MUSCLECARS, Rimarkable

Who they are

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  MUSCLECARS

  New York City · 43 bookings since Aug 2023

  “Native to New York, musclecars is a DJ / Producer duo consisting of Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Native to New York, musclecars is a DJ / Producer duo consisting of Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield. As musicians, they equally share an admiration for the art form. Their desire to blend genres and express their appreciation for music is focused around their community- the end goal is to bring people together. Through a regular stream of high quality mixes and multiple outstanding releases, they’re constantly turning heads in underground circles. In 2018 they launched ‘Coloring Lessons’, a party that was aimed to add value to their city’s nightlife culture. While the party and sound is not genre specific, it is heavily focused around house, disco, jazz, and soul, embracing the musical elements of their black and brown ancestors. The monthly party's intention is to bring New York City's dance music scene back to what it was during the golden era of NY nightlife. They aim to spread the music that has been influential to them, and share it with a younger generation of their peers. In 2020 the pair launched the label Coloring Lessons Records. The label, like the party, is intended on building up artists from their city and beyond, with the sound indicative of the Coloring Lessons ethos- which is sharing music created and inspired by their ancestors of color, and teaching younger generations about the roots of this music.
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗Discography ↗
  House on 20, Deep House on 18, Broken Beat on 3 and Future Jazz on 3. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on Brownswood Recordings (1), Love Injection Records (3) (1) and Luaka Bop (1); their RA profile also lists BBE and Toucan Sounds. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Recently at Knockdown Center, Mo's Bar, Signal · often with Toribio, Love Injection, moe., none of them here that night

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  Rimarkable

  New York City · 30 bookings since Sep 2023

  “Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist. She is a cultural architect, an Afro-Puerto Rican powerhouse who has been shaping the sound and spirit of dance music for more than two decades. Brought up in Detroit, sharpened during childhood summers in Chicago, and thriving in New York City, Rimarkable embodies the full spectrum of the Black diasporic tradition—gospel, funk, soul, jazz, house, and techno, all transformed into electrifying soundscapes that ignite dance floors across the globe. Her story begins in the sanctified heat of a Pentecostal church, where her mother, a classically trained pianist and music minister, saturated her childhood with gospel harmonies and discipline. Summers in Chicago exposed her to the earliest pulse of house music, embedding in her DNA a rhythm that would later define her life. By 1997 she was on the decks, and by 2006, frustrated with the industry’s barriers and biases, she became her own producer, turning resistance into innovation and claiming complete autonomy over her craft. Since then, Rimarkable has built a singular career that bridges worlds. She has shared stages with legends including George Clinton, Madonna, Erykah Badu, Louie Vega, Honey Dijon, Roger Sanchez, Pete Tong, and Francois K, while simultaneously cultivating underground spaces that honor community, authenticity, and radical joy. Her long-running events in Detroit, New York, and San Francisco have become touchstones for dancers and DJs alike, curating nights that are as spiritual as they are explosive. In 2021 she joined the storied Defected Records family, cementing her place among global house music royalty. As a host of the weekly Defected Radio Show, she now reaches millions of listeners across more than 170 FM stations worldwide, bringing her distinctive voice and impeccable taste to an international audience. Beyond the booth, Rimarkable is a celebrated educator and thought leader. She serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, and instructor at Waajeed’s Underground Music Academy, where she teaches her groundbreaking course series, “The Alchemy of DJing.” This work frames DJing as both art and ritual, blending technique, history, spirituality, and cultural analysis into a visionary curriculum, with raw truth and resources for navigating the scene as a business. She has presented versions of this lecture and workshop in Nairobi, Berlin, Yale, and the Queens Museum, underscoring her mission to expand dance music’s role as a vehicle for healing, liberation, and collective power. Rimarkable’s artistry is rooted in more than beats. It is about presence, justice, and transformation. Whether unleashing a thunderous techno set, layering vocals over soulful house grooves, or leading students through the metaphysics of rhythm, she approaches every arena with the same intent: to elevate. To remind us that music is ceremony. To preserve the roots of dance music while pushing it fearlessly forward. With releases on labels including Classic Music Company, Big Love, Club Bad, and her forthcoming imprint Betty Jean’s Dream, Rimarkable continues to expand her sonic universe. Each project is a testament to her philosophy that excellence, dignity, and artistry are not optional but essential. Detroit is her foundation, New York is her canvas, and the world is her stage. To experience Rimarkable is to step into a revolution of rhythm, where every beat is an invitation, every set is a sermon, and every dance floor becomes a sanctuary. This is more than music. This is Rimarkable.
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗Discography ↗
  Deep House on 1, Tech House on 1 and House on 1. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on Catharsis (1) and Raisani Records (1); their RA profile also lists Defected Records, Planet E, Nervous Records, Liberate and 6 more. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Recently at The Chocolate Factory, Refuge, House of Yes · often with Todd Edwards, Griffin Maxwell Brooks, Ksenyeah, none of them here that night