John Tejada
Faculty - Music
Future Stars class compilation album
John Tejada, a frequent guest on Touched Music compilations, hatched the idea of turning the final project for his CalArts “Advanced Electronic Music Production” class into a compilation album for the established label. John Tejada Presents Future Stars features 15 of Tejada’s students at their best, as well as an exclusive original track by Tejada himself called “NYC83,” which imagines an alternative of a classic b-boy breakin’ tune. Established as a non-profit, the record label benefits Macmillan Cancer Support in the UK among others. Touched Music will release Future Stars digitally on Friday, May 15, 2020, with 100-limited edition CDs to follow shortly after. The best way to support the charity—and the only way to procure the beautiful physical CD—is to purchase from Bandcamp. The release will also be available on Spotify, Tidal, Bleep and many other platforms.
The styles on Future Stars range from ambient pieces such as Evan Sutterfield’s “Quarantine Reflections for Shakuhachi and Electronics,” indie experiments by Hope Sparrow and Mar, house-flavored tracks by Simo and Benneyybeatz, to techno-tinged peak time perfection by tau0n and Ian Ellison, a track made entirely from the sounds of a balloon by Magro, future jazz experiments by Scruffy and everything in between.
Including tracks by:
Antonio Simonneti
Benjamin Schultz
Drake Macdonald
Dylan Marx
Emily Popejoy
Evan Sutterfield
Gabriel Aragao
Gage Winthrop
Gavin Morrison
Ian Ellison
Katelyn Maheia
Max Jaffe
Maxx Bradley
Parinaz Yazdanparast
Scott Cohen
Taliana Katz
Trevor Bock

Arash Hajihosseini
Max Jaffe
The SOFT Glass “The S.O.F.T. (Sonification Of Flowing Temporality) Glass is an hourglass that makes and manipulates sound. In its final form, it will be a sculptural object that can double as a musical instrument, based on the simple and enduring timekeeping device dating back at least to the 16th century BC. Utilizing a variety […]
Leslie Crapster-Pregont
Light: action and reaction “Light: action and reaction” highlights the awe and wonder of the simple transition of light throughout the day. Time lapse video captures the movement of the sun and its reflection/refraction across dichroic tiles. The changing pattern of color and light encourages the viewer to slow down and appreciate shadow art that […]
Christine Lee
Happy Headroom “Happy Headroom” was part of my mid-residency show titled “Living Threads” in February 2020. The immersive installation consisted of 4-channel video and sculptures. In this video, my mom and I perform rituals as a visceral process to create a dialogue between changing states of self and site. Hair, simultaneously dead and living, functions […]
MAHEDI ANJUMAN
Suffocation My artworks respond to the psychological impact of action and reaction (Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion). I like to think of this law in metaphorical terms beyond the literal mathematical implications. We exist in a constant state of action and reaction – every being is psychologically reacting to every action around that. […]
Kai Luen Liang
Flag ASMR “On Sept 11th, 2001 I watched the twin towers falling with my father. Glued to the TV. A silent demolition. An American reality TV show. In the weeks that followed, I started to see American flags everywhere. Especially from immigrants of all colors, flying the flag out of a sense of fear of […]
Charles Danner
TW/CW: trauma **Trigger Warning** This is a multimedia piece about the experience of being a victim of trauma in the current COVID-19 climate. The piece consists of original poetry written and performed by Nicole Paige Chaffin over an original score by Charles Van Alst Danner. The score features a custom feedback instrument, the FeedBox in […]
Susana Pineda
The Mermaid is a collaborative music video and one of the 6 pieces of my thesis project “Inner Creatures.” “Inner Creatures” explores the development motivations, characteristics and environments of the different sub-personalities within the psyche. “The Mermaid” is the sub-personality that deals with the emergence of sexuality, sexual identity, femininity and the need for self-determination. […]


