Square Zeros

Aileen Brophy plays bass and sings in The Space Merchants, a psychedelic four-piece from Brooklyn. She did her first recordings in a dorm basement during her freshman year of college at Harvard. Some of the Minor Threat-inspired tracks from those sweaty, angst-laden sessions get showcased in this episode. (Songs: "1000 Years Of Boredom" by The Space Merchants, "Identity Crisis," Rebel And React" and "Comeuppance" by The Violent Against Themselves And Others, and "Defeat Song" by The Space Merchants. Photo: The Space Merchants. Aileen Brophy, bottom left.)

Kaleen Reading got her start as a teenager making music at School Of Rock in New Jersey. Now she rips on drums in Mannequin Pussy and The Amputees, both of which are busy recording and touring. She shares three early recordings that give an idea of how she developed her tight, powerful style. (Songs: "The Sea" and "Lorraine's Kitchen" by Dyslexicon, a clip from "Shed Sessions" by Destructotoad, and "Better Better Worse" by Low Fat Getting High. Photo by John Bedics.)

Keenan Houser, AKA Spaghetti Blacc, is an MC and producer from the Bronx who's well on his way to releasing 12 albums in 12 months. His music is gritty, chaotic and spaced-out, drawing from Tommy Wright III and Sun Ra in the same breath. He talks with Square Zeros about some of the first songs he put to tape. (Songs: "Goulash Colossal" from 2014, "The Rap Sphinx (Flawless Victory)" and "Third Rail" from 2011, and "Sold Out Food" from 2014. Photo: Spaghetti Blacc.)

Stephen Perry is one of the Brooklyn music scene's most enthusiastic and generous boosters. He plays guitar and sings in The Planes, plays drums in Big Quiet, and runs a blog called Hearts Bleed Radio where he interviews local musicians and curates great shows. He talks with Square Zeros about his work here and shares some gnarly tracks from his high school grunge-punk outfit Epinephrine. (Photo: Stephen Perry, Brian Gregory LaRue, Jeff Patlingrao and Jon Levine of The Planes. Music: "Gap Ad," "Had To Be" by Epinephrine, "Last Night" by The Planes.)

Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist and producer Stephen Selman talks about talks about his early experiments in songwriting and recording, and gives Square Zeros its first studio performance. Chords — lots of them. (Music: "Road Song" by The Bearded Bravados, "White" and "You Speak Last" by Stephen Selman.)