[Preview] Moogfest 2014’s Impressive Lineup of Speakers

Moogfest returns to Asheville, NC, April 23-27, 2014. In previous years, the electronic music festival (intitially during the last weekend of October) was a joint production between Moog Music and AC Entertainment. When Moog Music decided against leasing the name out to AC in 2013, the two went their separate ways. AC put on Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit (which we gladly attended) this past Oct. 25-27, and Moog Music took over Moogfest, turning the event into a five-day innovator’s convention/music festival.

Preserving the name of late electronic pioneer Bob Moog, Moogfest celebrates the convergence of technology, art, and music, with workshops, speakers, art installations, a circuit bending contest, a tech expo, and of course, live performances. The festival has also partnered with MAP (the Media Arts Project), inviting submissions from artists, musicians, designers, scientists, engineers, architects, and students alike to design a structure or installation that encapsulates the philosophical and innovative Moog spirit through the marriage of art and technology. Though the lineup hasn’t been announced, an impressive list of speakers was released this past week. Tickets start at $199 (+fees) for general admission and can be found on the Moogfest website.

By looking at the 20 or so list of speakers consisting of innovators, artists, musicians, futurists, researchers, and big-picture thinkers, we can only imagine (salivate) what to expect for the lineup. Though all 20 deserve equal praise, we’ve compiled a short list of some of our favorites.

LAURIE ANDERSON

Longtime musician, composer, and experimental performance artist, Laurie Anderson has coined some of her own inventions, such as a tape-bow violin and a six-foot-long MIDI controller resembling a baton that operates like a talking stick to access and replicate sounds. For a genre dominated by men, Anderson has established herself as a respected pioneer in electronic music, not to mention she’s widow of the late Lou Reed.

GIORGIO MORODER

You might recognize this name from Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories—track three, titled “Giorgio by Moroder.” The intro of the song pretty much lays it out: Giorgio Moroder was one of the first to experiment with dance music, more specifically disco. His career transcended further into producing, songwriting, and film score composing (i.e. Scarface, Top Gun). He’s worked with some of music’s greatest such as David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Donna Summer, and Blondie, among others. He has three Academy Awards and three Grammys under his belt, along with an honor in the Dance Music Hall of Fame.

CLIFF MARTINEZ

Cliff Martinez is most well-known for composing the scores for Drive, Only God Forgives, Contagion, Solaris, and Traffic, as well as collaborating with Skrillex on Harmony Korine‘s Spring Breakers. He also scored the video game, Spore, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the original drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers (though he left after the second album).

CLAIRE EVANS

She’s the frontwoman of oddball dance outfit YACHT and an artist in her own right. As Editor-in-Chief of science-fiction magazine OMNI, Claire Evans explores the “intersection of science, technology, art, culture, design, and metaphysics” in the quest for truth.

ROGER LINN

Responsible for the modern day drum machine (i.e. MPC and LinnDrum), musician, guitarist, and inventor Roger Linn is a member of the Dead President’s Society, a collective of the most prominent thinkers in electronic music. He also works closely with Dave Smith, another fellow Moogfest speaker, who’s more widely known as “the father of MIDI.”

Laurie Anderson, Giorgio Moroder, Cliff Martinez, Claire Evans, and Roger Linn will give talks at Moogfest, April 23-27, 2014. General admission tickets are available for $199 (+fees). Stay tuned for the lineup announcement….