Evan Shornstein, also known as Photay, is an American composer, drummer, DJ, and producer from Woodstock, New York, United States.
Music
While a student at Purchase College, Shornstein took a trip to Guinea to study drumming, where he shortly released his debut album 1st in 2012. The influence of this exposure led to the creation of an EP, released as Photay in 2014 on the label Astro Nautico. He released several remixes for the Ninja Tune label soon after.
A full-length album, Onism, followed in 2017 on Astro Nautico. In 2020, a sophomore full-length, Waking Hours, arrived on the label Mexican Summer, and in 2022, he released On Hold, a record stitched together from samples of telephone hold music. In 2024, Photay released a new album, Windswept, on Mexican Summer. Windswept explores natural phenomena, notably "wind". Following the release of Windswept, its expanded album Windswept: Expansions was released in 2025, featuring two additional tracks "Jet Stream" and "Aeolian", and a remix of the album's track "Air Lock", titled "Air Lock (Air Tight Mix)".
Shornstein collaborates on a musical project titled "Ensemble Entendu" with musician Sam O.B.
"No Sass" on Nova - Haute musique II (Nova Records, 2017)
"Ode to the Pleiades (Photay Remix)" by Clap! Clap! on Black Acre: Once Around the Sun 2018 (Black Acre Records, 2018)
"Forest Pulse" (with Laraaji, Photay) on Bliss On Dear Oneness by Carlos Niño & Friends (Leaving Records, 2019)
"Sea Urchin" on Atlantics X (Astro Nautico, 2020)
"Monday" on Nova le grand mix 2015 (Nova Records, 2023)
"Continuum Part 1–3" (with Stuart Bogie, Photay) & "Continuum Part 4 - The Slow Fawn Rises" (with Stuart Bogie, Photay)(featuring Hannah Cohen) on Slow Fawn Music No. 2 by Sam Cohen (Slow Fawn Music, 2025)
"Light Beam Extended" (with Cochemea, Photay) by Sam Cohen (30th Century Records, 2025)
Remixes
"Em Bora (Photay Remix)" on Long Ways Off Remixes by Matas (Outlier Recordings, 2014)
"Can't Forget (Photay Remix)" on The Meaning by Rights (Infinite Machine, 2015)
"All the Way Round (Photay Remix)" on All the Ways Round by Kelpe (DRUT Recordings, 2020)
"MMXX — XII (Photay Remix)" (featuring Rhye) on MMXX (Remixes) by Diplo (Higher Ground, 2021)
"Love is Loving (Photay Remix)" (featuring Omar, XANA, Faye Houston) by Scrimshire (Self-released, 2021)
"Blue to Red (Photay Remix)" & "Blue to Red (Photay No Drums Remix)" on Blue to Red Remixed by Chip Wickham (Lovemonk, 2021)
"All That I Need (Photay Remix)", "All That I Need (Photay Lullaby Remix)" & "All That I Need (Photay Remix Radio Edit)" (featuring Sharin) on Conclave (The Remixes) by Conclave (Love Injection, 2021)
"Another Like This (Photay Remix)" (featuring Yazmin Lacey) by Steve Spacek (Boomerang Records, 2022)
"ZEZE (Photay Version)" (with Msafiri Zawose, Penya) on ZEZE (Remixes) by WEMA (!K7 Music, 2022)
"P U P I L (Photay's Tributary Mix)", "E X I S T E N C E (Photay's Infinite Mix)" & "E X I S T E N C E (Photay's Infinite Mix with Club Diego)" on More Offerings by Photay (with Carlos Niño) (International Anthem, 2022)
"Naturally (Photay Remix)", "Naturally (Photay Remix) - Radio Edit" & "Naturally (Photay Remix) - Radio Edit Instrumental" on Naturally Remixes by Turn On The Sunlight (Plant Bass & Jesse Peterson, 2023)
"Alma Del Mundo (Photay Remix)" by Phil Moffa (Love Injection Records, 2023)
Might Slip(with Will Epstein) (Extravagant Frequencies, 2025)
Unexpected Music II(with Evan Shortstein) by Celia Hollander (Extravagant Frequencies, 2026)
Singles
"VI" (with Will Epstein) (Extravagant Frequencies, 2025)
Notes
↑This date is from the Bandcamp release of On Hold and a few other platforms such as YouTube and Discogs. On the other hand, Photay has released On Hold in Spotify a year later on March 5, 2021. "Roaming" is labeled with the year "2021" for this reason, since it's a Spotify-exclusive single.
123Interviews, Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews &; Hussain, Shahzaib (2024-08-14). "Photay's 'Air Lock' Is Elemental Euphoria | News". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 2024-09-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑Kolik, Jonah (28 March 2025). "OUT NOW: Photay - WIndswept: Expansions". Mexican Summer - Independent Record Label - Brooklyn, NY. Retrieved 12 August 2025. …Windswept: Expansions features two previously unreleased tracks, "Jet Stream" and "Aeolian" alongside Photay's own remix of his standout single, "Air Lock."