Frt Lauderdale new Music Fest
It isn’t too often that you find festivals spotlighting local music in the South Florida area, and when you do they tend to have a lot of the same groups on them. With that being said, it’s refreshing to find a festival with such a rich, and diverse lineup of artists ranging from rock to hip-hop in one place, let alone spread out into a two-day festival; and that’s where the Fort Lauderdale New Music Festival comes into play. Downtown Fort Lauderdale, specifically the Las Olas area, will be home of this festival sporting over 20 South Florida locals at Fort Lauderdale’s newest hot spot, Two & on Friday, November 4th, and Saturday, November 5th.
After a few very hectic weeks, we were able to get the festivals promoter Oski to sit down and answer some questions for us and give a little reason why you need to come out to one, or better yet both nights of what is sure to be a great time.
Who knows, you might find one or two of your new favorite bands?
Story by: William Mueller
Be sure to share this article via social media for a chance to win one of five pairs of tickets to the festival! Drawing Monday, October 31st at 5PM!
You have been putting on festivals for quite a while now, what brought on the idea for the Fort Lauderdale New Music Festival?
I have done a few festivals before in Ft. Lauderdale at The Big Kahunas at Beach Place. Since they closed down I have been looking for an opportunity to do another one. My partner in this festival, Rod Reiter of the funk band Xotic Yeyo wanted me to put together an EP Release Party for his band in Ft. Lauderdale. I suggested we do a larger event a festival and have the EP Release Party at the same time. So I came up with the name Fort Lauderdale New Music Fest.
How did you decide on what bands to have, and where to have it?
I do an open call first by texting the 600 plus bands and artists I have on my cell phone. Then in a few days I post the event on social media. I listen to all the bands and artist’s music, checkout their social media to see if they are actively updating and posting. I send all the bands and artists a simple agreement and then the bands and artist that agree are put on a list. Then I pick the bands that I think are the best for the festival.
Were there any limiters that you knew you wanted to have prior to putting the lineup together? Any type of screening process for the bands/artists?
I am a fan of music and not a critic. I do have themed events like Femme Fest (all girl bands), a metal festival called Kryptonite (all metal bands) and The Cipher (all hip-hop artists). Those events the bands must fit the theme. On a festival like this anything good goes as long as it’s good.
There are a few artists on the lineup who we have recently featured on the site, who else should we be on the lookout for?
I would be a bad partner if I did not say checkout Xotic Yeyo as they are dropping their new EP on day one of the festival Friday November 4th. The band Yardij, they are incredible. I have booked them before and they are a pleasure to work with. They won the Hard Rock Cafe battle of the bands last year and placed 2nd this year. The band The Slaves Are Mad are also a band to look out for. The band Scattered Light rocks as well. To be honest all the bands on the festival do what they do very well. We had over 50 bands and artists submit and agree to play but we can only fit so many bands on the show.
This festival features everything from rock and metal to rap/hip hop. When planning out set times, how do you decide who goes on when?
At all my uber local festivals the bands play 30 minutes and the artists (rap/hip-hop) play 15 minute sets. Deciding what band goes where is a science. I like to mix it up to make sure if you come to the festival and don’t like the band or style of music in 30 minutes there will be another band and so on.
With such a large lineup the show has expanded to 2 days from the original one, what brought along the change?
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Honestly, this has never happened to me. The original venue Jump the Shark pulled out of the show because the claim they had to do some construction or the city was gonna shut them down permanently. The sad thing is they told my partner Rod this bad news the day after we had a meeting with all the bands. Worst thing is the message was sent via text. Not cool for me. Things like this merit a simple phone call. Till this day we have not been able to get Jump The Shark on the phone. All communication unfortunately has been though texts and Facebook messages that are cold and insensitive and can be misunderstood. We move on. Besides that, we had such a good response from the bands and the scene, that we thought we might as well make the event bigger. So instead of a 1-day event, we went to 2 days. We had to scramble non-stop for 5 days straight to make it all happen. We reprinted flyers, tickets and posters. In the end, the new venue Two & on Las Olas Blvd is in a much better venue any ways because of the prime location on Las Olas and they have a full bar and lots of places to eat nearby. Because of the full bar we had to switch from an all ages event to 21 and up and all band members must be at least 18 and up. The owner of Two&, the very lovely Zoe (pronounced Zoey) really stepped up by shifting the clubs schedule around so we can have the festival there. I want to thank all the bands for keeping up with all the updates and changes for us to make this festival happen. I take my hat off to them. |
What are your ultimate goals for this festival?
The same goal I have for all my festivals. SUPPORT LOCAL LIVE MUSIC!!! Run a very smooth show that will run on time, promote and showcase some of the hottest new original bands and artists from South Florida. Make sure everyone that comes out has a good time and see great bands. When I meet with the bands I ask them all to autograph 2 posters. One I like to give to the venues and the other I keep and frame. I pray that out of all the bands and artists I book one of them or all of them become the next huge rock stars. That is the ultimate goal. I pride myself for giving a ton of bands and artists their first shows. Next year God willing we will do The 2nd Annual Fort Lauderdale New Music Festival and so on and so on.
It’s a Friday/Saturday night, you have a lot of friends; pitch me. Why should I come out and pack my car with friends to the Friday or Saturday show?
Come be a part of music history. Enjoys some cold beers and good cocktails while you see and hear tomorrows rock stars. Come see a band that you cannot hear on the radio. Be an original. Imagine seeing the Beatles or Led Zeppelin when they played at local venues before they became who they became. Imagine having a poster, flyer or CD with all their autographs. This is the place for that. Meet people that love live music as much as you do. I met my wife the love of my life at a local show. Some of my best friends I met at local shows. Plus, we have to keep rock and original music alive. Remember this you cannot have a cover band without the support for the original bands that become the songs that cover bands cover. Last thing if you come Friday you will get a free ticket for Saturday. If you have a ticket from the bands the ticket is good for both days.
What comes after this festival?
We start promoting Fort Lauderdale New Music Festival 2017.
My band The Oski Foundation will be the only all original band at Baystock Classic Rock Fest. Saturday November 12th, 2016 at Ludovichi Park in Palmetto Bay Florida
The 27 Club Tribute to Hendrix, Joplin, Cobain, Jones, Morrison, Winehouse etc.
Churchill’s Miami
Thursday November 17th, 2016.
The Miami Metal Festival
Club Haze
Saturday December 10th, 2016
Jingle Bell Rock Winter Music Fest.
Creepy Tiki Fort Lauderdale
Friday December 16th
The New Years Eve Eve 80’s Flashback Fest.
Churchills Miami
Friday December 30th, 2016
The 10th Annual Kryptonite Metal Festival
Churchill’s Miami.
Date TBA.
For info on any of these events please call 305.303.3976
Thank you for your support. Remember support the locals. Go global.