Gavin Rayna Russom

Gavin Rayna Russom
Gavin Rayna Russom July 2017
Background information
Also known as	Black Meteoric Star, The Crystal Ark
Born	(1974-05-01) May 1, 1974 (age 43) Providence, Rhode Island
Genres	Acid house, ambient, nu-disco, electronica
Occupation(s)	Producer, DJ, Illustrator
Years active	1998 to Present
Associated acts	Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom, LCD Soundsystem, Black Dice
Website	http://www.gavinrayna.com

Gavin Rayna Russom is an American artist and producer. Russom has released music under various guises, including Black Leotard Front, Black Meteoric Star and The Crystal Ark, as well as collaborative work with Delia Gonzalez. Russom lives in New York City.

Central to Russom's aesthetic is the search for unity between humanity, machine and art, which has translated into Russom designing and building custom analog synthesizers, both for her own music and for others. Known in the electronic community as "The Wizard" for her technical prowess, she has built instruments for the likes of James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Tim Goldsworthy (UNKLE, The Loving Hand) and Bjorn Copeland (Black Dice).

Russom was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1974. Expressing a profound interest in music from an early age, she spent her teenage years exploring drone and feedback using tape loops and mixers and playing in psychedelic noise bands with Michael Kelley (Kelley Polar) and with Brian Chippendale (Lightning Bolt, Mindflayer). Russom went on to study computer music, theory, composition, and improvisation at Bard College from 1994 to 1996. A growing disillusionment with traditional compositional modes along with a move to New York in 1997 opened Russom's music to more experimental forms of expression. In 1998 her collaboration with Delia Gonzalez began, a project that would lead to a number of releases on DFA.

Russom moved to Berlin in 2004 where, inspired by that city's flourishing electronic music scene as well as Germany's history of psychedelic music, she produced three singles under the name Black Meteoric Star, which would eventually be collected and released as a self-titled LP in 2009. As of 2010, she had relocated to New York where she was producing music in various veins including in collaboration with Viva Ruiz as The Crystal Ark. Russom has also toured playing synths and percussion with LCD Soundsystem.