Maxwell August Croy is a multi-instrumentalist whose work fluctuates liberally between melody, classicism and experimentation, all while attempting to harmoniously represent all three. A student of the piano, guitar and Japanese koto, Croy has worked to expand the instrument's heretofore constrained vocabulary to settings outside traditional Eastern musics. He has released a number of full-length albums as a member of experimental ambient duo En with James Devane and has collaborated with musicians Tujiko Noriko, Sean McCann, Mary Lattimore, Jared Blum and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, with whom he also co-runs the Root Strata label.