{"title":"Damon Locks","description":"\u003cp\u003eDamon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist, musician, and deejay. Known for decades of varied projects in Chicago’s underground music \u0026amp; art scenes, Locks’ CV starts in the late 1980s with the band Trenchmouth, and is highlighted by work with The Eternals (co-led by Trenchmouth bandmate Wayne Montana), Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, collaborations with Nicole Mitchell, Ben LaMar Gay, and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.intlanthem.com\/artists\/damon-locks\"\u003eLearn More\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"nfcr-tee","title":"New Future Radio City Tee","description":"\u003cp\u003eGarment-dyed heavyweight t-shirt made of 100% ring-spun cotton. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• 100% ring-spun cotton\u003cbr\u003e• Fabric weight: 6.1 oz\/yd² (206.8 g\/m²)\u003cbr\u003e• Garment-dyed\u003cbr\u003e• Relaxed fit\u003cbr\u003e• 7\/8″ double-needle topstitched collar\u003cbr\u003e• Twill-taped neck and shoulders for extra durability\u003cbr\u003e• Double-needle armhole, sleeve, and bottom hems\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e***This item is made per order therefore we cannot accept returns\/exchanges.  Please read the size guide below.  The T-shirts generally run a bit small so please take that into consideration.***\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong class=\"size-guide-title\"\u003eSize guide\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"table-responsive dynamic\" data-unit-system=\"imperial\"\u003e\n\u003ctable cellpadding=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWIDTH (inches)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLENGTH (inches)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSLEEVE CENTER BACK (inches)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e18 ¼\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e26 ⅝\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16 ¼\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eM\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e20 ¼\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e28\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e17 ¾\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e22\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e29 ⅜\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e19\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eXL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e24\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e30 ¾\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e20 ½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"table-responsive dynamic\" data-unit-system=\"metric\"\u003e\n\u003ctable cellpadding=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWIDTH (cm)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLENGTH (cm)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSLEEVE CENTER BACK (cm)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e46.4\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e67.6\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e41.3\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eM\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e51.4\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e71.1\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e45\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e55.9\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e74.6\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e48.3\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eXL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e61\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e78.1\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e52\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"S","offer_id":45430928703762,"sku":"9950021_15114","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"M","offer_id":45430928736530,"sku":"9950021_15115","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"L","offer_id":45430928769298,"sku":"9950021_15116","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XL","offer_id":45430928802066,"sku":"9950021_15117","price":33.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/mens-garment-dyed-heavyweight-t-shirt-black-front-6490c2eb3f2de.jpg?v=1687208693"},{"product_id":"nfcr-buttons","title":"New Future City Radio - Pin Buttons Set","description":"Top-quality 2.25\" pin buttons with a scratch and UV-resistant coating and a glossy finish.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n• They come in a set of 5 \u003cbr\u003e\n• Made of tinplate","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45430988407058,"sku":"7129544_16412","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/set-of-pin-buttons-white-2.25-front-2-6491050b139ec.jpg?v=1687225985"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-rob-mazurek-new-future-city-radio","title":"Damon Locks \u0026 Rob Mazurek - New Future City Radio","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eNew Future City Radio is the first duo collaboration of longtime creative partners Damon Locks \u0026amp; Rob Mazurek. In a hyperactive 40-minute, 18-track suite that runs like a boombox mixtape, the two prolific multi-media artists contemplate community, transformation, and the future through the programmatic format of a pirate radio station for the people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese two artists have worked together from the peak days of the late 90s \/ early 00s Chicago music scene up through the present day, which has seen Locks featured as lead vocalist of multiple critically-acclaimed Exploding Star Orchestra (ESO) albums composed\/produced by Mazurek and released by International Anthem (IARC) in 2020 (Dimensional Stardust) and 2023 (Lightning Dreamers). In recent years, Locks has also earned great renown from his revolutionary, expansive latter-day gospel\/jazz project Black Monument Ensemble (BME), with which he’s released two albums on IARC (2019’s Where Future Unfolds and 2021’s NOW). New Future City Radio finds the artists creating a natural but innovatively-assembled blend of the sounds of those two projects, with Locks’s BME-style sample-based sound collage creating compositional beds underneath the signature Orson Welles-like vocal\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edelivery he’s developed through his work with ESO, alongside Roland SP flourishes and arresting brass improvisations by Mazurek.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThemes both sonic and text based were predetermined but improvisation leads the journey. The music these two have devised may sound hyper-charged one moment and gently transportive the next, and often somewhere in between. When asked about New Future City Radio the duo exclaim in one voice: \"I'm talking post, post, post, future. I'm talking resilience and levitation. I'm talking beauty and structural integrity for my people. I'm talking light beams that tell stories and educate. Let's talk about that if you wanna talk new future!\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased July 28, 2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks - voice \u0026amp; sampler\u003cbr\u003eRob Mazurek - trumpet, piccolo trumpet, sampler, modular synthesizers, voice, flutes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMauricio Takara - electronic percussion, percussion on “The Beat” and “Flitting Splits Reverb Adage”\u003cbr\u003eRoberto Carlos Lange aka Helado Negro – voice on “Flitting Splits Reverb Adage”\u003cbr\u003eBrandi Augustus – vocals on “New Future”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnnouncers:\u003cbr\u003eRosetta Carr – “The Sun Returns”\u003cbr\u003eAndres Hernandez – “The Concord Hour”\u003cbr\u003eAlain 'Fusion' Clapham – “10mins Past The Hour”\u003cbr\u003eBrenda Hernandez – “Las Niñas Estan Escuchando (The Children Are Listening)”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Engineered by: Dave Vettraino at International Anthem Studios, Chicago.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003ePhoto of Rob Mazurek by: Ziga Koritnik\u003cbr\u003ePhoto of Damon Locks by: Petra Cvelbar\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0068 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":46926425194770,"sku":"IARC0068LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0068 Limited Edition *New Future City Shimmer* Color vinyl LP","offer_id":52121000575250,"sku":"IARC0068LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0068 Compact Disc","offer_id":52121000608018,"sku":"IARC0068CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0068 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000640786,"sku":"IARC0068","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a2024789163_10.jpg?v=1773342529"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-record-list-of-demands","title":"Damon Locks - List of Demands","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWho can see the shapes and colors as they are?\u003cbr\u003e(“Isn’t It Beautiful”)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Demands, Damon Locks’s first foray into creating an entire album from spoken and text-based work, finds the Chicago-based musician and educator collecting cultural abstractions and reorganizing them into a firm truth. The album lays out a vision of Black liberation and transmits it outward as a song cycle of bite-sized Nikki Giovanni-meets-MF DOOM-style rhythm experiments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sample-based constructions are steeped in a lifetime of not only keen cultural observation, but direct communal participation in the culture. Locks’s decades-long resume connects the dots between experimental improvisation, sample based hip hop, punk, and poetry – each done at the highest level and with a list of collaborators that could spin the head of even the most jaded listener. And that seems to be the point. To jump-start the entire personality spectrum into action. Ecstatic positivity examined via his nuanced grasp of reality, all working toward that ever-evasive concept of what could be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Demands was set in motion when Locks was asked to present new sound work by Experimental Sound Studio (ESS) at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Photography inside an exhibition\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecalled Beautiful Diaspora \/ You Are Not the Lesser Part. He also contributed visual work, portions of which can be seen in List of Demands' album art. The pieces were guided by prompts from the exhibition’s curator, Asha Iman Veal, who aimed to “encourage deep thinking about parallel experiences and relationships between global artists of color and diverse Black artists.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the show, ESS chief engineer Alex Inglizian encouraged Locks to expand upon and record the material, and volunteered to operate the controls for the occasion. This new phase brought in a number of Locks’s go-to collaborators to bring depth and balance to the project: cornetist Ben LaMar Gay, violinist Macie Stewart, poet Krista Franklin, and turntablist \/ drummer Ralph Darden (aka DJ Major Taylor). The results, though, are distinctly Damon Locks. On top of that, the results are distinctly new for Damon Locks. Sure, there have been hints of List of Demands strewn throughout his catalog – the dense rhythms of his Black Monument Ensemble, the chaotic 404 cut-and-mix of New Future City Radio, the lysergic sci-fi deejay toasting of Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, the dub-inflected post-punk of The Eternals – but this is a focused cross-section of its entirety. Arguably the most \"Damon Locks\" Damon Locks record to date.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis depth of experience as a mic controller is certainly on display here, but his signature vocal rhythms seem to permeate the sample choices as well. Locks’s always notable great taste, informed by years of digging in the crates, certainly brings with it a penchant for top-notch sample construction. The unsung crate-digging heroes, though, are the ones whose knowledge extends to the unclassifiable sections. The bins below the bins. These are the people who leave the shop with a stack of sermons, obscure radio broadcasts from now-defunct stations, crumbling documents of a past which remains relevant, disappearing voices for those with ears to hear. Locks has those ears, no doubt, and he definitely has those records. List of Demands utilizes samples of these Black voices of the past in a strikingly rhythmic way, often yielding much of the meter to overlapping human vocal patterns rather than entirely filling that space with traditionally “musical” sounds. The result is a sort of multifaceted, groove-focused body music executed with enough finesse to make a complicated concept seem easy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is our list of demands: Beauty, Form, Destiny, Love, Time, Future, and Light\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe title, List of Demands, is influenced by Locks’s work in Stateville Correctional Center with the Prison + Neighborhood Arts\/Education Project. “In the summer of 2023 I taught a class where we developed a document that stated the desires of the incarcerated artists in the group,” he says. The group spent a summer session creating what would become the Artist Constitution, a document in which their beliefs, aspirations, and demands could be compiled, which would in turn be distributed outside the prison walls. A poster of that document is included in the vinyl edition of List of Demands.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“List of Demands is not just my list,” says Locks. “The list is in conveyance, in response, and in honor of all of those great Black speakers that turned a phrase to generate movement and change. It owes as much to Rammellzee, Fred Moten and Sun Ra’s oratory excellence as it does to Kwame Ture\/Stokely Carmichael, and Angela Davis, to Michael Smith and Linton Kwesi Johnson (across the pond), to Ruby Dee’s spoken recordings, and to others too numerous to mention.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased January 31, 2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll songs\/lyrics by DAMON LOCKS\u003cbr\u003eexcept \"High Priestess\" lyrics by KRISTA FRANKLIN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eplayers:\u003cbr\u003eDAMON LOCKS - voice \u0026amp; electronics\u003cbr\u003eKRISTA FRANKLIN - voice on \"High Priestess\"\u003cbr\u003eRALPH DARDEN - drums on \"Isn't It Beautiful\" \u0026amp; turntables on \"Meteors of Fear\"\u003cbr\u003eBEN LAMAR GAY - cornet on \"Holding the Dawn in Place\" \u0026amp; melodica on \"Click\"\u003cbr\u003eMACIE STEWART - violin on \"Distance\" \u0026amp; \"Isn't It Beautiful\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded by:\u003cbr\u003eALEX INGLIZIAN at Experimental Sound Studio\u003cbr\u003eand DAVE VETTRAINO at International Anthem Studios\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMixed by:\u003cbr\u003eDAVE VETTRAINO at International Anthem Studios\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMastered by:\u003cbr\u003eDAVID ALLEN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by:\u003cbr\u003eDAMON LOCKS\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0092 Classic Black vinyl LP","offer_id":51055486533906,"sku":"IARC0092LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0092 Limited Edition *Hot Signal Red* Color Vinyl LP","offer_id":52121000378642,"sku":"IARC0092LPI","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0092 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000411410,"sku":"IARC0092","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0092 - List of Demands - Test Pressing","offer_id":52121000444178,"sku":"IARC0092LP-TP","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0158991114_10.jpg?v=1773342043"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-now","title":"Damon Locks Black Monument Ensemble - NOW","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003e“Time is just the difference between knowing now and knowing nothing. Because if you know now fully, it’s past, present, and future.”