To mark the occasion of Ronen Givony’s new book, Us v. Them: The Age of Indie Music and a Decade in New York (2004-2014), Roulette presents a two-night event highlighting the Brooklyn music scene and DIY community of the early aughts.
Night one celebrates the DIY venue Silent Barn with performances by David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), Haley Fohr (Circuit des Yeux), and the Wordless Music String Quartet, preceded by a short discussion and reading from Us v. Them (panelists to be announced).
Presented by Wordless Music and BrooklynVegan.
Choose the ticket level that feels right for you. All proceeds from the evening support Roulette’s programs and mission to present and preserve extraordinary experimental music, movement, and media—and above all, support artists.
$35 — General Admission
$65 — General Admission + 2 drink tickets
$95 — General Admission + 2 drink tickets
This is a special benefit to support Roulette. Member and Patron benefits do not apply—thank you for your support!
A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing.
David Longstreth Since 2002, when David Longstreth began self-releasing critically-acclaimed albums from his college dorm, DIRTY PROJECTORS has grown to be one of the most innovative bands in indie rock, pushing sonic boundaries and blazing unexpected paths. Dirty Projectors’ list of collaborators include Bjork and David Byrne, and Longstreth has co-written/produced with Solange, Bombino, and Rihanna/Kanye West/Paul McCartney on the worldwide hit “FourFiveSeconds.” The band has played at most of the major music festivals in the world, and countless venues, big and small. The most recent album, Song of the Earth (2025) was recorded by Dirty Projectors with the chamber orchestra s t a r g a z e. The Los Angeles Philharmonic performed the piece’s US premiere in a sold out show at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2024. Longstreth scored two Hollywood films in 2025 — the orchestral score for The Legend of Ochi, and a piano score for Love Me. Longstreth is currently at work on two Dirty Projectors albums and scores for percussion quartet and chamber orchestra.
Haley Fohr is a vocalist, composer and singer-songwriter based in Chicago, Illinois. Her musical endeavors focus around our human condition, and her fifteen-year career as Circuit des Yeux has grown into one of America’s most successful efforts to connect the personal to the universal. She is most distinctly identified by her 4-octave voice and unique style of 12-string guitar. Her recent works include an original soundtrack for Charles Bryant’s silent film Salomé (1923), commissioned by Opera North, her critically acclaimed 2021 album -io, and two LPs under the mysterious moniker of Jackie Lynn.
Wordless Music Orchestra is the house band of New York’s Wordless Music series, which was founded by non-musician Ronen Givony in 2006, and has since presented concerts around the world, pairing artists from the sound worlds of classical and contemporary music. Comprising New York’s most omnivorous young musicians, the orchestra has performed at the Sydney Opera House, Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and London’s Barbican Center, and collaborated with artists ranging from Sigur Rós, Spiritualized, Jonny Greenwood, Mica Levi, Ludwig Göransson, Jason Moran, Joanna Newsom, Dev Hynes, Nicholas Britell, and Jóhann Jóhannsson to Paul Thomas Anderson, Barry Jenkins, Terrence Malick, and Jane Campion.
Us v. Them The Age of Indie Music and a Decade in New York (2004-2014) In the tradition of Just Kids and Our Band Could Be Your Life, Ronen Givony’s Us v. Them chronicles the generation of young artists who came to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s: a small but seismic scene that coalesced under a billionaire mayor, a series of forever wars, and a music industry in free fall. Through reporting, research, and interviews with musicians, industry insiders, and individuals from Pitchfork, Vice, Scion, and the Red Bull Music Academy, Us v. Them examines the rise and fall of indie music in a post-Napster landscape, marked by vast disruption in technology, politics, economics, journalism, and patronage.
Supporting Roulette = Supporting ArtistsRoulette was founded by artists for artists, and has stayed true to that ethos for nearly five decades. We strive to be the best place in New York City for artists at every stage in their careers, presenting over 100 concerts a year, paying artists guaranteed fees, and preserving their work in our extensive public archive. Through our Awarded Artist program, we have distributed over $2.3M in commissioning, residency, and fellowship fees to artists developing new work, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in their fields or later recognized as MacArthur Fellows, Pulitzer Prize winners, and NEA Jazz masters. A ticket for this benefit concert goes directly to supporting our mission of supporting artists making new, experimental work.
