civic Club. He currently holds residencies at The Lot Radio and Mansions. CHOKI