Performances

Wild and wonderful performances abound! Be sure to see our full program for more great exhibits, presentations, performances, and more!

Agents Del Futuro Thrill to the scintillating and other-worldy sounds of Agents Del Futuro! ADF will play an amplified bicycle wheel and other unique oddities amidst a dense tapestry of drones, bleeps, beats, and noisic. This is not "electronic music" but rather an electro-acoustic improvisational wonderland! Agents creates the music using acoustic instruments before feeding them into an array of filters... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Jesse Clark Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 1:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

Ballistic Cats What do you get when you have a software engineer at a laser company, a professor of mathematics (topology), a manager at a gunshot location company, and one who fixes the machines that provide caffeine to all of the Bay Area? I know you all hope that we made a laser that targets people firing guns at other people, vaporizing them and leaving only premium Kona grounds. However, instead, this parti... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Greg Provencio Matthew White Lisa Burns Christopher "Stoneymonster" White By night, the Ballistic Cats creep out into the alleyways and sandboxes of the California- from the Silicon Valley to the Central Coast, they prowl. By day, the band members lead the lives of (somewhat) well-mannered professionals. Don't be fooled into thinking things will remain that way. Some day soon, the Ballistic Cats will shed their human forms, sleep during the day and play all night long. Greg Provencio By day, Greg fixes the gadgets that feed the Bay Area caffeine addiction. At night, he dreams of an old Gibson Acoustic Southern Jumbo and sending Mikey, Sophie, and Jake to college. Oh, and he sings. That is a huge understatement. Matthew White On a Gretsch Nashville, Matthew enjoys playing fast and loud. His amp doesn't sound good below 9.5. In his other life, Matthew has a PhD in Mathematics (Topology) and teaches at CalPoly SLO. Lisa Burns By day, Lisa plays bluegrass (scary but true). Sometimes, she herds cats to fight crime. When there is rock to be had, she plays a Fender J Bass. When there is more billy than rock, she plays an Azola electric upright bass (also may be used in times of flooding). Christopher White By day, Christopher writes code to make people look younger. By night, Stoneymonster plays a DW trap set. His hero is Neil Peart so he is in charge of the gear. Ask him to play Mr. Hi-hat. Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 2:00 PM (120 minutes) Location: Main Stage

Brian Crabtree and Peter Segerstrom Collaborative networked music performed with custom hardware and software. tehn vs. Portable Sunsets: we collude sparkling moments of folded sound into clipped drum objects. Through a healthy parsing, it makes a drone a magic marker and a folding chair into a song.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Brian Crabtree and Peter Segerstrom Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 12:30 PM (30 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

Broker/Dealer Equipped with an array of samplers, sequencers and vintage synthesizers, San Francisco wunderkinds Broker/Dealer make catchy minimal electronic music equally suited for the den or the dancefloor. Simultaneously channeling the aquatic dub of Berlin's Chain Reaction label and the genre-defining minimal techno of the Kompakt imprint, on their debut full-length, Initial Public Offering, B/D recalls Ge... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Ryan Bishop & Ryan Fitzgerald Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 2:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Main Stage

Bubbles Within Bubbles Join The Bubble Guy for an amazing demonstration of making bubbles of all shapes and sizes, and even bubbles inside of bubbles.... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): Tom Noddy Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:00 PM (30 minutes) Location: Make Theatre

Constellation Participants are projected onto a screen and turned into constellations, which track them as they move in real time. Each constellation is given a name, which is often apt (or at least amusing).... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Jeremy Fitzhardinge Jeremy Fitzhardinge is a multi-disciplinary hacker, creating software, images and art installations. He lives in San Francisco's Bay Area with his wife and two daughters they are raising to be geeks. Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 2:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

MAKE Fashion Show featuring Diana Eng and Emily Albinski Fashion designers Diana Eng (recently of Bravo's "Project Runway") and Emily Albinski first made headlines when their Inflatable Dress made the cover of ID Magazine last fall. In their first fashion show together, Diana and Emily are pleased to also launch their new collection under their brand "Blackbox Nation". The duo strives to push forward technology in the fashion world.... [More Details] [Craft] Maker(s): Diana Eng and Emily Albinski Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 6:00 PM (30 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

Musical Instruments for the Motorcycle Enthusiast. Hey! You got your motorcycle in my rock-n-roll! Well, you got your rock-n-roll on my motorcycle. Wreck-n-Roll combines these two great tastes into one rockin' package. Three packages actually; the Frankenbass, Venus de Moto, and the Wreck-n-Roll Cycle Pole. Come see and hear these unique musical instruments for yourself. Learn the history and evolution of the motorcycle upright bass and enjoy an e... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Ezra Daly Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 5:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

New Technology for Live Visuals The live video revolution is being powered by an explosion in VJ-able hardware and software, including special-purpose VJ equipment and game and MIDI devices that visualists can repurpose. Join award-winning VJ Grant Davis (VJ Culture, Dimension7) for an introduction to live video hardware and software, and a rundown on the latest gear.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Grant Davis Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

