”A musician at heart, inventor born of curiosity, and innovator by necessity, I believe the world calls him the ‘Godfather of Controllerism’ for damned good reasons». John Tackett, Crowd Wire
Historically there are only a handful of artists who have pushed the limits both with their music and with the instruments of its creation. What Bach was to the keyboard, what Hendrix was to the guitar, this is what Moldover is to the controller. Disillusioned with «press play DJs”, fans from all walks are drawn to Moldover shows, eager to witness electronic music’s return to virtuosity, improvisation, and emotional authenticity. Dig deeper into Moldover’s work and you’ll uncover a subversive cultural icon who has redefined physical media with his InstrumentAlbums, revolutionized musical collaboration with his custom Jamboxes, and is inspiring an entire generation of forward thinking musicmakers by openly sharing his methods and madness.
Moldover’s creative endeavors have roots in his early childhood, growing up in the Washington DC area in a household that always had at least one computer, and more than a few musical instruments. Patterning his earliest music after the rock, pop, and metal, that filtered down to him through his older siblings and the media, Moldover wrote songs, played in bands, and taught himself all that he could about recording with an old four track tape machine and a basement full of guitars and drums. While attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, his focus shifted away from song writing and popular styles of music, turning instead towards serious composition and electronic music production. Moldover graduated summa cum laude from Berklee and moved to New York City. Intent on merging his love of playing in bands with his electronic compositions, he wound his way through a long string of modestly successful groups, gradually becoming disillusioned with the highly competitive and socially complex live music scene. At the same time he began seeing more of his favorite electronic music artists play but found disappointment in the comparably lower standards for stage performance. Seeing an opportunity to fill a new niche, he set about bridging the gap between traditional musicianship and modern electronic music culture and here were planted the seeds of controllerism and his concepts for new instrument designs.
Moldover has performed around the globe at clubs, theaters, and premiere festivals including Sonar, Mutek, and Coachella. Now respected as much for creating performance instruments as he is for creating music, renowned artists including Bassnectar, Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead), and William (The BlackEyed Peas), as well as leading music tech companies like Native Instruments, Ableton, and Livid Instruments, have all come to him to realize new designs. Moldover is a frequent guest speaker at elite techindustry events and top tier design schools.