Joshua Cordova (FIT Sound, PSR), FRANTZ, Relaxer, chuki

Who they are

• Joshua Cordova

  2 bookings since Dec 2024

  Last at public records in Dec 2024 · often with Lauren Ritter, Palto Flats, Patrice Scott, none of them here that night

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  Frantz

  New York City · 24 bookings since Aug 2023 · Good Room disco heads

  “Alongside the usual glittering suspects, New York City is also home to plenty of lesser- known treasures.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Alongside the usual glittering suspects, New York City is also home to plenty of lesser- known treasures. Frantz is one such hidden gem; both a DJ’s DJ and a dancer’s delight. An encyclopedic knowledge of music informs his instinctive understanding of what to play when in nightclubs, listening bars, and everything in between as he stealthily stakes out a reputation as one of New York’s finest selectors. As well as gracing the booth at some of the city’s best venues including Mansions, Eavesdrop, Gabriela, Nightmoves and Milagrosa, Frantz has also charmed crowds as far afield as Mexico City, Napoli, Berlin and Houston, introducing varied audiences to all the records they didn’t know they needed to hear. Born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents, Frantz immersed himself in the local music scene from an early age. While still in high school, he interned at Astralwerks , where free tickets to see acts such as Basement Jaxx and Fatboy Slim whet his appetite for electronic music. Obsessively listening to BBC Radio 1 (Annie Nightingale’s Annie on One and the Essential Mix) and watching taped episodes of MTV’s electronic music show Amp further stoked this growing passion. The first record he bought was Alan Braxe’s “Vertigo” on Roulé, showing early signs of his sophisticated tastes. Circa 2000, one of Frantz’s Astralwerks bosses taught him how to spin vinyl, and after just a couple of lessons he was off and running. Following a heavy UKG and dubstep phase he eventually came around to disco, eschewing more commercial modern fare in favour of esoteric ‘70s releases. Working at the The Thing vintage and record store in Greenpoint deepened Frantz’s appreciation of New York classics, Chicago house, Detroit techno, Italo, and synth pop, and is also where he met a gang of fellow music nerds with whom he played his earliest gigs at East River Bar in Williamsburg. A few radio mixes came next, including a hot live mix for “A Downtown Affair” on WNYU showcasing Frantz’s sweetest spot —obscure but alluring disco cuts that spark dancefloor abandon. His own production work, including a disco-sleaze edit released on Death on Wax, seeks to do the same. During five years spent in Mexico City, Frantz played all the coveted parties and clubs including Sunday Sunday, Yu Yu, Departamento, Pervert, and Por Detroit. He also nabbed a slot at the inaugural edition of Fascinoma Festival, headlined by Larry Heard, DāM-FunK, Kode9 and Galcher Lustwerk, regularly appeared on Aire Libre FM radio station and was tapped to play private events for clients including Apple Music x Soho House, Vans, and a variety of Mexican-based brands. While briefly living in Europe, he played a beach bar in Napoli (with Paris-based Pitaya Soundsystem) and Berlin house parties when the pandemic permitted it, then headed back to New York with renewed focus on scaling up his DJing around the city (Paragon & FERAL, a leatherqueer fetish night where he indulged his love of industrial, EBM and post-punk) while daytiming as a buyer at Academy Records in the East Village. In 2023, Frantz forged a four-strong collective called Dancers Trust, throwing intimate club nights for discerning ears. In 2024, Frantz enjoyed his biggest year to date, DJing at Nowadays (Outdoors), Elsewhere, Milagrosa, a Tiki Disco afterparty at Gabriela, and getting booked to play at boutique private parties interstate. His popular mid-year mix for There Is No Planet Earth was a spicy, genre-jumping exhibit of Frantz at his eclectic best, and he capped off the year with an appearance on Joshua Cordova's Memory Screen on Tbilisi-based Mutant Radio. Whether he’s playing heavy disco, percussion-laden techno, house, or ravey breaks, Frantz is guided by one key principle — never be lukewarm about anything. If he doesn’t love it, you won’t hear it. If he does, chances are you’ll love it too.
  SoundCloud ↗Discography ↗
  Balearic on 1, Disco on 1, Euro-Disco on 1 and New Beat on 1. styles on their catalogued releases

  Recently at Eavesdrop, Pianos, Doris · often with Danny Ramos, Dante Scaglione, IBM Doily, none of them here that night

• 

  Relaxer

  New York City · 39 bookings since Aug 2023

  “Relaxer is the project of Daniel Martin-McCormick, fka Ital, member of Black Eyes, Cry and Gaze and co-founder of Dripping.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Relaxer is the project of Daniel Martin-McCormick, fka Ital, member of Black Eyes, Cry and Gaze and co-founder of Dripping. Rooted in the US punk/noise underground of the late '90s and early 2000s, Martin-McCormick's music embodies a sensual, visceral edge that reflects and extends that legacy. His hardware live sets, honed over a decade of tours, are exhilarating, white knuckle rides, while his DJ sets fluidly cross genres and eras with a cathartic sense of urgency. He's been a repeat performer at Berghain (where the Relaxer project made its live debut), De School, Unsound, Nowadays and many others. On his first five self-titled EPs and albums "Concealer" (Planet Mu), "Coconut Grove" (Avenue 66) and "Hedonic Fatigue" (Climate of Fear), his productions stretch out, weaving strands of wormhole techno, minimal, noise, UK hardcore continuum and fractured ambient into a rippling, mesmeric tapestry. More recent club-focused EPs "Licking" and "Candy" (Lovers Rock Recordings) sharpen the blade, amping up his music's animalistic snarl and erotic undertones. 2024's "Break" saw him working in drum n bass-techno hybrid form after a special live set was commissioned by NY dnb cult fav party Headznite. It was released by experimental fav 29 Speedway, with two remixes from DJ Marcelle. Following his composition studies with Morton Subotnick, Relaxer's music has also evolved a new modality: alongside his club works there have been concerts of long form durational works featuring spoken word and richly spatialized sound design. His debut performance in this new style was a standout at Sustain-Release Year Seven. These works were released in the Summer of 2022 as "Force Field: A Guide for the Perplexed" on Club Night Club. "In Softening Air," the follow up, is out on Lovers Rock Recordings. Behind the scenes, Martin-McCormick has been a consistent force shaping the US underground. He is the co-founder of Dripping camping festival and NY-based event series. He was a key member of Sustain-Release from its inception and co-director from 2017-2021, founded the labels Lovers Rock Recordings & Climate of Fear, was one of the first residents at Bossa Nova Civic Club. He currently holds a residencies at The Lot Radio and Dripping.
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗
  Techno on 12, Ambient on 8, Abstract on 5 and Breakbeat on 2. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on 29 Speedway (1), Club Night Club (1) and Lovers Rock (1); their RA profile also lists Workshop, Planet Mu, Thrill Jockey, 100% Silk and 4 more. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Recently at Nowadays, Jupiter Disco, Rash · often with aka-Sol, Kilbourne, Baby Leo, none of them here that night

• chuki

  New York City · 23 bookings since Nov 2023

  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗

  Recently at Bossa Nova Civic Club, 99 Scott Ave, Paragon · often with SCRAAATCH, MHYSA, Battygyal, none of them here that night