Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape and the RBG documentary; her track, “Congratulations,” has notched over 20 million streams. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections. As a speaker, Dessa has delivered keynote speeches and presentations on art, science, and entrepreneurship; guest lectures at universities and colleges across the US; and a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love.  She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. Dessa has been covered by Pitchfork, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal amongst others. The LA Times says she “sounds like no one else.” NPR’s All Songs Considered calls her “a national treasure.” On the stage and on the page, Dessa’s style is defined by ferocity, wit, tenderness, and candor. "Incredible gravitas and presence and humanity. There’s just so much intelligence to everything she does." –  NPR, All Songs Considered "One of the most anomalous artists in music today." – NPR, World Cafe "Sound the Bells launches Dessa to the top of a vaunted class that features the likes of The Who, Sting, and Peter Gabriel." – Salon  There’s nobody quite like Dessa and no book quite like “My Own Devices.” It’s funny, heartbreaking and brilliantly written, and very possibly the best memoir by a musician since Patti Smith’s “ Just Kids.” – Star Tribune  "Like no one else" – Los Angeles Times "A force of nature" –  Sound Opinionss

A passing conversation in a studio. Whispers among friends at a show. The notion of musicians working together on a project is often suggested yet seldom realized. Chicago’s M O N A K R was born from such a notion in the grey of Winter 2014. It is a collaboration featuring Saam Hagshenas and Jonathan Marks of Hey Champ, two time Grammy-nominated vocalist Matthew Santos, and Dan Brunelle of Gemini Club. Hagshenas had approached Santos for years about lending his voice to a Hey Champ production, but the timing and music was never right until 2014, when Hagshenas wrote "Diamond" after losing his uncle to cancer. Santos added his vocal flair to the track, and the result led the two to decide this project should live beyond a single song. Drummer and co-producer Marks was then tapped to lend his talents to the group. Finally they approached Brunelle, who’s band Gemini Club had shared remixes and stages with Hey Champ for years. A lineup complete, the band born of whispers came to light.

Grammy-nominated singer, actor, writer, multi-media artist; Brandon Markell Holmes is a formally trained theatre actor who curates common ground in creative storytelling and abstract exposition. His work themes are reflective of social observations and the symbiotic relationship between art & history. Brandon's premiere works include a visual EP entitled, Inertia, featured on Afropunk, Art's Incubator with The University of Chicago, and in conjunction with OpenTV Beta at North Western University, as well as a collaboration with international recording artist The Gorillaz on "Circle of Friendz" off their 2017 album, Humanz. Brandon's song-writing has also achieved claim after "You Won't," produced by Bobby Wooten and Andre Danek, was picked up for FOX's Empire, season 4 episode 5, featuring Jussie Smollett.