Photay creates music that is a combination of synthetic and natural sounds. He employs complex rhythms and textures in all his soundscapes, and occasionally adds samples of vocal lines.

Evan Shornstein is from Woodstock, NY, and his main childhood musical inspiration was Aphex Twin. He began drumming and using turntables from a young age and later began composing.

Evan took a life-changing trip to New Guinea halfway through creating his first album, “1st,” where he learned more about polyrhythmic percussion. He already enjoyed recording, mixing, and sampling, so he started his project “Photay” soon after this trip, and he finished his first album.

Photay enjoys creating and self-producing his music. He got the attention of artists such as SBTRKT and Bonobo, and he became more popular as his music was featured on Comedy Central (Broad City) and FX (Man Seeking Woman), and Daedelus’s TEDx talk. He has so far toured across North America.