Dani Robles

Bitter Jester Music Festival Judge

Dani Robles is a songwriter, educator, and performer from Chicago.

They graduated Cum Laude from Lake Forest College (a classmate of BJMF Director of Education Michael Tseitlin!) and later studied Sound Art at Northwestern University.

Dani is a founding member and primary songwriter of the group CalicoLoco, a lyrically-driven rock band that mixes elements of emo, shoegaze, jangle pop and punk.

Signed to Ur Mom Records in 2024 (no relation to BJMF Grand Champs Ur Mom), CalicoLoco would go on to release their debut album 'I Love Myself' which was voted Chicago's Best Local Album of the Year in the Chicago Reader Best of Polls.

As an educator, Dani has been teaching private piano lessons for over a decade. Their students have gone on to play in numerous festivals and competitions such as a the With a View International Piano Competition, NSMTA Sonata Festivals, and Society of American Musician Competitions.

Currently, in addition to operating their own studio, Dani is an instructor at Harper College where they teach music theory, audio engineering, and jazz piano.

Dani is looking forward to being a judge at Bitter Jester for the first time this summer!