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Kikagaku Moyo progressed from early days in Tokyo’s experimental scene to traveling the world with their mind-bending sounds, exploring different facets of psychedelia on each new release and blowing minds with a live show that was just as searching as their records. The shifting dimensions of Masana Temples are informed by various experiences the band had with traveling through life together, ranging from the months spent on tour to making a pilgrimage to Lisbon to record the album with jazz musician Bruno Pernadas. The songs came together in the wake of the band breaking up the communal house most of them had shared in Tokyo, with some members relocating to Amsterdam, and others moving to different parts of Japan. Transitioning from being based in the scene they had roots in to scattering around various locales made for an even more enhanced understanding of how mystically connected the sum of their parts were when the band reunited to record new material. The music is the product of time spent in motion and all of the bending mindsets that come with it.

The band sought out Pernadas both out of admiration for his music and in an intentional move to work with a producer who came from a wildly different background. With Masana Temples, the band wanted to challenge their own concepts of what psychedelic music could be. Elements of both the attentive folk and wild-eyed rocking sides of the band are still intact throughout Masana Temples, but they’re sharper and more defined. Without sacrificing any of their experimental impulses, songs are more composed and cohesive. Pernadas’ bright production meets with nearly telepathically locked-in performances, on both lazy cloud-like jaunts like “Nazo Nazo” or fuzzed-out expeditions like lead single “Gatherings”. Drummer/vocalist Go Kurosawa, guitarist/vocalist Tomo Katsurada, bassist Kotsuguy, sitar and keyboard player Ryu Kurosawa and guitarist Daoud Popal Akira act as a unit, with an intuitive attention to space and dynamics that could only come from years of playing together in every imaginable setting.

”Diable’s bluesy rock gets Nashville glitz on this tambourine-bolstered barn-burner that rolls in like a summer storm and blooms like Southern magnolia." – NPR

New Orleans based songwriter Kristin Diable's sound is as mysterious as it is familiar. Her latest release "Create Your Own Mythology" (recorded in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb) was applauded by NPR, American Songwriter and Southern Living as one of the best of the year. A southern original, Diable’s voice bends as whimsical and unyielding as the Mississippi River, as her timeless melodies and lyrics channel the mystical within the everyday, the transcendent silver lining within the ordinary, weaving an intricate web of singularity that is Diable’s calling card. The band has toured far and wide with highlight performances from intimate listening rooms and theaters to Austin City Limits Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest and all stops in between. Songs from her studio have been heard on television shows from CBS prime time on Hawaii-Five-O and MacGuyver, to Amazon's original One Mississippi (Tig Notaro), and HBO's True Blood and Treme. Diable is currently taking time off from the long road and is in the studio working on new songs for the band’s anticipated follow up album set for release in 2019.

Robert Finley of Bernice, Louisiana, has been playing the guitar nearly all his life. At the age of 11, his father gave him some money to get new shoes – but Robert walked to town and bought a guitar instead. He walked home in those old shoes and there was no looking back. He joined the Army at age 17 and was originally sent to Germany as a helicopter technician. When he arrived, however, he discovered the Army band was in need of a guitarist and bandleader. He took over and traveled with the band throughout Europe until he was discharged.

After returning home, Robert tried to continue a career in music but found doors shut to him – he had no contacts and needed to earn a living. He picked up carpentry, a skill he had learned from his father, which was how he supported himself until recently. In December 2017, Robert released his second studio album entitled Goin’ Platinum produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) and released on Easy Eye Sound.

Mark Normand is a fun-loving, New York comedian. Ok, I’m gonna brag a little here but hey, you’re on the site so that must mean you’re somewhat interested. I don’t know, I’ve just seen other comics do this. Ah screw you, I’m proud of these credits! Sorry, I got worked up there. (I just wanna be liked)

So far, Mark has done a One-Hour Comedy Central special “Don’t Be Yourself”, a Comedy Central HALF HOUR special, has appeared on TBS’s CONAN 6 times,  Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Showtime’s “Live at SXSW”, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, TruTv, Best Week Ever, MTv, Last Comic Standing, @Midnight and released an album with Comedy Central records titled “Still Got It” (it’s not bad). This year, Mark took first place at the Great American Comedy Festival competition. In 2013 won Caroline’s March Madness competition, beating out 63 other comedians. And this is a real shocker for all of us, but he was also voted Village Voice’s “Best Comedian of 2013”, I know, right? In 2012, Mark appeared on “John Oliver’s New York Standup Show” on Comedy Central, and in 2011 was picked as one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch.”

Mark was born and raised in New Orleans, LA surprisingly to two normal parents. As a kid he spent most of his time shooting short films and wetting the bed. He started doing comedy right after college and quickly moved to New York. Mark now does comedy clubs and colleges across the country and has been involved in many festivals including Portland, Seattle, DC, Boston, Vancouver, Melbourne and in 2013 was featured as a New Face at the Montreal Comedy Festival.

More annoying accolades that no one really cares about: Mark was named one of Comedy Central’s Comics To Watch for the 2011 New York Comedy Festival. Mark was also named Esquire’s “Best New Comedians 2012”, Splitsider’s “Top 10 Up and Coming Comedians on Each Coast”, and Time Out New York’s “21 New York Comedy Scene Linchpins”. Whew, sorry about all that.