Legacy of Piebald

Converge is an American metalcore band formed by vocalist and artist Jacob Bannon and guitarist and producer Kurt Ballou in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1990. While recording their landmark fourth album Jane Doe in 2001, the group became a four-piece with the departure of guitarist Aaron Dalbec and the addition of bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. This lineup has remained intact since. The members have also been involved in various side-projects and collaborations, including the bands Supermachiner (Bannon), Old Man Gloom (Newton), and Mutoid Man (Koller). With their extremely aggressive and boundary-pushing sound, rooted in hardcore and heavy metal, they are pioneers of metalcore and its subgenre mathcore.

Andrew Robert Nielsen, known professionally as MC Lars, is an American rapper, producer, educator, and founder of Horris Records. A graduate of Stanford University and the University of Oxford, he has been described as a pioneer of "lit-hop", a genre blending hip-hop with themes from classical and American literature. In a 2003 song, he used the term "iGeneration", which ASCAP credited as an early instance of the term. He has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall and multiple TEDx events. His work frequently references authors like William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and Herman Melville, and he is considered a key figure in the early nerdcore movement.