“Renaissance-level creativity”
-Discovery Channel
North Wind is the alias of music pioneer and techie Ray Li, who is one half of the virtual reality DJ duo Veserium. An engineer by training and musician by hobby, Li was determined to create a new music experience for fans, and began crafting instruments that he plays with movement instead of touch. North Wind’s performances inhabit the intersection of music and technology, incorporating custom-built electronic instruments and pushing the limits of how we understand sound. A piano responds to a hand hovering over the keys rather than striking them; wired gloves initiate a drumbeat with the twitch of a finger or closing of a fist. North Wind creates EDM, or electronic dance music, that breaks the mold of how humans, music, and technology interact. The Discovery Channel called his performances “Renaissance-level creativity.” He comes to WMPAC for his first performance in Montana.
North Wind is presented by IM Tour. IMTour™ is a web-based system that facilitates the booking of independent musicians by nonprofit presenters. The site allows 501(c) (3) presenters in the West to set up a profile, send out calls for bands, and apply for funding to offset the artistic fees to present an adjudicated IMTour roster artist. IMTour.org currently boasts a subsidy fund of over $250,000. Presenters and artists can apply online at: www.imtour.org.
This project received support from the Montana Arts Council, WESTAF (the Western States Arts Federation), and the National Endowment for the Arts.