This January, Elastic Arts announced the four new curators for its long-running weekly Improvised Music Series: Ishmael AliMolly Jones, Ben Zucker, and Angel Bat Dawid. The Improvised Music Series hosts a show every Thursday, and though it usually skips holidays, this Independence Day is an exception. On the curators’ shared calendar, Dawid noticed the date blocked off, and she considered her feelings about it. “I want to deal with centering how Black people feel about this holiday—a lot of us don’t like the Fourth of July,” she says. “When I was thinking about it, I was like, ‘Well, where is a place where Black peoples’ feelings about this holiday can be centered?’” She convinced the team to open Elastic on Thursday, July 4, for an Improvised Music Series concert in tribute to Frederick Douglass’s 1852 speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” The night will begin with a video recording of Douglass’s descendants reciting his words.
“A speech like that would be hard for a Black person to deliver now—and he delivered that when we were enslaved, when my ancestors were enslaved,” Dawid says. “I feel like the speech would be appropriate, and I want to curate some bands that I know who would resonate with that and can really play music to that.”
First on her list of artists: saxophonist David Boykin, one of her mentors. “One thing that I always loved about him is that he always centers Blackness,” Dawid says. Boykin offered to bring his fusion ensemble Sebau, which in 2020 released score selections from his “avant-garde jazz hip-hopera” titled The Lynching of (Insert the Name of Any White Killer of an Unarmed Black Here).
The rest of the lineup emerged fortuitously. Beat-scene producer Hameedullah works as a sound engineer for Elastic, so the curators didn’t have to look far to find his name. Detroit multidisciplinary artist King Sophia happened to be in town with an open date on July 4, and their arty fusion sound complements Dawid’s vision for the evening. She also wants to bring in more DJs to spin between sets at Improvised Music Series shows, so she booked HourNine collective cofounder CtrlZora for this special occasion.
Dawid hopes the concert will forge new bonds among performers and attendees. “I’m hoping that this event can . . . make white people uncomfortable and make Black people feel comfortable,” she says, “so that it also gives permission to young Black people, ‘Hey, use your voice.’”
Music by three of the acts performing at Elastic Arts on the Fourth of July
The Hallogallo scene is throwing its third annual festival, which has leveled up by expanding into Milwaukee, “I’ve always loved the Milwaukee scene—it feels like an extension of the Chicago scene,” says fest founder Kai Slater, who fronts Lifeguard and has a solo project called Sharp Pins. The Hallogallo Midwest Pop Fest travels from Chicago’s Color Club on Saturday, July 6to Milwaukee’s Falcon Bowl on Sunday, July 7. Horsegirl, Sharp Pins, and Twin Coast represent Chicago; rounding out the bill are Milwaukee’s Living Johnsons and New York’s Autobahn.
Slater says the first two Hallogallo festivals reaffirmed his commitment to all-ages shows. “It feels like it’s a really special time to build community,” he says. “Every year we find a lot of new people that maybe their friend dragged them to it or their friend is selling zines, and it allows them to be inspired by other young bands.” Slater says the fest still has open spots for young zine makers: email hallogalloinc@gmail.com
Recent releases from the Chicago artists at the Hallogallo Midwest Pop Fest
On Sunday, July 7the Whistler hosts the debut of Mutualisman inclusive club event designed for immunocompromised ravers. DJ and Mutualism founder Starka came up with the idea after receiving a cancer diagnosis in 2021. “It has pretty deep origins on a sentimental level—thinking about what party would I want to throw if I passed away,” Starka says. “Like, ‘How would I want to be remembered? How would I want to orient my end-of-life celebration?’” They evolved Mutualism from those thoughts as a way to support people in the dance scene who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.
Starka got hooked on dance music while studying in Europe in the mid-2010s. While at Indiana University Bloomington, they started spinning records and organizing queer, underground dance parties, and after graduating in 2018 they moved to New York. They dove into the dance scene there until the pandemic confined their DJing to their bedroom. Two and a half years ago, Starka’s cancer went into remission, and they’ve since dedicated themselves to making nightlife safer for immunocompromised people. Last fall they started volunteering with Clean Air Clubhelping handle logistics for the group’s inventory of free-to-borrow air-purification gear.
“I think people, regardless of what they’re going through, should have access to all sorts of spaces, including arts and cultural spaces,” Starka says. “I’m trying to just help build that space out, especially when it comes to immunocompromised people, other disabled people, other higher-risk people, people who just want to mitigate risk.”
Starka sees the Whistler as a great space for the debut of Mutualism. The bar is close to public transit and ADA accessible, and its patio lets folks who want a drink take it outside to unmask. Mutualism requires attendees to wear high-quality masks inside, and if you forget one, the venue will have some on hand.
Starka shares the bill at the party with Panty and Ariel Zetina. “I’m just excited to see people dance hard to Ariel Zetina while masking,” Starka says. “That’s such a full fantasy.” Mutualism runs from 6 PM till midnight.
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