Singer and violinist Owen Pallett began his musical career at the age of 12 by scoring a video game. He was the principal member of the Toronto–based musical project Final Fantasy. His debut album, Has a Good Home, was released in 2006 by Blocks, a cooperative record label he cofounded; his second, He Poos Clouds, appeared in 2006 on the Tomlab label. Pallett, who has recorded and toured with the Arcade Fire, the Hidden Cameras, and Jim Guthrie, released the solo album Heartland in 2010.

The Submarines are husband and wife John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard. The pair originally met in Boston, where Dragonetti (a.k.a. Jack Drag) made records for labels Hepcat, Sugar Free, and A&M; and produced Hazard’s 2002 album Little Airplane. The Submarines’ debut CD, Declare a New State!, was released in 2006; subsequent albums include 2011's Love Notes/Letter Bombs. They live in Los Angeles, where Dragonetti also works as a composer for film and TV.

Greg Tate lives in New York City. His books include Flyboy in the Buttermilk and Everything but the Burden: What White People are Taking from Black Culture, and he regularly contributes to Rolling Stone, VIBE, The New York Times, and the Village Voice. Tate cofounded the Black Rock Coalition and also leads Burnt Sugar, an orchestra of musicians that melds funk, jazz, rock, blues, R&B;, hip-hop, and classical. The band released More Than Posthuman: Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion in 2006.

Born in the north of Sweden, singer/songwriter Frida Hyvönen released her debut album, Until Death Comes, on Secretly Canadian in 2006. Her subsequent release (on Licking Fingers) was the first in her “Frida Hyvönen Gives You...” series and featured music she composed for the dance Pudel, choreographed by Dorte Olesen.

Lost in the Trees is a 10-piece orchestra led by Ari Picker, formerly of the Never and the B-Sides. The group, which formed in Boston while Picker was attending the Berklee College of Music, has released Time Taunts Me on the Trekky Records and A Church That Fits Our Needs (Anti- Records).

The Family Doctor is a side project of the Felice Brothers. Simone, Ian, and James Felice, the eldest of seven children, hail from the Woodstock, NY, area. Their full-length debut—the final album to be recorded at that town’s legendary Bearsville Studios—was released in 2008.

Harmony and Pollution is the project of musician Jason P. Grisell and friends. Grisell, who lives in Brooklyn, has released three albums under that moniker, most recently the EP Ojai (Felt Records). He is also a member of The Grand Hotel, a collaboration with Christopher Larose.

Dylan in the Movies is a rotating group of musicians led by Bostonian singer/songwriter Brian Sullivan. The band’s first effort, Don’t Postpone Joy, was released in 2000; subsequent releases include Feel the Pull and 2011's All the Light That Shines.

The Moral Loopholes are a collective of electroacoustic musicians working in and around New York City who produce and perform original works designed to forward social evolution.

Steve Beck and Julie Cornett live in San Francisco and record under the name Needle. Their records include their debut, Songs Your Mother Never Sang You, and the 2012 EP release St. Timothy’s.