Akiva Zamcheck, visiting assistant professor, Lafayette College
Adam Mirza, assistant professor of composition, Emory University
Fake Radiolab is the name of a duo performance project in which we interrogate mediated “facts” through explorations in the podcast media form. We adopt the mannerisms and mania of radiophonic personalities and a variety of media genres (e.g., podcasts, YouTube rants, ASMR sessions, self-help narrations, dream sequences, radio plays, nature documentaries) to playfully/seriously jar the clarity and authority imparted to “content” by contemporary audio production. Acting as (unreliable) hosts of a live podcast, we present a kind of musicalized speech performance that juxtaposes audio narration against live synths, processed violin, and sampled audio fragments. We amplify the transformation of text into performance, and performance into text, powerful manipulations that we see as ubiquitous and scarily efficient throughout contemporary media cultures.
Adam Mirza is an Assistant Professor in Composition at Emory University in Atlanta. His research interests include experimental and electronic music, immersive music theater, critical approaches to music technology, avant-garde aesthetics, and DIY concert organizing. At Emory, Dr. Mirza teaches courses involving composition for acoustic instruments, field recording, acousmatic music, live electronic music using Max MSP, and music with video.
Akiva Zamcheck is a visiting assistant professor at Lafayette College. He studies correlations between aesthetic trends in contemporary music and urban development and related possibilities and pitfalls for musical activism. His work and teaching combine historical research, news/ media analysis, and experiments with audio. He makes music with acoustic groups, rock bands, and electronic ensembles.