The
4th annual Obey Convention is upon us. In four short years the festival
(not unlike Divorce Records) has been gaining steam as a haven for
artistic expression through underground music and art; never afraid
of pushing the boundaries or going where other festivals would never
dare go. I recently spoke with Divorce's Darcy Spidle about all things
Obey.
Bright
Light from Night Group
1.I'd
like to begin with asking you what the Obey Convention means to you
personally and what inspires you to put so much into it year after
year?
Well, I have always been a fan of weird, cutting edge music. Four
or five years ago that kind of thing just wasn't happening in Halifax
on a regular basis. I started the festival as a way to showcase the
best truly new and unconventional bands and solo artists from around
North America (and now beyond). Some of the most mind blowing shows
I see all year happen at the festival. I guess that's part of why
I do it, just for my own pleasure. But it seems like these days lots
of people are getting really psyched for OBEY. Loads of positive energy.
I feel lucky to be part of all that.
2. One of the things that really
interests me with OBEY is that it's not just a new music festival,
but it also has this really cool arts aspect built into it through
zine & art fairs, workshops, installations, and so on. Could you
talk about the full OBEY experience and your motivations for highlighting
these different means of expression?
Yeah, the art side of things is very important to us. The standard
4 band show or whatever is made so much more exciting when you throw
some weird 'art' into the mix. It's not always possible, but we really
work to make this kind of stuff happen at OBEY. And you know, the
line between what's music and art doesn't REALLY exist, so why not
get everyone involved, right? I'll admit that we started this festival
as a music event, but I get increasingly more excited about the other
aspects as the years go by. All the organizers really brainstorm on
what we can do to make things special. We now even have an art director
(Stacey Ho), so expect more and more...
3. What are you most excited for
this year? Can you give us any hints for surprises you have in store?
What am I excited for as far as art? I dropped some clues on the line-up
announcement. You know, I'm equally excited for it all.... there will
be live light improvisations at certain shows, at least one video
screening, a guerrilla public noise experiment, a zine (and record)
fair, at least two openings+++ We're still working.... it's going
to be crazy.
4. Could you share a memorable OBEY
memory or two from previous years?
There are lots of memorable events from over the years. Maybe the
most notable incident happened back in the second year. We had a show
at Gus' with Career Suicide, The Hold and few others. The place was
packed. Everyone was having a fine time, but right before The Hold
played, someone shattered the front window of the bar. Things got
pretty weird after that (I'll spare the details). In anycase, we had
to pay the bar for the window, and it wasn't cheap. At that point
in the weekend, I was already on the road to losing a bit of money
on the fest for the second year in a row. The extra bill was very
discouraging. I got 'emotional'. But a beautiful thing happened. People
at the show started donating towards the window... just throwing cash
in with the door money. It was crazy. We were getting twenties. People
were running to the bank machine. The next morning there was money
in my paypal from people across the country who heard about it on
the internet. And to top it all off, a few weeks later the guy who
broke the window drove back to Halifax from NB to pay for what the
donations didn't cover. It was amazing. I felt such a strong sense
of community that weekend. It's part of why I keep doing the festival.
That feeling comes back every year. I just love being with those good
people for the weekend. Such a fantastic spirit.
5. Thanks Darcy! Finally, do you
have any advice for a first timer to OBEY looking to take it all in?
As for taking it all in... well, we cram a lot into three days, and
some of what you'll witness will be punishing (I hope). Everything
is set up so that you can make it from one venue to the next without
missing a set. So get a map and figure out where everything is. Rest
up. Bring earplugs. Bring some cash to buy tapes and records because
lots of bands release stuff just for the festival. You'll have a blast.
See you in May.
