Public Works

PLAY [009] Friday, Sept 25th🎛️🎛️
For our ninth installment, we’re switching things up.

PLAY is partnering with Night Beams and visuals by Chicago’s iconic analog video collective VIDEOWASTE for a special evening centered around live electronic music, improvisation and mostly modular synth jams. Stepping outside our usual format, the night brings together four Chicago artists working across industrial, beatmaking, dub, ambient and experimental sound.

Chris Oquist Chicago-based composer and multi-instrumentalist whose music maps the space where things change and stand still at the same time. Working with synthesizers, drone machines, field recordings, and acoustic instruments, he triangulates electronic music, classical, and sound art - pushing each toward something warmer and more human than the instruments alone suggest.

Nathan Koch’s (OVC) long-running repository for all things dub-influenced, from early dub techno + house to the slow, heavy sounds of today. His new EP Bliss Attractor brings together cloud rap, dub + deconstructed club.

B4Lasers Chicago beatmaker, producer + DJ rooted in sample-based hip-hop, soulful grooves + beatmaking culture, blending dusty textures and rare grooves with raw live instrumentation

TH Inc TH Inc explores sound and ideas from the subconscious brought to the foreground, drawing from their love of early industrial music. Sonic resonances made of flesh and word mesh with metal and synthetics to create new experiences.

🎟️Free raffle included to win a gift certificate to Artifact Records

Join us Friday, Sept 25th
Doors 8PM
Show 8:15PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing

Join us TOMORROW for PLAY [008] 🎛️🎛️

An ongoing series for electronic and experimental sound — DJs, live sets, and TouchDesigner visuals created by Chicago’s underground.

SUR claysur is an American techno DJ, producer, and organizer from Chicago. He has thrown parties questioning the connection between our communities and ourselves, space and sound.

PLAY [008] featuring sets by:
Kevin Pearce (live) + visuals
Barba
claysur

Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing

Barba is a Chicago-based DJ/producer delivering hypnotic, groovy, and driving techno built for the dancefloor.

Growing up on the southeast side of Chicago, barbuhh became deeply embedded in the city’s underground house and techno nightlife, developing their sound through consistent engagement with the dancefloor culture while also drawing influence from Detroit and Minneapolis.

Their sets are dancefloor-focused, centering on movement and progression, built around carefully selected tracks and dynamic mixing. Balancing hypnotic, groove-driven atmospheres with heavier, more driving material, barbuhh focuses on maintaining energy and continuity across the floor. barbuhh has performed at venues including Smoke & Mirrors, Smartbar, and Podlasie Club, as well as various underground events in Chicago and beyond.

Join us for PLAY [008] this FRIDAY AUGUST 28TH featuring:
Kevin Pearce
Barba
claysur

A night of dark, hypnotic techno & live TouchDesigner visuals by Chicago’s underground. Join us for our 8th installment of this series🖤
Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing and Mijenta Tequila Mijenta Tequila

Kevin Pearce is a Chicago-based techno producer and visual artist focused on bringing sound and visuals together. His music is influenced by more than two decades of West African drumming and a deep love of techno. His sound is dark, rhythmic, and hypnotic, with a strong focus on percussion and polyrhythms.

Kevin also creates live visuals that respond to and move with the music. His work explores the connection between rhythm, technology, sound, and light—creating immersive experiences where the music and visuals become one. 🌌

PLAY [008] this FRIDAY AUGUST 28TH featuring:
Kevin Pearce
Barba
claysur

We’re continuing the legendary Monday night PLAY series at Danny’s from the 90s / early 2000s — a room that helped shape a generation of Chicago’s electronic and experimental musicians.

Join us for our 8th installment of this series🖤
Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing and Mijenta Tequila Mijenta Tequila

PLAY [008] FRIDAY AUGUST 28TH

A night of dark, hypnotic techno & live TouchDesigner visuals by Chicago’s underground.

Kevin Pearce is a Chicago-based techno producer and visual artist, Kevin draws from more than two decades of West African drumming and a deep love of techno, creating dark, rhythmic music rooted in percussion, polyrhythms, and hypnotic repetition. His live visuals respond directly to the music, creating an evolving dialogue between rhythm, technology, sound, and light.

