Guide Note:

Musician and composer Dan Deacon creates a kind of electronic music known as "future shock." He is a member of the Wham City Collective, a community of Baltimore, Maryland-based experimental artists and musicians.

Fast Facts:

1. Born in 1981 in West Babylon, New York
2. Lost 60 pounds after becoming a vegan
3. Performed at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art
4. Rated 2005's Best Solo Performer by Baltimore City Paper
5. Single "Crystal Cat" named one of the Best of 2007 by Rolling Stone
6. Played Coachella 2008

Deacon studied music at Purchase College in New York State while playing with a variety of bands, including Langhorne Slim and Rated R. He has a graduate degree in computer music composition.

After moving to 2004, Deacon quickly became a leading member of the city's Wham City Collective and a focal point of the local electronic music scene. He released the EP Acorn Master to critical acclaim in 2006.

Though Deacon will often sell a limited number of homemade recordings at his live performances, his lone distributed studio album is 2007's Spiderman of the Rings, on Carpark Records.