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I arrive in Berlin in the morning. Stepping out into the brisk April air, the snow still covering untouched mounds of slow melting earth, it’s hard to imagine that only seven hours ago I was still in New York. It’s hard to believe that only twenty-four hours prior I was still working on my last […]

On what appears to be just a regular Wednesday night in New York City, I find myself standing outside of Le Poisson Rouge, awaiting a performance by Valgeir Sigurðsson and Nadia Sirota. I’m standing on line early for two reasons. The first presents me with an opportunity to jump through the doors first, in order to score […]

On Friday, April 5th 2013, a Bochum (Germany) based Denovali label will kick off its two-day festival in Berlin. This would be the very first time that I’m personally traveling out of the country to attend a music festival abroad [everyone knows that Canada does not count :) ]. And I’m flying to Germany just […]

And just like that, it’s over. Why does it feel like time speeds up during the end? And why is going back home always faster than away? The last few days of [any] festival are always a challenge. Being physically and aurally overwhelmed by a sonic fatigue, my mind clutches on a few bits of […]

EmptySet @ Melrose Market Studios (Photography © Heather Schofner) Day three. Friday. Was this only the third day? I have to say, staying up late and dancing all night is hard work, people. I’m running out of fuel! After overextending myself a day prior, I took care of my mind state by simply relaxing all […]

The following article is the second entry in Headphone Commute’s in-depth coverage of Decibel Festival, which took place in Seattle, on September 26-30th, 2012. Make sure you read Decibel 2012 : Day One first! Enjoy… Three Mistakes Visual Projections at Modern Love Showcase (Photography © Heather S.) Thursday turned out to be a small personal misfortune. I […]

The following feature is a series of articles covering Decibel Festival, which took place in Seattle, on September 26-30th, 2012. Most entries were written the morning after each day, while the memories were still fresh. Featured photos have been taken from flickr’s Decibel Festival 2012 pool. Enjoy… Time, Space and Meditation Has it really been a […]

It’s no secret that I’m excited about going Decibel, hosted in its hometown of Seattle, Washington (USA). The annual festival, taking place on September 26-30th this year, is about a month away, but my travel plans are already all sorted out, and now all I need to do is figure out the schedule of shows […]

If you’re lucky enough to be in Seattle next weekend (August 3rd – 5th, 2012), I highly recommend you attend the second installment of Substrata festival, curated by Rafael Anton Irisarri. Sure, there’s the upcoming enormous Decibel festival in September, but as I look over the lineup, the schedule is so overwhelming, that I’m going to […]

Hai Ngueen Dinh (© Bradley Buehring) On Saturday, my weekend began with a trip to Issue Project Room, where Unsound LABS featured three performances between musicians that have never worked together in the past, fusing territorial borders, styles and genres. The first showcase featured a set by Norwegian Hai Ngueen Dinh and American Nondor Neval. […]

Crowd at Warsaw (© Seze Devres) On Thursday, the second day of Unsound Festival, I managed to catch Monolake give an in-depth talk at the Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building. As one of the prominent figures in the minimal techno scene, Robert Henke has refined and redefined the concepts on sound design, minimalism, and of course live performance, most notably recognized as the […]

In April of 2012, the world famous Unsound Festival came to New York City for the third time. The festival was originally born in Krakow, Poland, and this year it will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October. Since 2010 the Polish festival found a sibling outlet in New York, cloaking the city with groundbreaking music, from comfy evening […]

Going to a live performance is more than just an experience for the duration of the show. First of all, there’s that whole act of “going”. And prior, the anticipation thereof. The buildup, if you will, of an upcoming evening in the company of musicians, fellow sonic connoisseurs, and a few alcoholic beverages. Saturday nights […]

April is less than a few days away, and it’s time to get excited about the Spring. But it’s not just the warm weather and the prospect of my upcoming vacation that get me all energized and anxious – it’s the anticipation of the third installment of Unsound Festival in New York. The festival was […]

On the third day of Seattle’s Decibel Festival, the city has finally showed its true colors. The grey clouds of Autumn drew like curtains around the landscape, bidding September farewell. Summer has come and gone, but the music kept on going – lets hope it will keep me warm throughout the day. I spent most […]

My second day at Seattle’s Decibel festival began with a leisurely stroll down a sunny 5th Avenue, towards the Space Needle. I had to get some of the tourist attractions out of the way, and was actually heading for the Experience Music Project (EMP). At the museum, I spent some time checking out the famous […]

DJ Krush (Photography by Angela Dawn Paterson) Arriving at Seattle’s downtown hotel, the first thing I realized was that I was under-dressed. The 70-degree crisp weather felt cooler on my skin than the New York’s same-temperature-stale-smug-mist, and even a cup of dark roasted Starbucks’ coffee failed to warm up my three-hour jet-lagged bones. Checking in […]

It’s official! Headphone Commute is covering Decibel Festival 2011! The 8th International Festival of Electronic Music, Performance, Visual Art and New Media will take place across multiple venues in Seattle, WA, from September 28th through October 2nd – that’s five full nights (and days) of music! I’ve already scoped out the locations of venues and the […]