UNFEST & UNITY
How do you programme small music festivals and keep the community spirit? Over the last three weeks on my placement with Rhythmix there has been a constant recurring theme amongst all the mentors and music colleagues they've put me in touch with and that is the need to build, manage, maintain and repair partnerships and relationships.
I attended a small fringe-like festival in Tunbridge Wells, UK called UNFEST in May. Though I had to endure a Colin McRae rally-ish bumpy 2 hour bus ride through the rain and cold, the countryside and heritage town views were quite spectacular.
I was extremely lucky to get put in touch with the main organiser Jason Dormon through Mark Davyd (CEO , Rhythmix). He kindly showed me around the Festival areas which was based around The Pantiles, a famous colonnaded walkway set in the historical heart-land of Royal Tunbridge Wells, once well known for people from all over the UK coming down for a taste and bath in miracle water that was proclaimed to cure all sorts of diseases and for a bit of merry-making. Jason also explained the history of unfest and it's humbled beginnings from being just 3 venues to the current 12. It started with the 3 venues he co-owned (The Forum, The Sussex Arms and The Ragged Trousers) in the 1st year and caught on when other venues wanted to participate.
Reason? The crowds it brought and the energy, social well-being and promotion that comes with it. More importantly, every venue contributes to it in their own way and isn't strictly bound by any performance guidelines - for example the Jack Wills clothing store setup was simply a chair, and a drinks bar with flyers for solo acoustic acts and The Forum housed everything from rock bands to comedic folk acts.
Some folks feel I've always been a numbers game person on results and while that might be true to a certain extent, I've also always felt that the user-end experience or outcome was the most important thing. If you're a new acoustic act that pulls 50-80 people, make that number of people feel like it's the best time of their lives and I guarantee you they will each bring 2 to 3 more people with them the next gig and you can double or triple your crowd and fan base. Likewise if you're a band or act that pulls 200 - 300 people don't book a venue that packs 500 - 600 people because it will 'feel' empty. Programming and market research is always key! How do you understand your fan base and the numbers? ASK + spam respondsibly! Always check out your social media stats and your gig numbers at your gigs. Do make an effort to make your 'gig' an interesting event or have a good cause behind it as it is so much more likely more people will be interested to be part of it and support it rather a plain 'ol' gig.
I was also put in charge of running the social media awareness campaign as Rhythmix was one of the two charities that UNFEST supported along with Taylor-Made Dreams
This community spirit also extends to the music played on radio and in shops! Walking, shopping and dining around so many areas in the UK you hear that a lot of the material are from UK acts. I think that's certainly something I look forward to encourage and support more in Singapore, whether done through quotas or advocacy organisations such as SGMUSO, and the understanding that we all need to come together and co-operate and share our learning experiences to make that next step forward.
Just because we are in competition with each other, doesn't mean we have to be rude to each other or that we can't work together and share skills/knowledge.
Over the last three weeks here there has been a constant recurring theme amongst all the mentors and music colleagues that Rhythmix has put me in touch with, and that is the need to build, manage, maintain and repair partnerships and relationships.
Sounds easy? Maybe but I can honestly say these things are still in their infant stages from where I come from in Singapore and I'd readily admit that I was ONCE a part of that problem: that it is all too easy to keep to ourselves in our little ivory towers and criticise other peoples/organisation's contributions rather than be transparent and inclusive with all the people involved in the music community to make that next leap.
To quote a good friend : 'Let's Build' - Syaheed Bedsty ( Director ,The Bedsty Group )