Having got his start as a DJ at age 12 from watching his father DJ meringue parties & older brother showing him the ropes, Robert Aguilar AKA Rob Swift pursued his love for music & joined the groundbreaking turntablist crew the X-Men aka X-ecutioners (Roc Raida, Total Eclipse, & Mista Sinista) in 1991. Within a year of joining the X, he won the coveted DMC East Coast title, becoming world renowned as a master Turntablist. In 2001, Rob Swift was featured in the DJ documentary SCRATCH. He has appeared on ESPN, The Late Show w/ David Letterman, & even Sesame Street. In 2008, Rob was the first Hip Hop DJ invited to perform at the Savannah, Georgia Jazz Festival. Whether working solo, in a group setting as part of Ill Insanity (featuring former X-Men Total Eclipse & Precision) or collaborating with other like minded artists, Rob Swift is always in perpetual motion, pushing the boundaries of what he does and connecting with audiences by all means necessary.

Sometimes you see an artist that just hits you smack dab in the middle of your heart. Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers are an incredible blend of grinding blues, sleazy jazz, and disturbing rock tied together with pop and punk sensibilities; the result sounding something like a vulgar Ella Fitzgerald, channeling Nick Cave and PJ Harvey crooning in front of a wall of distortion and thunderous, pounding rhythms. The band reads like a who’s who of recent NYC rock luminaries including members of Creaky Boards, Soft Black, Kapow!, and cult rock producers The Negatones. Their live shows are already a notorious commodity which regularly feature audiences that scream as loud as the band does through their instruments and voices.

Apse was formed in 1999 in Newtown, Connecticut as an instrumental ambient rock group. Closely identified with the post-rock genre, the group released numerous EPs before slowly incorporating Robert Toher’s reverberant lead vocals.

After numerous lineup changes and the release of a self-titled EP in 2005, the group sought to move away from post-rock trappings with its ghostly debut album; the tribal, atmospheric Spirit, a record that mutates the tired genre into a nearly unrecognizable form while simultaneously putting it to rest.

This two man modern day cabaret is:
Sonny & Cher meets Kurt Weill in a late night uncensored format, blending classic cabaret, modern composition / performance, audience interaction, pop music deconstruction, and comedy. Jeffrey Marsh and Rick Sorkin having been working together since 2001.
"this two man variety talk show has fun with gender while dipping into everything from German cabaret to pop music to audience participation." - Time Out New York.
"Their approach ranges from delightfully silly to intensely dramatic. Although highly distinctive, their interpretations not only respect, but also explore and illuminate the songwriters' intent. What is at work here is not gimmickry, but artistry of the highest order. I knew nothing about The Venn Diagrams before I attended their show; now I hope to see them again and often."
-Roy Sander, columnist and critic, Back Stage and Citysearch