NNAMDI OGBONNAYA is a multi-instrumentalist composer, producer, and performer. His musical identity was forged in the DIY community of Chicago. Relentless participation in numerous musical projects bridged genres and created inroads between scenes. Near constant activity quickly made him a locus of gravity in the community. Constant participation quickly opened channels to a broad cross-section of the arts world. Nnamdi has toured the USA, Mexico Europe and Canada with projects ranging from punk to jazz. A full accounting of his musical activity over the last eight years includes approximately 15 bands and dozens of tours. All the while, Nnamdi has not only released a stream of records and EPs under his name and the ironic moniker “Nnamdi’s Sooper Dooper Secret Side Project”, but also runs his own label called SOOPER Records.
His solo styling combines hip-hop, experimental rock, gospel, and jazz. His songs can often contain a sense of satire that is just as humorous as it is critical. Nnamdi’s lyrical insights draw on the diversity of his cultural experience as a Black, Jewish, first generation Nigerian-American. His work is characterized by the coupling of sophisticated compositional structures with pop-music motifs. Nnamdi’s latest record DROOL is his most mature and accessible work to date.
Sen Morimoto is a multi-instrumentalist composer and songwriter born in Kyoto, Japan and currently based in Chicago. He moved to Massachusetts at a young age where he began a life-long study of jazz saxophone. Horn in hand, Morimoto cut his teeth as a songwriter in the DIY hip-hop community of Western Massachusetts. He eventually moved to Chicago where he refined his sound while maintaining a consistent presence in the music culture by producing for and collaborating with artists including Joseph Chilliams (Pivot Gang), KAINA, Qari, and Nnamdi Ogbonnaya. Morimoto’s powerful grasp of jazz composition, pop songwriting, and hip-hop styling are fully articulated as the extraordinary sound of an unrivaled talent on Cannonball!, an LP that he wrote, arranged, and produced by himself.
Karen Meat
Karen Meat is a pop rock project of Arin Eaton based between Des Moines and Iowa City. The band itself is a moody character, a sequined oversized sweater, crooning melodies and lyrics of a bored generation. She’s Drunk Like The Rest Of Us, Karen Meat’s recent November 2016 tape release, steers away from her DSM band (Brad Turk, John Huffman) as Eaton collaborates with her business partner Dana Telsrow. Karen Meat glitters with memorable beats, 60s-girl-pop inspired vocals, guitar solos by Dana, and coordinated outfits. Full band Karen Meat includes releases such as On The Couch (2016), and self-titled Karen Meat & The Computer (2015) – grumpy rock n’ roll songs with a tinge of partying and omnicord, with titles like “Who Cares?” and “Pizza and Beer”. Realistically, pop songs should be fun AND sad. Karen Meat embraces the power of rejection and depression as themes for her music, and her upbeat tunes are gems of sarcasm and truth. Follow Karen Meat on Twitter at @K_Meat for more declarations on how weird the world can seem.
