Bending Brains

Lola Ullfig is an Argentinian woman who has spent her life seeing the world and enjoying the little things that big us joy as humans. She is a beautiful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her life story is very unique and a reminder to be thankful for the little things all around you. To focus on what makes you happy and to be honest with all of your intentions. Most importantly, Lola is a shining example of staying youthful, healthy, and to never stop moving.

Chris Lee is a musician, sound tech, and gardener. He runs the DIY venue/recording studio The VCR, heads a small label called Dark Circles Records, and plays in the bands Beastii & Bloodhype. He also releases solo material as Alchemeleon, helps mod the DIY Chicago Facebook page, and runs live sound for music performances around the Chicagoland area.

Ness Heads is the name of the genre-blending project of Vanessa Ortiz whose mix of Electronic, Pop and Hip Hop has been catching attention in Chicago and beyond. Ness grew up on the West Side and attributes the noise, the backyard parties and the overall chaos of the area to shaping her into an artist she is today.

How’s this for the cast: “Bora Bora is the musical project of Paul Boeder. Originating in Chicago in 2014, bora bora’s music blends languages, styles and cultures from all eras to create a “tropical space-folk” repertoire of songs and sounds. He joins the pod to discuss multilingualism, experiential learning, societal paradigms, art through experimentation, evolutionary biology, inspiration and of course, love.

Hailing from Moldova, Olya Prohorova is a multi-talented violinist, arranger, band leader and music director. A Grammy-winning musician performing in every genre from classical, to rock, R&B, country and jazz,  Ms. Prohorova performs around the world, namely in Italy, United States, Germany, Japan, Canada and her native Eastern Europe.  Since 2014, Olya has been a member of Matt Jones Orchestra, through which she recorded and performed with musicians like Kirk Franklin, Pj Morton, John Legend, Chronixx among others. During her Bachelor’s at Chicago College of Performing Arts, Olya joined romanian rock band “Pet Peeve,” and created a unique culture-blending project focusing on Japanese and Eastern European music - “Hanauta Duo.” In 2019, she joined the band of “Teatro ZinZanni,” a unique whirlwind of cirque, cabaret, theater and live music. She currently performs in “Taraf de Chicago,” an eclectic ensemble playing music from her motherland of Moldova.

 

 

Max Duffy Rodriguez melts glass, makes art, and creates to find joy in existence. He lives in Oak Lawn, IL with his partner Kendall and his beloved cats Atlas and Anton.

Doug Malone is an audio engineer and owner of Jamdek Recording Company in Chicago, IL. Doug has also done live sound engineering in Chicago for years at The Empty Bottle. He is a musician and has been performing/touring in bands for years. Doug studied Music Composition at Columbia College Chicago and continues to grow his knowledge of music, audio production, and sound.

Mark Hainey is local Chicagoan who has 11 years of emergency medicine experience and three years crime scene and hoarding clean up experience. Outside of that, he is the official DZ Records and DZ Fest doorman.

Aaron Paolucci is an Associate Professor in the Creative Technologies Program at Illinois State University. He has been teaching at ISU since 1999, having taught over 120 full-length courses across a wide range of music and audio-related topics including sound design, speaker design and application, music mixing and mastering, surround sound engineering, microphone theory and application, sound reinforcement, sound for gaming and animation, and so on. He is passionate about designing and prototyping high-end professional and audiophile loudspeakers for live stage, studio, and home applications; always in pursuit of the purest possible reproduction of music and sound. Additionally, Aaron brings a wealth of experience as a theatre sound designer, a live audio engineer, and a mixing/mastering engineer, having worked on over 100 stage productions and recording projects over the last 30 years.

Matthew McNeal and Andre Black are co-owners of Matte Black Sound Company - an independent label, audio production team, and resource hub for all things music. From touring across the country performing with their own projects to running their own studio, capturing audio for film crews to empowering artists in the independent scene however they can, the two have spent the better part of the last ten years working hard to turn a lifelong passion into a fulfilled dream, becoming pillars within the independent music community along the way.