Rick Walker's Loop.pooL: Live Looping with Found and Invented Instruments One of the guiding lights in the burgeoning International Live Looping movement, Rick Walker has not only toured a solo found and invented sound/abstract electronica artist in 12 countries in 3 years but has also produced or been the inspiration for the production of 35 festivals in 15 countries. After the performance, Rick will explain his musical process and conduct a 'loopers clinic' Q-and-A.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Rick Walker Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 4:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Main Stage

Scattered Light Scattered Light is an acoustic/electronic musical duo that combines folkie acoustic guitar with suitcases full of circuit-bent goodness. Found sounds, DIY electronics, circuit-bent toys, and synth all layer together to weave a tapestry on which to lay modest guitar melodies. At times, Scattered Light breaks into a full-noise onslaught, and other times finds serenity in a landscape of sounds both m... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): James Marks, Adam Marks James' quest to make music with the least money outlay possible has led to a history of broken toys, circuit-bent alarm clocks, tape loops, and dumpstered guitars. While not searching for the magic hidden in the heart of every electronic beast, James presides over VGKids, a screen printing company geared towards bands and labels. Adam began his interest in various emerging forms of technology in suburban Detroit during the 1980s when color existed in two shades on the monitor. He works on experimental music and video, fights spam as a software engineer, and eats lots of take out with his girlfriend. Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 3:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

The Evolution Control Committee presents Thimbletron Godfathers of Mashup? Plunderphonics? Bastard Pop? Plagiarhythm? Collage? Many of those terms suggest a boring laptop show coming up, and yet nothing could be further from the truth. If anyone could be the Make house band, The ECC would be first in line: Live performing on The Thimbletron, an instrument with ten sewing thimbles and too much exposed wire; mad Reaktor programs, hacked-up MIDI keyboa... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): The Evolution Control Committee For nearly 20 years, The Evolution Control Committee has been combining new technology with old-fashioned showmanship to produce internationally acclaimed performances. Long before the sampler and computers made it easy, The ECC was infringing copyright laws the hard way. Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 4:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

The Nekyia Dance We are a San Francisco-based performance company dedicated to the propegation of Ecstatic Tribalista Groove. Ecstatic because it comes from an intensity of emotion and energy that is larger than ourselves Tribalista because we are just a small part of an international tribe evolving parallel to us Groove because in the words of the feminist revolutionary Emma Goldman, “If I can’t ... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Kristina Cañizares Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 7:30 PM (30 minutes) Location: Main Stage

The Phenomenauts Imagine if the The Kinks, Devo, Stray Cats and The Ventures were galactic pioneers and joined forces to defend earth's right to "rocket roll." Combine that with a fast driving blend of punk, pop, rockabilly, solid songwriting and a smart Sci-Fi theme and you've got one of San Francisco's most talked about bands, The Phenomenauts.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): The Phenomenauts Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 6:45 PM (45 minutes) Location: Main Stage

Trompetelichter Jazz Combo Come see the Trompetelichter On-Brass Optical Entertainment system in action, playing as part of a live jazz combo.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Jon Liang Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (180 minutes) Location: Main Stage

Trumpet Mounted LED Display ("Trompetelichter") Come see the most tacky-yet-amusing innovation in musical instruments since the inception of key-tar! Project: Trompetelichter is a form of On-Brass Optical Entertainment (or an OBOE as it is uncommonly known) designed to visually delight and distract an audience from a trumpeter's bad-hair, bad-embouchure days, or bad-taste days. Come for the how-to and Q&A, stay for the live jazz! ... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Jon Liang Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 2:30 PM (30 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

VJ Battle UPDATE: The VJ Battle was great fun, and everyone's visuals were amazing. (Excellent music, too!) Synesthete / Todd Thille did a wonderful job of incorporating fresh Maker Faire imagery into his energetic mixes, and he won the competition-- congratulations, Todd! Watch VJs compete head-to-head to create live, four-minute video mixes that capture the spirit of the Maker Faire. Marvel at th... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): Paul Spinrad Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 3:00 PM (120 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

VJ Franz K and Cypod (live video) VJ Franz K plays live video using laptops, a camera, and Edirol V4 mixer. Beau Casey (aka Cypod) uses the open-source object-oriented graphical programming software pure data (PD), which allows him to create custom VJ software that uses various image processing techniques. Stylistically, Beau draws from intelligent dance, ambient, academic, and minimal. ... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Franz Keller Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 12:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

VJ Mikal Carter (live video) The Fine Art of Live Visuals. Moving wallpaper or High Art? Today, the tools for live video are available to everyone. Join Sunshine and find out what the big deal is, or just pick up some tips for your next all-night party! ... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Mikal Carter Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 12:00 PM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge

VJ Stefan G (live video) VJ pioneer Stefan G mixes with material that spans the history of live video, from early tape experiments to Fairlight CVI and Video Toaster footage, to "forbidden" copyrighted material from current big-name tours.... [More Details] [Music] Maker(s): Stefan Gosiewski Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 10:00 AM (60 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge