Muj

Founders Allen Hulsey and Emre Atabay crossed paths in 2004 at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Their early music was influenced by Eastern microtonal music and avant-garde composers such as John Cage, Terry Riley, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. After exploring a catalogue of genres, they directed their focus on mainstream styles and formed the band Static Picture, recording the EP WhiteWash in 2006. Fusing psychedelic soundscapes with subterranean beats, this was just the start to the vision that would soon become Muj. Upon moving to New York City, in 2008 they formed the ethereal, charismatic pop twosome Muj, refining their sound into its current incarnation, music that encompasses the best of dance pop, rock, world, trip-hop, and techno. They soon released their self-produced debut album 2012 to rave reviews and comparisons to Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead, MGMT, and The Killers. Their unique production ties intelligent pop sounds to compositional structures from European classical music and Turkish music. Muj is described as having “timeless hooks and melodies that are hauntingly familiar, that feel as if we’ve already heard them.” In their performances, their carefully conceived, tastefully sparse studio sound is the starting point for playful improvisations and unexpected intense instrumentations. Muj segues seamlessly from ferocious, soaring guitar jams to moving melodic departures. They are now working on a feature-length documentary including an original soundtrack. muj2012.com