This semester's edition of the yearly MusicUnitesUS program brings something altogether different than did its predecessors. In past years, MusicUnitesUS has featured classical Chinese instrumentalists, a classical Indian vocalist and an Afro-Brazilian dance group. This year, the electronic-acoustic project Nettle, which draws from electronic music, classical Arabic and North African folk traditions, will grace the stage of the Slosberg Music Center as well as provide a number of extra performances throughout the week. The group's residency begins Thursday with open classes and concerts and culminates in the keynote concert in the Slosberg Recital Hall Saturday night at 8 p.m. Jayce Clayton, a.k.a. DJ/rupture, one of the founding members of Nettle, sat down with the Justice to discuss his music and the band's upcoming performance residency.JustArts: I understand that Prof. Wayne Marshall (MUS) helped put together your concert. How did you become acquainted with Wayne?

Jace Clayton: I became acquainted with Wayne through a friend of mine named Jake Trussle, a.k.a. DJ C, . and the funny thing is that Wayne and I went to college together, and we both attended Harvard and overlapped, but I had no idea who he was until many years later and that initial 12-inch that my friend Jake Trussle released by [Wayne] had kind of brought him to my attention, and some point soon after we got in touch I realized we had all these things in common, like blogging.

JA: How would you describe your music?

JC: We're a five-piece band, and it began as a project with myself and electronics and violin and banjo, myself working with a guy named Abdelhak Rahal, and for a while it was just us. The initial idea was mixing electronic music with Arabic music. . This started probably in 2002, 2003 and slowly over the years-I released a Nettle album in 2001 that was more of a solo project, called Build A Fort, Set That On Fire and then we got together for a remix I was doing, and then we hit it off really well so we just kept on working together, and it's expanded now. So we've got Abdel primarily on violin; we've got a guy named Khalid Bennaji on a Moroccan instrument called a guembri (it's a three-string bass); we've got a guy named Brett Arnold who plays cello; a percussionist [named] Grey Filastine; and myself, and so the sound is quite similar to what it was in the beginning. So it sounds like these strings, cello and violin, but a lot of times it'll be routed through the electronics, processed by, so I'm interested in the boundaries between beat-based music or something electronic and [something] live, more organic.

JA: What kind of music will you be playing at Brandeis-mostly new music or music from throughout your career?

JC: Each time we bring new members to the group, each person will come with some musical background, and it's constantly evolving, and that's kind of what makes it interesting. And so our concerts are nothing like what they were, say, five years ago. Those days are gone. It's totally different. It's fun that we had that repertoire for a while. It's like with each new member, things will grow and change, so I'm very interested in the idea that it's not a fixed thing of any sort.

JA: I want to ask you about the set format of these MusicUnitesUS concerts-there's usually a mid-week performance and master class and other appearances, so to speak, before the Saturday night concert. What do you guys expect from those kind of auxiliary performances? How is that going to work? I've been told that not everyone in your group speaks English, and that you have a common language that isn't English, so how do you see that playing out over your residency at Brandeis?

JC: That's an interesting question. I should say, the project began in Barcelona, where I've lived for many years. I've met everybody in Barcelona, . and I'm pretty sure that Brandeis is sorting out translators from Spanish to English or Arabic to English for those of us who don't speak any English. I don't know what to expect; I've never been to Brandeis, . and so it's up to you guys, as it were. We're going to do what we do, and we're excited to be doing this. It's totally amazing for us to be able to come to the States. Brandeis is helping us get the necessary visas to come into the country. It's been a huge and exciting time for us. . We're interested that other people are curious as to the thoughts behind our music.