Wham City

Wham City is an art and performance collective based in Baltimore, MD. Members of Wham City include musicians Dan Deacon and Ed Schrader, visual artists Jimmy Joe Roche, Dina Kelberman, Robby Rackleff, Alan Resnick and Ben O'Brien.

Events

From 2005-2010, Wham City organized Whartscape, an annual experimental music and arts festival in Baltimore as an alternative to the city's Artscape festival.[1] The festivals included performances by Matmos, Beach House, Double Dagger, Ian MacKaye, Lil B, and Dan Deacon. In its 2010 article about the festival, The Washington Post called Whartscape, “the premier DIY music event in the country”.[2] Wham City member Connor Kizer organizes a bi-monthly lecture series in Baltimore, MD in which local and visiting artists speak on a diverse range of topics.[3] In 2009, The Wham City Lecture Series won “Best Non-Music Bar Act” in the Baltimore City Paper.[4] Wham City members Ben O'Brien and Alan Resnick organize an annual east coast skit comedy and stand up tour entitled, "The Wham City Comedy Tour".[5] The tour was founded in 2010 by Dan Deacon and Ben O'Brien. Wham City Comedy created the satirical infomercial Live Forever as You Are Now with Alan Resnick which aired on Adult Swim in December 2013.

History

Wham City began as a popular underground show space in The Copycat Building in Baltimore, MD in the mid-2000s. Many of the group's principal members met while attending State University of New York at Purchase in the early 2000s before moving to Baltimore City. The song "Wham City" on Dan Deacon's Spiderman of the Rings (Carpark) album was written, according to the musician and co-founder, as a "national anthem" for the collective.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Sessa, Sam. "Whartscape’s last hurrah", The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, 22 July 2010, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.
  2. ↑ Malitz, David. "In Baltimore, Whartscape goes out on a high note", The Washington Post, Washington D.C., 26 July 2010, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.
  3. ↑ Johnson, Martin L. "Out of Speech", The Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore, 16 September 2009, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Best Non-Music Bar Act", The Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore, 16 September 2009, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.
  5. ↑ Case, Wesley. "More focused Wham City Comedy Tour gets seriously funny", The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, 19 April 2013, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.
  6. ↑ Harvell, Jess. "Crazy Diamonds", The Baltimore City Paper, Baltimore, 16 May 2007, Retrieved on 22 July, 2014.

Related links