\u003cbr\u003e— Mattie Humphries, 1968\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks \u0026amp; Black Monument Ensemble’s new album \"NOW\" was created in the final throes of Summer 2020, following months of pandemic-induced fear \u0026amp; isolation, the explosion of social unrest, struggle \u0026amp; violence in the streets, and as the certain presence of a new reality had fully settled in. Set up safely in the garden behind Chicago’s Experimental Sound Studio, the music was recorded in only a few takes, capturing the first times members of BME had ever played or sang the tunes. For Locks, the impetus was more about getting together to commune and make art than it was about producing an album. In his words: “It was about offering a new thought. It was about resisting the darkness. It was about expressing possibility. It was about asking the question, ‘Since the future has unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape... what happens NOW?’”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...about Black Monument Ensemble...\u003cbr\u003eOriginally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist\/activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ecollage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s conceptualizing, poeticizing, and guiding vision, the contributors come from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence in Chicago, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to uplifting, anthemic, and highly animated musical performance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBME is a genuinely multi-generational collective; ages of the members range from 9 to 52 years old. In addition to Locks, current and consistent BME members include: instrumentalists Angel Bat Dawid, Ben LaMar Gay, Dana Hall, and Arif Smith; singers Phillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding, Tramaine Parker, Richie Parks, Erica Rene, and Eric Tre’von; and dancers Raven Lewis, Cheyenne Spencer, Mary Thomas, Bryonna Young, Tiarra Young, and Keisha Janae.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLocks has a stated interest in work that explores “The Black Nod” which, as he explains, is “an unspoken acknowledgment that happens often out in the world – a sort of ‘I see you’ moment exchanged between Black people.” His work with BME attempts to do the same. Fronted by a jubilant choir, the ensemble embraces a kind of civically engaged, artistic approach to activism originally heard in the 1960s from bands like the Voices of East Harlem and on albums like Max Roach’s We Insist; or originally seen in the photography of Kwame Brathwaite and the art of Emory Douglas. Merging influence from the subsequent half-century of artistic \u0026amp; technological evolution, Locks employs a cyber-punk palette of disparate implements (including beatbox, boombox, telephone, and megaphone) to make narrative compositions of mined sound, beats \u0026amp; archival speech (a la Madlib or Supa K) which are brought to life by the ensemble in electric, improvisational performance. It’s a truly multi-dimensional sound that spans mediums, genres, and generations; past, present, \u0026amp; future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e...about Damon Locks...\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist, musician, and deejay. Known for decades of varied projects in Chicago’s underground music \u0026amp; art scenes, Locks’ CV starts in the late 1980s with the band Trenchmouth, and is highlighted by work with The Eternals (co-led by Trenchmouth bandmate Wayne Montana), Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, collaborations with Nicole Mitchell, Ben LaMar Gay, and many others. In recent years Locks has traversed almost every media discipline… including sound\/animation work using unheard Sun Ra recordings from Experimental Sound Studio’s archive (with Terri Kapsalis, Wayne Montana, and Rob Shaw); various collaborations with contemporary dancers \u0026amp; choreographers including Onye Ozuzu, Ayesha Jaco (of Move Me Soul), and Anna Martine Whitehead (on presentations \u0026amp; workshops with the Detroit Justice Center); participating in artist residencies at The New Quorum in New Orleans (alongside Nicole Mitchell, Lisa E Harris, Wadada Leo Smith, and others); teaching work with incarcerated artists for the Prison and Neighborhood Arts\/Education Project at Stateville maximum security prison; and producing cover art for dozens of albums, including several International Anthem releases by Makaya McCraven, Hear In Now, Irreversible Entanglements, and more.