Joshua Fried in Radio Wonderland

Joshua Fried spins live FM radio into golden grooves right before your eyes, with his Musical Steering Wheel and Musical Shoes. Plus Joshua will unveil a new project with his special guest, beloved Pangea diva Carol Lipnik.

A Buick steering wheel and old shoes hit with sticks are the controls for computer processing of live FM radio in RADIO WONDERLAND, from New York experimental composer Joshua Fried. RADIO WONDERLAND turns corporate culture into recombinant funk. All the sound comes from recognizable live radio. Joshua builds his grooves, step by step, out of radio, and even UN-winds those grooves back to the original source. When you start dancing, you'll feel the empowerment of twisting mass media to your own ends. RADIO WONDERLAND has been blowing minds from Milan to Montreal since 2007. The debut LP SEiZE the MEANS (2017) is available from Danish/Chilean experimental label clang recordings.

“A virtuoso of the mixer, a magician of the multitrack...the show is full of fantasy, vitality, color, fire, wit and above all: rhythm.”

—Matthias Roth, Matthias Schubert, RHEIN-NECKAR-ZEITUNG, Heidelberg

“They Might Be Giants' best remixing bud Joshua Fried brings a balance of musicality...technology and political savvy to the stage — extemporaneously creating a living piece of music that resonates with topical immediacy. Using live FM radio feeds as the basis of performance, Fried's fried mass media manages the impossible feat of making music ironic and messages melodic.”

—A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia City Paper

“Marshall McLuhan's writing about the intimacy of radio communication wasn't lost on Joshua Fried... Seize The Means...deconstructs voices from the ether in an absurdist, subtly undermining manner akin to Negativland.”

—Richard Gehr, Village Voice (Nov 2-8 2016)

I”n today’s world of laptop sound banks making things easy and predictable, it’s refreshing to encounter this now threatened breed of idiosyncratic New York artist bent on ripping up the rulebooks to realise his own visions. Joshua Fried is simply reaching back to a crucial time for sonic invention to chart a healthier future, where the human element remains an essential catalyst.”

—Kris Needs, Electronic Sound, issue 28

“One of the most inventive performance-artist-type composers is Joshua Fried...a rock-influenced postconceptualist with a steady stream of startling ideas.”

—Schirmer Books' American Music in the Twentieth Century

About the Artist
Composer, performer, producer and conceptualist Joshua Fried’s work spans experimental music, DJ culture and live art. He has remixed They Might Be Giants, drummed on electric shoes, and put headphones on Downtown NYC's most mercurial stars. Gigging at Pyramid, Danceteria, 8BC, Dixon Place, La MaMa, Limbo Lounge, CBGB and PS 122 during the 80s East Village Renaissance, Fried signed to Atlantic Records as a dance music artist in '86. In the '90s, he was the youngest composer in Schirmer's American Music in the 20th Century. Fried has performed solo at Lincoln Center, The Kitchen, La MaMa, BAM, Joe's Pub and le Poisson Rouge (all NYC), in LA, Miami, Tokyo, Berlin, Milan, Paris and across Europe. His production credits also include Chaka Khan, Ofra Haza, and avant drone-master David First. Fried's awards include two New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowships, a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowship, and residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo and Bellagio. Fried's recordings have been released by free103point9, Trace Label, clang, Tellus and Atlantic Records.

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