Bending Brains

Damon Hankoff is a multifarious musician, making music in a wide variety of settings: improvisational ensembles, early music consorts, string bands, church choirs, straightahead singer-songwriter groups, and his own Out of Sight of Land, an ever-evolving songs project that draws on all of these. He was born and raised in New York City and has trained hard on jazz piano and choral singing, but looks forward towards the mystery.

Bobby Wooten III is a Grammy & Emmy-nominated, Tony Award-winning composer/producer/instrumentalist raised in Chicago, IL. He  credits his family’s gospel Wooten Choral Ensemble as his main influence & inspiration. Bobby has performed and/or recorded with David Byrne, Jennifer Lopez, Mac Miller, Jennifer Hudson, Rick Ross, among others. Composition and Production credits include Empire TV series, Google, Adidas, Lebron James, Machine Gun Kelly, Jake Troth, ESPN, among others. Broadway credits include, Moulin Rouge! & David Byrne's American Utopia. Bobby is an instructor at NYU's Clive Davis Institute

Lola Ullfig is an Argentinian woman who has spent her life seeing the world and enjoying the little things that big us joy as humans. She is a beautiful mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her life story is very unique and a reminder to be thankful for the little things all around you. To focus on what makes you happy and to be honest with all of your intentions. Most importantly, Lola is a shining example of staying youthful, healthy, and to never stop moving.

Chris Lee is a musician, sound tech, and gardener. He runs the DIY venue/recording studio The VCR, heads a small label called Dark Circles Records, and plays in the bands Beastii & Bloodhype. He also releases solo material as Alchemeleon, helps mod the DIY Chicago Facebook page, and runs live sound for music performances around the Chicagoland area.

Ness Heads is the name of the genre-blending project of Vanessa Ortiz whose mix of Electronic, Pop and Hip Hop has been catching attention in Chicago and beyond. Ness grew up on the West Side and attributes the noise, the backyard parties and the overall chaos of the area to shaping her into an artist she is today.

How’s this for the cast: “Bora Bora is the musical project of Paul Boeder. Originating in Chicago in 2014, bora bora’s music blends languages, styles and cultures from all eras to create a “tropical space-folk” repertoire of songs and sounds. He joins the pod to discuss multilingualism, experiential learning, societal paradigms, art through experimentation, evolutionary biology, inspiration and of course, love.

Hailing from Moldova, Olya Prohorova is a multi-talented violinist, arranger, band leader and music director. A Grammy-winning musician performing in every genre from classical, to rock, R&B, country and jazz,  Ms. Prohorova performs around the world, namely in Italy, United States, Germany, Japan, Canada and her native Eastern Europe.  Since 2014, Olya has been a member of Matt Jones Orchestra, through which she recorded and performed with musicians like Kirk Franklin, Pj Morton, John Legend, Chronixx among others. During her Bachelor’s at Chicago College of Performing Arts, Olya joined romanian rock band “Pet Peeve,” and created a unique culture-blending project focusing on Japanese and Eastern European music - “Hanauta Duo.” In 2019, she joined the band of “Teatro ZinZanni,” a unique whirlwind of cirque, cabaret, theater and live music. She currently performs in “Taraf de Chicago,” an eclectic ensemble playing music from her motherland of Moldova.

Max Duffy Rodriguez melts glass, makes art, and creates to find joy in existence. He lives in Oak Lawn, IL with his partner Kendall and his beloved cats Atlas and Anton.

Doug Malone is an audio engineer and owner of Jamdek Recording Company in Chicago, IL. Doug has also done live sound engineering in Chicago for years at The Empty Bottle. He is a musician and has been performing/touring in bands for years. Doug studied Music Composition at Columbia College Chicago and continues to grow his knowledge of music, audio production, and sound.

Mark Hainey is local Chicagoan who has 11 years of emergency medicine experience and three years crime scene and hoarding clean up experience. Outside of that, he is the official DZ Records and DZ Fest doorman.