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003ca\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased April 9, 2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePlayers:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid – clarinet\u003cbr\u003eBen LaMar Gay – cornet \u0026amp; melodica\u003cbr\u003eDana Hall – drums\u003cbr\u003eDamon Locks – samples \u0026amp; electronics\u003cbr\u003eArif Smith – percussion\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong\u003cbr\u003eMonique Golding\u003cbr\u003eTramaine Parker\u003cbr\u003eRichie Parks\u003cbr\u003eErica Rene\u003cbr\u003eEric Tre’von\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Compositions by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded August 27th-28th and September 29th, 2020, at Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEngineered \u0026amp; Mixed by: Alex Inglizian\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: David Allen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum \u0026amp; Insert Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003eInsert Photos by: Brian Ashby\u003cbr\u003eLayout \u0026amp; Insert Design by: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum art features photos of Raven Lewis and Tiarra Young taken by Kristie Kahns.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0039 LP - Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52127452725522,"sku":"IARC0039LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0039 LP - Limited Edition *Shades of Night in Gold* Color Vinyl","offer_id":52127452758290,"sku":"IARC0039LPSG","price":29.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0039 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52127452856594,"sku":"IARC0039CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0039 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000476946,"sku":"IARC0039","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3982964827_10.jpg?v=1773717592"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-where-future-unfolds","title":"Damon Locks - Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eWhere Future Unfolds is a new work spirited by Chicago-based sound \u0026amp; visual artist Damon Locks. Starting as a solo sound collage piece (where Locks pulled samples from Civil Rights era speeches and recordings to create an improvisational pallet for performance on his drum machine), over 4 years the project has blossomed into his 15-piece Black Monument Ensemble – featuring musicians (including Angel Bat Dawid on clarinets and Dana Hall on drums), singers (alumni of the Chicago Children's Choir), and dancers (members of Chicago youth dance company Move Me Soul). Where Future Unfolds is a live capture of the ensemble's epic debut at the Garfield Park Botanical Conservatory on the West Side of Chicago. Recalling the spirits of Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble, Eddie Gale's Black Rhythm Happening, Archie Shepp's Attica Blues, and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, the album presents an inspired, innovative \u0026amp; immediate intersection of gospel, jazz, activism \u0026amp; 808 breaks.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased May 31, 2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusicians:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid (clarinets), Dana Hall (drums, percussion), Damon Locks (electronics, bells, voice), Arif Smith (percussion).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Rayna Golding (on \"Rebuild A Nation\"), Eric McCarter, Tramaine Parker, Lauren Robinson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDancers:\u003cbr\u003eAnna Martine Whitehead, Raven Lewis (Move Me Soul), Cheyenne Spencer (Move Me Soul), Mary Thomas (Move Me Soul), Bryonna Young (Move Me Soul), Tiarra Young (Move Me Soul).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Compositions by: Damon Locks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by: Charlie Mammoser.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: Casey Rice \u0026amp; David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCostumes Designed by: Jamie Hayes at Production Mode.\u003cbr\u003ePhotography by: Daris Jasper \u0026amp; Chris Hershman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbum Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003eLayout \u0026amp; Liner Design by: Craig Hansen\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded Live at Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of Red Bull Music Festival, Chicago, November 15th, 2018.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Classic Black Vinyl","offer_id":52126966251794,"sku":"IARC0025LP","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Classic Black Vinyl (gold foil)","offer_id":52126965760274,"sku":"IARC0025LP_GOLDFOIL","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0025 LP - Limited Edition *Red in Black* Color Vinyl","offer_id":52126965891346,"sku":"IA-WFU-IRIB","price":28.