Barba is a Chicago-based DJ/producer delivering hypnotic, groovy, and driving techno built for the dancefloor. Rooted in Chicago’s underground house and techno culture and influenced by Detroit and Minneapolis, their sets build through careful selections, dynamic mixing, and a strong sense of progression. Barbuh has performed at venues including Smoke & Mirrors, Smarbar, Podlasie Club and various underground events in Chicago.

SUR claysur is a DJ, producer, and organizer, SUR has spent years creating spaces that explore the relationship between community, space, sound, and the people who come together around them.

We’re continuing the legendary Monday night PLAY series at Danny’s from the 90s / early 2000s — a room that helped shape a generation of Chicago’s electronic and experimental musicians.

Join us for our 8th installment Friday August 28th
Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing and Mijenta Tequila Mijenta Tequila

Join us TOMORROW for PLAY [007], a night of deep techno, live modular synthesis, and immersive sounds.🌌

Nathaniel Pavel Nathaniel Pawelczyk is a curator and DJ for both the SWITCH/PROTOCOL Switch Protocol and Lossless event series, which are held in Chicago. He is looking to create and support events that focus on present audiences, quality sound, and timeless rhythms.

Join us Fri. July 31st for PLAY [007] featuring:
Caro Arroba
mikeext
Nathaniel Pawelczyk

Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing

PLAY [007] this Friday! July 31st with MIKE EXT , a Chicago-based techno artist known for his contemplative approach to deliberative sounds and a staid presence. 

As a curator and resident of both SWITCH/PROTOCOL SWITCH/PROTOCOL and LOSSLESS, he continues to help cultivate spaces for electronic music throughout the city.

Join us Fri. July 31st for PLAY [007] featuring:
Caro Arroba
mikeext
Nathaniel Pawelczyk

Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by are friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing

PLAY [007] returns this Friday July 31st with an evening dedicated to immersive electronic music and live experimentation 🎛️

We’re honored to welcome Caro Arroba whose music emerges from a live modular techno performance where unpredictability becomes part of the itself. Built through evolving patches, unstable textures, and spontaneous interactions between machines, she captures the tension between control and accident. Every modulation, sequence variation, and unexpected response from the system shapes the direction of the music in real time. 

Inspired by the raw character of analog sound and the emotional impact of surprise within modular synthesis, her music embraces imperfection as a creative force, guided by the dialogue between the artist and the machines. Pulsing rhythms, hypnotic layers, and shifting atmospheres create an immersive sonic journey where each moment feels alive and unrepeatable.

Join us for our 7th installment of PLAY, a night of live electronic music, experimental noise, and the things in-between.
Featuring:
Caro Arroba Caro Arroba
Mike EXT mike ext
Nathaniel Pavel Nathaniel Pawelczyk

Fri. July 31st
Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by are friends over at Spiteful Brewing Spiteful Brewing

PLAY [007] returns with an evening dedicated to immersive electronic music and live experimentation 🎛️🎛️

We’re honored to welcome whose music emerges from a live modular techno performance where unpredictability becomes part of the itself. Built through evolving patches, unstable textures, and spontaneous interactions between machines, she captures the tension between control and accident. Every modulation, sequence variation, and unexpected response from the system shapes the direction of the music in real time. 

Joining her is a Chicago-based techno artist known for his contemplative approach to sound and understated presence behind the decks. As a curator and resident of both SWITCH/PROTOCOL and LOSSLESS, he continues to help cultivate spaces for adventurous electronic music throughout the city.

Nathaniel Pavel curator and DJ for SWITCH/PROTOCOL and LOSSLESS, whose selections are rooted in quality sound, timeless rhythms, and creating meaningful experiences on the dance floor.

Fri. July 31st
Doors 8PM
Show 8:30PM
18+ event
$20 suggested donation
Drinks & NA options available
RSVP link in bio🙃

🍻To keep the party going, we will have refreshments supported by our friends over at Spiteful Brewing