Electric Dreams

Returning to SJMA for the first time since the pandemic, Mild Monk & somn.ok pay homage to artist Alexander Calder with “Electric Dreams,” a unique soundscape of improvised electronic music using various analog and modular synthesizers.

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Mild Monk 

Mild Monk is the recording project of Chinese American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Henry Stein. After picking up guitar in 2016, Stein went from tapping beats on GarageBand's virtual drum set and recording vocals through an iPhone mic to recording real guitar amps and learning drums, bass, and piano, slowly upgrading and teaching himself production tools like Logic Pro X and Ableton Live. As a child of the internet age, Stein’s tastes and influences in music reach deep into the corners of the web, from Japanese City Pop to Brazilian Bossa Nova and everything in between. Though experimentation is a common thread in the Mild Monk discography, there is still a cohesion, which reveals sincerity and care for every song. Lyrically, Stein reflects and introspects, believing that the greatest change begins with what’s within. Engaging in collaboration with a deep sense of gratitude and respect, Stein has worked with and continues to create with musicians and artists such as somn.ok, Yes.Yes, Ian Santillano, Ruby Choi, Lidia Rodriguez, and Peach Luffe. Though transplanted to the Bay Area in 2018, Stein holds his Connecticut roots and early childhood in China and Taiwan close to heart, letting it inform the project's inner and outer significance. Which, in a full circle moment, has led Stein to his current project: Creating the fourth Mild Monk studio album titled "Comets,” a title chosen based on the comet's significance and connection to the creation of the universe. 

somn.ok

Sean Bautista (he/they) is a FilAm multi-instrumentalist, beatmaker, and producer from Milpitas who is always seeking to make experimental and progressive music. Creating the moniker somn.ok in 2016, they started making hip-hop beats with a Roland SP404SX while being a session musician for local artists. Some notable works include the “Stay a While” single by Mild Monk (2020); “Homeboy,” a collaboration album with Thatfool Al (2022); “High Place Phenomenon” by somn.ok (2023); and pieces featured in poet Jason Bayani’s stage performance, “Locus of Control,” all of which range from grimy boom bap beats to indie and lush down tempo electronica. 

Sean is currently the bass player for South Bay-based math-rock band Ripplings, who have released their first EP, “Ad Astra” (2023).  

Support

San José Museum of Art First Fridays are made possible in part by major support from the Jay Paul Company.

Operations and programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by principal support from SJMA’s Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, and the Lipman Family Foundation; by lead support from the Adobe Foundation, Toby and Barry Fernald, Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Tammy and Tom Kiely, Kimberly and Patrick Lin, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Skyline Foundation, and the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100; and with significant endowment support from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.