DJ NELAC NELAC is a music composer, producer and DJ originally from the DC area but currently based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Fusing various styles and influences together in his unique sound, he provides audiences with what he calls Life Music and delivers this sound regularly as a member of the Atlanta-based Controllerise collective.
Dr. Funkenstein Dr. Bernard Short (b. 1979, Harlem, NYC) was raised in Far Rockaway Queens, NY; he earned a BA in Music with a focus in Composition at Morehouse College in 2007, and a Masters in Music Education at The University of Georgia in 2012. He graduated with his PhD in Music Composition from the University of Iowa in 2018. During his time at the University of Iowa he was awarded a Full Dean’s Fellowship and worked as a Research Assistant for the Center for New Music; where he studied with Dr. Lawrence Fritts and Dr. David Gompper. From 2008-2014 he was the Director of Bands and Orchestra at Cross Keys High School in Atlanta, GA. While serving in his role as Musical Director, he assumed the responsibility of rebirthing multiple programs that are still thriving today. Furthermore, while serving in this capacity he reignited the programs vitality, which resulted in the department obtaining a number of notable grants from a wide range of organizations including the Grammy Organization. Furthermore, this success served as a launching pad in which Dr. Short was able to bloom into a thought-provoking composer with profound impacts. In 2015, he received a commission from The Julien Chamber Winds Ensemble at The University of Dubuque. In 2017, he was commissioned to compose a piece to have its world premier in Mykonos, Greece at the Delian Academy for New Music’s International Summer Academy for Composers and Sound Artists. In 2019, 2020, and 2021 he was commissioned to compose works, which had their world premier in Alba, Italy at the Alba Music Festival. Dr. Short’s music is the expression of a person’s soul that is best used as a way to communicate with someone without allowing words to obliterate the message.