STEPHIN MERRITT Composer , Musician
Stephin Merritt is the writersinger-producer of The Magnetic Fields , the 6ths and the Gothic Archies . Stephin also has the group Future Bible Heroes , in collaboration with Christopher Ewen . To date Stephin has written , produced and recorded 11 albums with The Magnetic Fields . Their 1999 album , 69 Love Songs , garnered widespread acclaim , including “ best of ” year-end lists in Spin , Rolling Stone , the New York Times , LA Times , Washington Post and many other major publications . The Magnetic Fields have performed as part of Lincoln Center ’ s American Songwriters series and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music ’ s Next Wave of Song . Stephin has composed original music and lyrics for three music theatre pieces directed by Chen Shi-Zheng , and mounted an Off Broadway stage musical of Neil Gaiman ’ s Coraline . Stephin composed the score for the academy award nominated film Pieces of April and for the independent film Eban and Charley and released soundtrack albums for each . Stephin ’ s song The Book of Love was performed by Peter Gabriel on his 2010 album Scratch My Back . Stephin has composed incidental music for the HarperCollins ’ audio books of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and for Neil Gaiman ’ s Coraline , and subsequently released an album Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events . In 2014 Stephin released 101 Two Letter Words , a book of poems about the tiniest words in the Scrabble dictionary , illustrated by Roz Chast . www . houseoftomorrow . com
SUSANNA PORTE Musician
Susanna Porte earned a B . Mus . in Violoncello Performance from Oberlin Conservatory , a B . A . with Honors in Russian from Oberlin College and a Teaching Certificate in Music from Carnegie Mellon University . Susanna has performed extensively in orchestras and chamber groups in Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area . Susanna was a founding member of the Cello Chix , an electric-cello-and-drums band that featured arrangements of classic rock tunes . Susanna now lives in Berkeley , California , free-lancing as a classical and jazz cellist , music arranger and Russian translator .
CHRISTOPHER EWEN Musician
Christopher Ewen is a Cambridge , Massachusetts-based electronic musician and DJ . Formerly a member of 80s-90s alternative rock band Figures On A Beach , Christopher is now the composer and main instrumentalist for Future Bible Heroes , an ongoing electro-pop collaboration with Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson . Christopher appeared on The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs , and collaborated on a song with Tanya Donelly for the Swan Song Series . Christopher DJs at several club nights in Cambridge , Boston and Provincetown and is currently recording a solo album .
ANTHONY KACZYNSKI Musician
Anthony Kaczynski is a singersongwriter-guitarist / multiinstrumentalist . Anthony currently leads the rock band Fireking and was a founding member of 1980s synth-pop band Figures on a Beach . In 2013 Anthony performed live alongside former FOAB member Christopher Ewen in one of Stephin Merritt ’ s other projects , Future Bible Heroes . Anthony lives in Boston with their partner and the world ’ s largest Chihuahua .
QUINCE MARCUM Musician
Quince Marcum has performed with Greek Judas , The Hungry March Band and Metal Flake Mother , among others . Quine has lived in North Carolina and Brooklyn .
SHIRLEY SIMMS Musician
Shirley Simms met Stephin a week before turning 10 . Soon after they composed their only song together , Beach a Boop-Boop . An accomplished songwriter , Shirley has fronted several bands , including Lazy Susan , a group with long time Magnetic Fields member Claudia Gonson , after they met in high school . Shirley provided vocals for an early version of the first Magnetic Fields album , Distant Plastic Trees , in 1988 . Shirley then reappeared with the band in 1999 as a vocalist on 69 Love Songs , providing lead vocals for six songs . In 2008 Shirley formally joined The Magnetic Fields , singing roughly half the songs on their subsequent three albums and touring around the US and Europe , providing lead and harmony vocals , and playing ukulele and autoharp . In 2013 Shirley also toured with one of Merritt ’ s other bands , Future Bible Heroes , along with Gonson and current TMF members Chris Ewen and Anthony Kaczyinski .