Torn Hawk

Created under the alias of the Brooklyn producer and visual artist Luke Wyatt, Torn Hawk's ripped and heavily processed VHS electronics — incorporating his own method of video editing termed "video mulching" (a combination of various video collages, from '80s teen and action films to pornography) — first came to prominence in 2009. He was commissioned by rare '80s boogie reissue label Peoples Potential Unlimited to create a VHS promo compilation video of unseen '80s party and music footage on the release PPU Video Party. He would later produce videos for the likes of Mock & Toof, I:Cube, Mi Ami, and Ex-Vivian. Professing a love of pop culture and cinema (his step-mother owned an independent movie theater in Charlotte, Virginia when he was growing up), his visual and musical output carries a degree of sincerity as well as immediacy. His music was first exposed to a wider audience with his Tarifa EP through Ron Morelli's L.I.E.S. white label series in 2012. He enjoyed his most prolific year in 2013 with releases on various labels such as No Pain in Pop, Emotional Response (under his Lossmaker guise), Valcrond Video, and a couple 12"s on Morelli's main label. In 2014, he released his first long-player (via download and a limited-edition cassette) called Through Force of Will on Amanda Brown's Not Not Fun, and he readied the white-label Quadrifolio for release later that year. That November, he returned with his Mexican Summer debut Let's Cry and Do Pushups at the Same Time, which hinted at a subtler and more sophisticated approach.