Communikey Festival 2015 begins this Thursday, April 16 in Boulder, Colorado with our first DJ Boutique downstairs at eTown Hall, which serves once again as our Festival HQ this year. There, Denver selectors Radere and Pax Amo will dive deep into their respective record collections and greet festival participants with a blend of ambient, drone and esoteric sonic oddities. Later that afternoon at The Studio (Boulder), we also host the first of this year’s workshops with artist Jen Lewin. Her kid-friendly Wearables Workshop explores techniques used in her interactive sculptures, with participants learning to paint and decorate silk scarves before weaving LEDs directly into the fabric to create a futuristic fashion accessory.

On Thursday night, we move to eTown Hall’s upstairs theater for our Neon Panic Room Opening Gala featuring recent Boulder transplant Experimental Housewife and legendary Philadelphia-based Buchla master Charles Cohen. Afterwards, the party relocates to madelife for our Thursday Nightcap. Our own little way to say, “welcome to Colorado,” this year’s Nightcap boasts Playground label boss and Denver house stalwart Roger That, as well as Deep Club resident Lone Dancer. With two of Denver’s true up-and-coming talents at the controls, don’t miss this opportunity to connect with fellow Festival participants and get into the spirit of the weekend!

Friday starts on a chilled note, with a special film screening of Peter Mettler’sThe End Of Time at eTown Hall. We’ll also fire up the system at eTown Hall for the day’s DJ Boutique. Michael Jones and Derek Russo will hold things down for this round, showcasing the sounds that have made them staples on the Front Range circuit. Later in the afternoon, Jen Lewin will host the second session of her Wearables Workshop before we move things up to the Atlas Institute Black Box Theater for our first AV Showcase of the weekend, Solar Mythologies. Neel — currently touring in support of his acclaimed Phobos album — and Clinker will take us deep into their respective sound worlds for this event, utilizing the Black Box’s formidable technological armaments to their fullest effect.

Please note: the Atlas Black Box event is free and open to the public. The facility features extremely limited seating, so plan on arriving early to ensure entry. Doors open at 6:45!

After we wrap things up on on campus, we move back downtown to the Odd Fellows Lodge. There, we will hand over the keys to Jamie McCue and his stable of Silent Season artists, including Segue, Refracted and resident label visualist Danthon. They will transform the Lodge into an immersive environment that showcases the label’s inimitable dub techno aesthetics for the rest of the night.

Moving into Saturday, our third and final DJ Boutique at eTown Hall features a master class in dancefloor dynamics with Max PFFP and Deep Club resident Ponyrok. We also hold a workshop double-header this day, with madelife hosting Sean Peuquet’s MaxMSP: Synthesis & Machine Listening session and The Studio (Boulder) opening their doors once again for open source hardware guru Alicia Gibb’s Paper Electronics For Kids program. Later on Saturday night, we move back into the main hall at eTown for our second AV Showcase with Boulder electronic auteurs Normal Ones and Brooklyn-based modular synthesist Lichens exploring The Color Of Digital Pomegranates.

To round out our Saturday schedule, we take over the big room at Apex Movement for Pagan Metalwork, this year’s after-hours event. A midwestern double-header warms things up, as Paul Fleetwood and Erika take to the controls. Then, the intense pairing of Paula Temple and Orphx will take us through the heart of the night before Christina Chatfield brings us back down to earth with one of her signature live PAs.

Once we’ve had a moment to catch our collective breath, we ease into the last day of this year’s festival with a special edition of Sunday Morning With Coffee at Shine Restaurant & Gathering Place with OG CMKY fam Time For Trees and Brandon Brown. Then, we move things to Central Park for We Shall Always Be Outside, the CMKY 2015 edition of our fan-favorite park party. Local producer FOANS, Santa Fe mainstay Erin E and Stridah will bring us through the afternoon,before Voices From The Lake’s Neel rounds out the night with an extended DJ set full of hypnotic rhythms and psychedelic techno vibes. A true technician behind the decks, we can’t think of a better artist to play the closing record at our 8th and final festival.

To purchase Communikey Festival 2015 passes and individual showcase tickets, please visit our Stranger Tickets page. More information regarding this year’s program can also be found on our website; but be sure to follow us on Twitter for live #CMKY2015 updates and Festival info!