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"IARC0025 CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52126965924114,"sku":"IARC0025CD","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0025 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000509714,"sku":"IARC0025","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a0773898138_10.jpg?v=1773706097"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-black-monument-ensemble-stay-beautiful","title":"Damon Locks – Black Monument Ensemble - Stay Beautiful","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-about\"\u003eA note about this song, from Damon Locks:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An ode to Chicago: In a hospital room, doctors and nurses come in and out, evaluating, recommending, prepping, and testing. But once visiting hours are over the patient is left alone with their thoughts, ruminating on the intimidating lack of agency and loneliness of losing control of their own circumstances. Drifting towards despair, they discover flowers in the room. There is a note attached that expresses what I would say to Chicago in its most precarious condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We see you. We love you. Stay beautiful.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am very happy to be able to share this song at this time. It is a fitting message for this moment we are living through. I hope you all stay safe.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"credits-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tralbumData tralbum-credits\"\u003ereleased April 7, 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMusicians:\u003cbr\u003eAngel Bat Dawid (clarinets), Dana Hall (drums, percussion), Damon Locks (electronics, bells, voice), Arif Smith (percussion).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSingers:\u003cbr\u003ePhillip Armstrong, Monique Golding, Eric McCarter, Tramaine Parker, Lauren Robinson.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDancers:\u003cbr\u003eAnna Martine Whitehead, Raven Lewis (Move Me Soul), Cheyenne Spencer (Move Me Soul), Mary Thomas (Move Me Soul), Bryonna Young (Move Me Soul), Tiarra Young (Move Me Soul).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOutfits by: Jamie Hayes of Production Mode.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdditional Performers:\u003cbr\u003eRayna Golding, Keisha Janae, Anna Martine Whitehead, Erica Rene.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLyrics \u0026amp; Music Composed by: Damon Locks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded \u0026amp; Mixed by: Charlie Mammoser.\u003cbr\u003eMastered by: Casey Rice \u0026amp; David Allen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover Art by: Damon Locks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded Live at Garfield Park Conservatory, as part of Red Bull Music Festival, Chicago, November 15th, 2018.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"license-label\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"license\" class=\"info license\"\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"cc-icons commercial\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003eall rights reserved\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"IARCS025 Digital Download","offer_id":52121000542482,"sku":"IARCS025","price":1.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/a3685941194_10.jpg?v=1773705775"},{"product_id":"new-future-city-radio-public-records-poster","title":"New Future City Radio - Public Records Poster","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDeluxe 18\" x 24\" screenprinted poster designed by Goatmother Industrial for Damon Locks \u0026amp; Rob Mazurek's New Future City Radio show at Public Records in New York July 29, 2023.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e***SHIPPING NOTE*** Ships from US Only. Because the poster requires special packaging, no discounted shipping options are available for combined orders with LPs or CDs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem","offers":[{"title":"New Future City Radio - Public Records Poster","offer_id":52121007128850,"sku":"789993993833","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/0032870909_10.jpg?v=1774061244"},{"product_id":"damon-locks-d-composed-dawning","title":"Damon Locks \u0026 D-Composed - Dawning","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescription:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDawning\u003c\/em\u003e is a collaboration between Chicago creative music mainstay Damon Locks and burgeoning Black chamber music collective D-Composed, featuring violinists Khelsey Zarraga and Anya Brumfield, violist Seth Pae, and cellist Lindsey Sharpe. The album was recorded live in the auditorium of The Land School, Rebuild Foundation’s headquarters in a reconstituted former elementary school on Chicago’s South Side, where D-Composed \u0026amp; International Anthem have been creative partners in residence since its opening in 2025. The album’s sonic palette pairs Locks’ live sampling, beat knowledge, and spoken word swagger with D-Composed’s take on the Black string ensemble with otherworldly results.