citylikeyou — Baltimore / Julien Chang

For me, making music always begins with little compositional experiments. I surround myself with a room full of instruments, centered around a digital multi-track recorder. One-by-one, I take each different instrument (or any combination of them) and record a line of music. Every subsequent line gets its bearings as a counterpoint to the previous one. Soon I find myself before a small orchestra of Julien’s, all playing different instruments with different contrapuntal lines. The sound of the whole is so different from that of any individual part, and completely unexpected: it is like discovering a secret. This discovery is why I make music. My new album, “THE SALE,” has this process of unexpected discovery as its compositional basis, while exploring themes of memory and fictions, love and indifference, and estrangement and alienation. The album was recorded partially in my childhood home in Baltimore, and partially in my dorm room at Princeton University. Nearly everything you hear on the record–from voice to guitar, bass, keys, and drums–was played and recorded by myself, with a few notable exceptions from friends, classmates, and local Baltimore musicians.

http://julienchangmusic.com/

Musician Music Producer

Current city: Baltimore

julienchangmusic.com

Baltimore / Club

Mobtown Ballroom is a lindy hop club in Pigtown, Baltimore. They host swing nights every Friday, often with live bands (though this has been somewhat diminished thanks to the pandemic). It was once a grand and solemn old cathedral; now it's host to drinking, dancing, jazz, and even, yes, circus arts. In short, the "holy spirit" of yesteryear has given way to the frenetic energy of lindy-hop, which has a holy spirit of its own.

Baltimore / Library

At the top of a hill on Cathedral street downtown, we find the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore's public library system. Always open to the public, even without a library pass, it is like a great and beautiful sanctuary. Some of my best thinking has taken place in the humanities wing reading room. It is, after all, one of the few places in the city devoted exclusively, and uninhibitedly, to thinking.

Baltimore / Music Venue

Keystone Korner is Baltimore's preeminent jazz venue. Always hosting a rotation of jazz greats, the Korner is a special place. The Kenny Garrett show I went to this summer may very well have been the best I've ever seen. It is like an open laboratory, conducting experiments in sound, rhythm, harmony, and meaning. And you are just feet away from the scientists when they make their discoveries.

Baltimore / Bookstore

Normal's is a great records-and-books store just off of Greenmount Avenue on 31st street. They have an inspiring collection of used books, all very affordable. One gets the impression that each book was deliberately chosen, and personally read through by the storekeepers. The curation of books and records feels very intentional and meaningful. Formed in 1990 by a collective of nine people who wanted to work for themselves on a project that they cared about, Normal's is distinguished by its discernment.

Baltimore / Music Venue

An die Musik is an incredible place. It is a smaller venue--the general admission seats are cushioned and seem like ones you might find in a family friend's living room. They specialize in jazz (especially local jazz, from younger Baltimore folk), contemporary classical, and avant-garde formats. The tickets are inexpensive--especially for students, of which there are many in the surrounding area (Peabody, Baltimore School for the Arts, etc.). The impression one gets as an audience member is that some kind of secret is being uncovered, or that a quiet experiment is underway, and the findings are immediate, spontaneous, and elusive. Always interesting music, a small crowd, low-volume, familiar faces, etc.

Baltimore / Visual Artist

Mark Brown is a Video Artist, DJ, and Curator living and working in Baltimore, Maryland. He's spent the last decade inhabiting, running, and promoting some of Baltimore's finest underground venues and cultural events. As a video artist his work embraces the Internet as both gallery and medium, creating new works from the cracks, glitches, and fall-out of digital realities. He currently curates a weekly music video and art video series for Berlin based Network Awesome called 120 Megabytes.

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