- When
- July 1, 2021
- Tickets
- Free
On Thursday, July 1, enjoy happy hour in the museum’s outdoor sculpture courtyard with tunes provided by UHaul Disco.
Bring your appetite, too! Stunt Pig Food Truck and a bar created by CafĂŠ Carnegie offering custom snacks, kid-friendly treats, local beers, delicious wines, and more will be on-site.
While youâre at Inside Out, participate in art-making activities for all ages.
Inside Out events are FREE, open to all ages, have limited capacity, and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Make a day of it and reserve your timed tickets to visit the museum before or after you enjoy Inside Out!
Liner Notes
with Lauren Goshinksi
UHAUL DISCO is a lil queer party for cuties by cuties that has been movin booties and packin the dance floor since 2019. Tonightâs event is co-produced with artists from Assemble, offering art activities alongside the music.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Samira Mendoza is an interdisciplinary performance artist, DJ, curator, and educator currently residing in Pittsburgh, PA.
W00dy exists as a force on Earth to bring unabashed joy to the dancefloors of speaker freaks and free spirits everywhere. Inflecting the dynamic club rhythms of their native Baltimore roots with the boundless curiosity of DIY experimentalism, no sound or time signature is off limits in their pursuit of chaotic exuberance.
pvkvsv is a Congolese-American beatmaker, dj, and emerging producer from Pittsburgh, PA. His music expands on jazz and hip hop roots, incorporates electronic elements, and samples from music that moves- bossa nova, flamenco, Italian film scores, and more.
Gladstone Deluxe is a classically trained percussionist who has performed as a soloist at the Kennedy Center, a Producer/DJ with multiple works charted in the Beatport Top 10, a technical audio engineer at Facebook Reality Labs, and a sound artist creating interactive installations that combine spatial audio, motion and reactive electronic soundscapes.
Quaishawn is an artist, educator, and business owner of 1st Layer llc and currently holding teaching positions at the Andy Warhol Museum in the Education Department as well as resident project artist at the Artists Image Resource.
Suzi Hall, a.k.a. Lady Hall of Lady Hall’s Beads is a self-taught artist who has been making jewelry since 2003. Every work carries positive energies and good prayers for the future wearer’s happiness, wellbeing and abundance.
LG: UHaul Disco, the house party named after a location⌠next door ;) I wonât give up your exact coordinates, but the concept is one that nods to a long history of renegade parties, DIY music spots, and good ole informal listening sessions. Can you tell us why a house party was the perfect format for your event?
UD: Great question. Weâve been doing events in all kinds of settings over the past few years, from house shows and DIY spots to theaters and institutional spaces. Weâve found that when you invite folks into your own home, itâs an offering of vulnerability that creates a very intimate, welcoming vibe. We also get to make all of the rules â or, more specifically, not make any rules. And last but not least, weâve noticed that it can be hard to really get to know people at dance parties that happen in venues, because thereâs often not a great place to sit down and chat. At our spot, thereâs always lots of conversation, so folks that know each otherâs faces from various dancefloors can actually connect.
LG: Before Covid hit, UD was just getting started. Your curation was a mix of live electronics and DJs who were also just getting started in the Pittsburgh scene. Who is UD for?
UD:
itâs for people that want to dance late into the night
itâs for people that want to lose themselves in the music and conversation
its for friends and friends of friends and anybody trying to get down!
itâs for people who love music and dancing and getting weird and being fun and queer lol
itâs people that are striving to question norms, to find new and different ways of being themselves.
LG: There is a subtext of jazz and experimental music that runs across a lot of your own work as music producers, and the artists you bring together with UD. How do you hope this can inform new kinds of âdancefloorâ experiences?
UD: Thatâs interesting that you picked up on that. Before we are musicians, we are practitioners of improvisation. We all improvise as musicians all the time, but we also try to incorporate the spirit of improvisation into our lives and actions. Improvisation is a way to question and reject formal structures because improvisation is dynamic, responsive, and immediate, and creates a space for new ideas to form that might be outside of the âacceptableâ range of ideas. In that way, improvisation is an act of resistance. Itâs also what goes down on the dancefloor: people reacting to the music in whatever way they feel.
So to circle back around to your question, experimental music and jazz are genres that are rich with improvisation, and weâre just kind of naturally attracted to them because of that.
LG: Drop some knowledge. What are the sources of your music inspiration?
Or, is there anything you wish people knew more about Pittsburgh music and nightlife?
Samira Mendoza: Indian Classical Music, nature, Reggaeton, Bronx House Music, and my friends
Gladstone Deluxe: Herbie Hancock and 70s/80s funk in general, Video Game Music, Claude Debussy
W00dy: My main sources of inspiration are general chaos, nostalgia, complex rhythms, love, community, and togetherness.
PVKVSV: Nature and urban landscapes have always been important sources of inspiration for me. Lately Iâve been listening to off-kilter/odd-meter beats, video game soundtracks, experimental electronic music, a lot of new RnB, Mndsgn, instrumental hip-hop loops, and rap in the vein of Boldy James and Jay Worthy. As far as local influences go Iâve been inspired by the works of Dan Sully, Cam Chambers, INEZ, C. Scott, Nice Rec, NVSV, JVGGY, Bossy, Wali ,FRH, Tribe Eternal, Billy Hoyle, jGGZ Patel, My Favorite Color, Yorel Tifsim, and Arsinel & Fam Ross. When it comes to mixing I really admire Sasha Marieâs style and music selection, Sean Granâs range and musical knowledge, and Theo of The Sessionâs overall sound and aesthetic.
LG: How can people help music and nightlife in Pittsburgh recover from Covid, and come back better? Anything on the horizon folks should attend or support?
UD: Bring your whole self to the ongoing, everlasting communal party. If youâre a writer, write about the scene; if youâre a dancer, show up and dance; if youâre a lover, share your love. Everyone has something they can contribute to the culture. Oh, and buy music on Bandcamp <3
LG: For you, why is music and nightlife an essential part of culture at large?
UD: Itâs pretty simple for us: the club is one of the only spaces where we can find a brief reprieve from the structures and pressures that the world imposes on all of us. Itâs one of the only places to let go and be your truest self.
W00dy: Music and nightlife is an essential release for everyone! Moving your body to music is like nothing else. People would obviously be really bored without it and it inspires everyone in some way.
PVKVSV: Music has always inspired me to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures, traditions and art forms. Throughout my journey Iâve realized that audible art forms have have served as catalyst for me to pursue a deeper knowledge of my own culture and heritage as well. I believe its essential to have spaces that promote experiences for creative exchanges as well as bringing new perspectives to light.
LG: TRACK ID. Name a track youâre rinsing right now, that we might hear at Carnegie Museum of Art.
Samira Mendoza: AI Markus – ska-nonh (self released, 2021)
Gladstone Deluxe: Ancestral Recall – Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah (Ropeadope Records, 2019)
W00dy: Three 6 Mafia or Crime Mob
PVKVSV: The Whooligan & Fernando Damon – In My Own World (self released, 2021)
About Inside Out:
Inside Out is Carnegie Museum of Artâs new outdoor summer event series celebrating and supporting Pittsburghâs rich cultural landscape. Running from June 5 through September 4 on Thursdays from 4-8 p.m. and Saturdays from 12-5 p.m., the museum is partnering with over 28 regional artists and small arts organizations to transform the museumâs outdoor Sculpture Courtyard into the seasonâs go-to destination with a robust schedule of pop-up performances, DJs, art-making activities, local food trucks and beverages, kid-friendly treats, and more. See the full schedule of events here.