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Land School itself is the result of a massive undertaking by Rebuild Foundation and its leader, artist Theaster Gates, who for the last couple decades have endeavored to transform disused spaces into “sites of creative production, artistic experimentation, radical hospitality, archival stewardship and land cultivation.” In the case of The Land School, the mission has been realized in public programming by creative partners-in-residence. “What began as a reflection on our relationship to the land became a sonic experiment reflecting blackness in the present moment through hope, rage, protest, and resistance,” say Locks and Zarraga in the album’s co-written liner notes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat we hear on \u003cem\u003eDawning\u003c\/em\u003e is what Locks and D-Composed brought to the auditorium on April 11, 2026: a live performance meant to be “a sound experience that pulls you in and wrings you out.” The recorded document is hard to argue with. From sublime and consonant downbeat grooves to genuinely frightening, dissonant and anxious meltdowns—the six pieces that make up the album cover so much musical ground with such an expert touch that it can be difficult to remember that we’re listening to something that occurred all at once in the same room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is in spite of the fact that the album begins with a solitary cello calling out against only the sounds of the fully occupied room itself: gentle shuffling and small breaths, settling across the stereo spectrum of the opening track “Dawning (On Us)”—a slowly building theme augmented by Locks’ samples of previous D-Composed performances announces the musicians’ arrival in dramatic fashion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDialing the tension back, a looped 2-bar slow jam guides the listener into “We Stay Beginning,” the first vocal-forward piece on the album. Locks’ skills as a mic controller are on full display here in a similar way to his 2024 spoken beat masterpiece \u003cem\u003eList of Demands\u003c\/em\u003e, though here the performance is much further out, deconstructed dub-style à la his contributions to Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe stay in full bloooom!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Reflecting (On Us),” on the other hand, is unlike anything else in Locks’ sonic registry, and it’s here that the freshly tilled land of this collaboration yields its unique fruit. The track is a powerful showcase of the strings of D-Composed, and undoubtedly the centerpiece of the album. A dark and ennui-filled solo cello starts this ominous piece, followed by an ascendant droning intensity building as the remaining members of the ensemble enter. The surface noise crackles from Locks’ rig feel like actual flames atop a repeating heartbeat pulse. Loopers are playing and players are looping—it’s difficult to tell what is a live moment and what is a sample. Except that it’s all a live moment: even the samples are being blasted through the PA, gently reverberating in the early spring air on Dorchester Avenue, just outside of the building walls. The apex of dissonance hits as the lone human voice echoes in a repeating sampled phrase:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIt was as though I stepped into a strange city—a city from which all people had fled\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album closer, “Don’t Recede,” sends us off with a straightforward message of resilience. The tune’s nascent scraping and droning dissonance is reframed as a consonant experience almost immediately when the voice of singer Monique Golding, Locks’ longtime comrade in Black Monument Ensemble, enters. “Don’t bend to the noise,” she sings, quietly understated, as the sound of the string ensemble is bolstered by Locks’ mysterious and percussive sampler work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s the perfect summation of an afternoon of live performance—an exercise in contemplative, disjointed positivity, related to us here as a recorded document of an actual moment shared by a group of people in an intentionally purposed room. The spirit of the endeavor seems to suggest that the feeling of unity in that moment can radiate outward, transforming all it touches: a room, a neighborhood, a city, a state, a country, a planet, a solar system, a universe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAnd seek wisdom, to make wise decisions.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"International Anthem (US)","offers":[{"title":"IARC0117LPI - Limited Edition \"Dawning\" Color Vinyl LP","offer_id":52734704943378,"sku":"IARC0117LPI","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0117LP - Classic Black Vinyl LP","offer_id":52734704910610,"sku":"IARC0117LP","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0117CD - Compact Disc","offer_id":52734704976146,"sku":"IARC0117CD","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"IARC0117DS - Digital Download","offer_id":52734705008914,"sku":"IARC0117DS","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/files\/IARC0117_Cover_3000x3000_RGB.jpg?v=1790199015"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0751\/6989\/0578\/collections\/DAMON_LOCKS_0002.jpg?v=1791426756","url":"https:\/\/shop.intlanthem.com\/collections\/damon-locks.oembed","provider":"International Anthem (US)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}