The Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia will host its fall Museum Mix on Thursday, September 19, from 8 to 11 p.m. Troy Hicks, known as DJ Zelium, will be mixing a fun blend of house music throughout the night. All of the galleries will be open for this late-night art party, and free food and refreshments will be provided by local Athens restaurants. As always, this event is completely free and open to the public.
DJ Zelium is a self-described “product of the late 90s House and Techno music scene of NYC.” He brought his talents to Athens two years ago and since has been a prominent house and techno deejay in the local music scene in addition to co-owning a fashion design company.
Zelium experiments with sound in every piece of music he produces. He uses the “Brion Gyson Cut-Up Method” to cut, rearrange and overlap sound to create what he calls “music without expectation.” Zelium originally discovered his obsession with electronic music when he danced the nights away in New York City clubs to the sets of some of the best house deejays in the world. He studied sound and production at these clubs and later grew interested in German electronic music, obscure disco and Afrobeat.
By playing NYC after-parties for designer shows and warehouse parties, he successfully combined all his music discoveries into his own style. Zelium says that, because of his creative experimentation with sound, each song he produces is an “unexpected surprise.”
When DJ Zelium moved to Athens a couple years ago, he found that, although it was a music-driven town, house music did not have much of a presence. Since then, he has been cultivating the local house music scene by throwing monthly parties and drawing more and more “house heads” to the movement. DJ Zelium also plays the annual Boybutante Ball, a drag performance show that raises money for Athens-area residents affected by HIV/AIDS.
In addition to his deejay career, Hicks is half of a designer duo called Necklush that creates hand-printed, hand-crafted unisex fashion accessories. The creative duo started out selling their pieces on the streets of New York in 2008 and was able to represent Etsy in the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum’s Design Triennial in 2011.
Zelium says, “I am extremely excited for the Museum Mix so that I can present a mix of compelling house music that is a little more chill and eclectic, while still being house-y and fun. It’s going to be a great nite!”
Exhibitions on view will include Rachel Whiteread’s new installation in the Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, “Before the War: Photographs of Syria by Peter Aaron,” “Storytelling in Renaissance Maiolica,” “Drama and Devotion in Baroque Rome,” “Color, Form and Light” and “Out of the Darkness,” as well as the permanent collection galleries.
Sponsors of the event include The National, Marti’s at Midday, Depalma’s Italian Café and Dondero’s Kitchen.
Andrea Giordano
Michael Lachowski
