Photay

Under the name Photay, Evan Shornstein has been developing electronic music from Woodstock, New York, that blends organic pulse, ambient, house and an experimental approach. A trained drummer who attended Purchase College and was influenced by a study period in Guinea focused on percussion, Photay emerged in the early 2010s with 1st (2012) and the Photay EP (2014) on Astro Nautico, where his work on rhythm, texture and sound montage took a clearer shape. After Sadie (2016), he released Onism (2017), featuring, among others, Madison McFerrin, and broadened his palette on Waking Hours (2020) for Mexican Summer, mixing contemplative compositions, guest vocals and club-derived structures. In the same year he issued On Hold, a more conceptual project built from telephone hold music. Photay also operates in collaborative settings—most notably with Carlos Niño & Friends on An Offering (2021) and More Offerings (2022), and with Sam O.B. in Ensemble Entendu. Alongside his live performances and DJ sets, he has produced several remixes for artists from electronic and hybrid scenes, before returning in 2024 with Windswept, an album centered on movements and natural phenomena.