Caryn Havlik

Producer

Caryn is a drummer and recovering pianist. When not breathing music, she is also a softball player, biker, and kid and adult-inspirer.

Caryn is a drummer, recovering pianist, and long-time radio producer at WNYC, on the show New Sounds with John Schaefer. Also called "The New Sounds All-Purpose Assistant" (NSAPA, for short), she enjoys trying to get brass bands more airtime, is smitten with almost all kora music ever, and loves sending clearance form letters to artists, composers, publishers and labels for use on podcasts. Yes, Schaefer's desk clutter is legendary. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

She is the drummer of the metal band Mortals (Relapse Records), has recorded with The All Things, and she is a Dream Cymbals Artist. Caryn teaches drums, keyboard, and audio production to folks aged 5 to 65 at the Willie Mae Rock Camp, Tom Tom Academy, and through private lessons. Her articles, interviews, and reviews on music, drumming, and not sucking at softball have been published in both Decibel and Tom Tom Magazine, the latter of which she served as the Metal issue’s co-editor (No. 13.)

When not breathing music, Havlik is a competitive softball player on three different teams, a kamikaze biker, and an acupuncture junkie. Little known facts: she holds a B.A. in Japanese Language and Literature and studies Kanji on her phone in her spare time; she grew up as a classical pianist and had a pretty sweet gig as second-string organist at her church as a teenager; she very much enjoys Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and The Great British Baking Show. 

Caryn Havlik appears in the following:

New Sounds Year in Review 2022: 2

Thursday, January 05, 2023

New Sounds
The Staff weighs in on new music that turnt my ears in 2022. Most of these sound so good on vinyl, or high quality downloads, and it's great to support the artists. I'm just saying...
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The Pioneering Techno of the Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble

Monday, April 25, 2022

Composer, DJ, and techno pioneer Carl Craig joins us with the Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble.

New Sounds Year in Review 2021: 2

Sunday, January 02, 2022

New Sounds
The Staff weighs in on the music that turnt my ears in 2021. Most of these sound so good on vinyl, or high quality downloads, and it's great to support the artists. I'm just saying...  
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Comment

On Beaches and Fighting, Not Dancing

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

New Sounds
Reflecting on beach holidays of another sort, with 'Sun and Sea' and the joy of F Choir's I'm Not Dancing, I'm Fighting from the 2020 Borealis Festival in Bergen, Norway.  
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Rejoice, Here Comes Tony - Legendary Drummer Tony Allen Remembered

Friday, May 01, 2020

New Sounds
The legendary drummer Tony Allen has died in Paris, at 79. His unique, propulsive, funky, innovative drum patterns helped to define the style called Afrobeat. Here's a remembrance. 
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Weekly Music Roundup: Angélique Kidjo, Bat for Lashes, and Team Dresch

Monday, June 10, 2019

New Sounds
This week, a tribute to the Queen of Salsa from Angélique Kidjo, a new album from Santana, romance and menace by Bat for Lashes, and the return of queer punk icons Team Dresch.
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Glory to Women II: More Groundbreaking Musicians From Around the World

Friday, March 15, 2019

New Sounds
Some of these musicians play instruments or perform in traditional styles usually reserved for men. Here are innovators Asnakech Worku, Siti Amina, Marta Periera da Costa, and others.
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Glory to Women: Groundbreaking Musicians From Around the World

Friday, March 08, 2019

New Sounds
New Sounds highlights trailblazing musicians who happen to be women, some playing instruments traditionally reserved for men, all with remarkable stories. Here are just a few.
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Watch: Glimmery Electro Art-Pop by Arthur Moon

Thursday, November 08, 2018

Arthur Moon is the moniker of composer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Lora-Faye Åshuvud. Hear dazzling and strange off-kilter pop from the band Arthur Moon, who perform in-studio. 

Announcing globalFEST 2019!

Friday, October 12, 2018

New Sounds
Save the date for 2019’s globalFEST, at the Copacabana on Jan. 6, 2019, when musical travelers come from Cuba, Palestine, Mexico, and South Africa to perform at this borderless festival.
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Musicians with Superpowers

Monday, July 30, 2018

Wavelength guest host Vicky Chow presents works by musicians who have superpowers: guitarist Mary Halvorson, pianist Kris Davis, cellist Okkyung Lee, and steelpan drummer Andy Akiho.

Today at 12 pm on New Sounds Radio: Between Percussion and Piano

Monday, June 04, 2018

Guest host Caryn Havlik presents works for mostly percussion and/or piano, featuring drummers Tyshawn Sorey, Susie Ibarra, Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, TIGUE, and The Kraken Quartet.

Kelsey Lu at Music Hall of Williamsburg, May 23

Saturday, May 26, 2018

LA-based singer and cellist Kelsey Lu's latest song, "Shades of Blue" is a wrenching, yet "Luthereal" turn of melancholy. She's performing at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 23.

Signal-To-Noise: The Sounds of Decay

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Listen to the sounds of deterioration and decay with disintegrating and layered works by William Basinski, Grant Cutler, Annie Gosfield, Prefuse 73, and a classic by Alvin Lucier.

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Gender Is Not a Genre: Amplifying Women Who Compose

Thursday, March 08, 2018

New Sounds
Listen to 24 hours (or more) of music by composers, both emerging and established, who happen to be women. Yes, it is also International Women's Day. Listen on our stream all day.
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A New Organ For Manhattan’s Oldest Church

Thursday, February 22, 2018

St. Paul’s Chapel, “The Little Chapel That Stood,” celebrates a new instrument with a weeklong festival.

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Fanfare Ciocarlia Goes to Mars

Monday, April 11, 2016

Stream the new album from the peerless, ebullient Romanian brass band. 
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Drumming Mags Ignored Women for Years, Until Now

Monday, June 22, 2015

Women make only occasional appearances in mainstream drum magazines. Why?
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'Born To Drum' Presents A Wide World Of Dudes, And One Chapter For The Ladies

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

WNYC
Tony Barrell's book Born To Drum gives exactly one chapter to female players. Why not just achieve better balance throughout?
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Bagpipes & Metal for St. Patrick's Day

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

WNYC
The staff of one revolts by taking over and playing nothing but folk metal, heavy on the bagpipes from the world over, while John Schaefer was away in Ireland.
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