((HOUSEPITALITY))
RUSSEL E.L BUTLER
(Jacktone, Black Opal)
WOO
(WERD. , AYLI)
INDY NYLES
(Important Jogger, Sirena Negra)
backroom: RAYREK
(Luna Wisdom)
Russell has been making waves in the Bay Area music scene for years. Their project Black Jeans evoked the emotional and physical qualities of minimal synth and electronic body music to transport listeners to hidden and forgotten sonic landscapes. For the past few years they have been making a brand of stripped down machine techno that has evolved rapidly with each successive release. Transplantation, evolution, and healing are themes in Russell’s music. They based their 2015 album, “God is Change”, on Octavia Butler’s Parable series of novels, in which these are central tenets of the philosophy that the books explore. Since its release “God is Change” has received major acclaim, with NPR naming it one of their top 10 favorite electronic albums of 2015. In 2016, Russell released Visions of the Future on Jacktone Records, which is a collection of improvised modular synthesizer sessions. A month later, Russell’s follow up to “God is Change”, “The First Step”, was released on Black Opal. “The First Step” is dedicated to the “…black, brown, trans, queer, and gay folks of Oakland” and posits that “…sometimes to resist oppression, all we must do is simply exist. That is the first step. Let us strive to walk without fear.”
–As usual —
Free champagne from 9pm-10pm.
As always, free with RSVP before 10pm on our site.
Or get a $5 presale ticket here.