Dr. Mike Metlay created some of the first electronic music projects that used the Internet as a collaboration medium. Over 30 years, he has organized and inspired collaborative music festivals worldwide, including the long-running Different Skies and mindSpiral concerts (and their many descendants) as well as online virtual-reality shows. As one of the world’s most successful proponents of cooperative electronic music, he’s famous for his credo: “I don’t collect synthesizers – I collect synthesists.”

“Dr. Mike” left a career in nuclear physics to devote his life to words and music. Recently concluding a long tenure as Editor of RECORDING Magazine, he now pursues his passions for writing, editing, and education through his freelance firm Atomic Words (atomicwords.net). He and his team edited the famous electronic music coffee-table books PUSH TURN MOVE, PATCH & TWEAK, and PEDAL CRUSH (pushturnmove.com).

He co-founded and curates the online radio station RadioSpiral (radiospiral.net), which encourages collaborative experiences in both music cr eation and listening. His current festival project is Mountain Skies in Asheville, North Carolina (mountainskies.com), now in its ninth year. Please visit the RadioSpiral booth to chat with Dr. Mike, examine various collaboration methods, experience RadioSpiral, and play with altern ative controllers in a hands-on “petting zoo.”