Volume 1, Issue 1
February 19, 2026
Thoughts from the Editors
Morgan Bates, Emmie Head, Michele Yamamoto
“Inter-.”
We use this prefix so much in our day-to-day lives, but we seldom stop to think about its meaning. It seems to encompass so much more than our use of it as a term.
“Between.” “In the midst.”
We conceived of Sounds Promising a little over three years ago, with much of our planning taking place at a seminar table and over food whenever we found time to eat together during the first year of our PhD program. As an editorial team, we dreamed of an intellectual space that embraced the “in between”: those early in their careers, those pursuing careers outside of this realm of academia, those who wanted to embrace the meaning of “not yet here,” to quote José Estebán Muñoz.
“Reciprocal.” “Shared by two or more.”
We envisioned a journal that would embrace collaboration and cooperation, especially given many fields’ disdain towards co-authored publications. Even for single-authored submissions, we imagined that entries selected publication would enter conversation. Ideas might intertwine to form new branches of inquiry, networks that would expand far beyond this journal.
“Together.”
After three years of brainstorming, planning and working through countless obstacles as grad students and humans, we are thrilled to share the first selected work under Sounds Promising. “Sonic Intercultures, Turntable Interfaces: DJ ‘Big Joe’ Jose DaMoura on DJing the Black Atlantic” comes in the form of a podcast, featuring featuring a conversation with Joe DaMoura, also known as DJ Big Joe, led by scholars Ruby Erickson and Cândida Rose Baptista.
When we first received this submission, we were immediately excited by the possibilities of this approachable format. Audio seemed like such a natural way to showcase interrogations of sound and identity. In this moment of disconnect, the act of listening has become more important than ever. Even more relevant to our current moment, this act of “collaboratory podcasting” opens up a rich and textured space to theorize what Alexander Weheliye calls “Sonic Afro-Modernity”.
In the coming months, we will be sharing even more incredible work covering topics from chiptune to Kali Uchis. We hope that this journal becomes a source of inspiration and an opportunity for reflection on the ways we connect and understand one another.