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Gavilán Rayna Russom | |
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 Russom pictured in July 2017 | |
| Background information | |
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| Born | (1974-05-01)May 1, 1974 (age 51) Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
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| Instrument | Synthesizer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Website | https://www.gavilanraynarussom.com |
Gavilán Rayna Russom[1] is an Americanelectronic music producer, musician and DJ. Russom has released music under various names, includingBlack Leotard Front,Black Meteoric Star andThe Crystal Ark, as well as collaborative work withDelia Gonzalez and the bandLCD Soundsystem.[2][3] In addition to her musical work, Russom is also a visual artist and a writer.[4] Russom lives inNew York City.
Central to Russom's aesthetic is the challenge of fixed ideas which surround gender and all of the social frameworks that accompany it.[citation needed] Known in the electronic community as "The Wizard" for her technical prowess,[5] she has built instruments for the likes ofJames Murphy (LCD Soundsystem),Tim Goldsworthy (Unkle, The Loving Hand) and Bjorn Copeland (Black Dice).
Russom was born inProvidence, Rhode Island, in 1974. With an interest in music from an early age, she spent her teenage years exploring drone and feedback using tape loops and mixers and playing inpsychedelic noise bands withMichael Kelley, and withBrian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt,Mindflayer). Russom went on to study computer music, theory, composition, and improvisation atBard College from 1994 to 1996. A growing disillusionment with traditional compositional modes along with a move to New York in 1997 opened Russom's music to more experimental forms of expression. In 1998, her collaboration withDelia Gonzalez began, a project that would lead to a number of releases on DFA.
Russom moved toBerlin in 2004 where, inspired by that city's flourishingelectronic music scene as well as Germany's history of psychedelic music, she produced three singles under the name Black Meteoric Star, which were collected and released as a self-titled LP in 2009.[6] As of 2010, she had relocated to New York where she was producing music in various veins including in collaboration with Viva Ruiz as The Crystal Ark. Russom has also toured playing synths and percussion withLCD Soundsystem.[7]
Russom came out publicly astransgender in an exclusive interview with Britt Julious onPitchfork[8] and inInto, an online publication run byGrindr,[9] with a feature interview with Nico Lang published on July 6, 2017. Russom announced her first set DJing after coming out was at Femme's Room, "a popular monthly party celebrating femme and queer culture", on July 13, 2017, in Chicago, Illinois.[10]
In March 2020 Russom established the music labelVoluminous Arts to support and disseminate works by boundary pushing artists.[11]
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