We are getting ourselves in the groove for Brainlove Festival 2012 with an up close interview with festival organiser John Rogers, aka John Brainlove.
As festival organisers, what do you look for when booking bands for your schedule? Would you take any ʻMichael Eavis risksʼ aka Jay-z when booking?
I’m not a Jay-Z fan. Finding a headliner is tough – someone who is brilliant, in some way unique or “Brainlove-ish”, affordable and popular – it’s a challenge and a half.
You own a rather boutique and DIY based label, so with that in mind do you have any tips for bands wanting to get a foothold in the music industry?
Create something that only you could create. Don’t be afraid to smash the template and start again. Be nice to people, be yourself, and don’t try too hard to be anything or anyone else. Make lots of friends, be on the scene, play good gigs, get supports with your contemporaries. Make an effort, and stand out in every way. Don’t take any shit from people who are down on you, and don’t carry criticism around with you. Be realistic in what you want to do with it, and enjoy small successes.
How much time and planning goes into Brainlove Festival 2012?
I start thinking about it January and it happens at the end of May – the booking, design, website, DJs, promo etc takes a lot of time and attention. But, we have excellent people who help with the sound, decor, photos, lights, and all that stuff that makes it great. Lots of people, lots of time.
As the festival is in it’s fifth year, what has been your favourite highlight so far?
There are too many! David Thomas Broughton playing in the garden at sunset was pretty special; Fuck Buttons playing in the middle of the crowd on a hot day; Kreatiivmootor coming over from Estonia and blowing everyone’s heads off; Napoleon IIIrd playing a special Christiania set with loads of visuals; an improvised choir of about 50 people screaming into the sky outdoors; Octagon Court doing a sterling job of opening last year; Biggi Hilmarsson’s string quartet out in the yard; Marcus Corbett playing some heavenly acoustic music sitting on a rock; the bubble machine; Le Couteau Jean being the drunkest I have ever seen anyone onstage and announcing themselves as Gay Against You; Agaskodo Teliverek with their duelling solos; Mat Riviere playing with Oli from Bleeding Heart Narrative on cello; Gaggle filling the stage, and almost the room..
If you had Richard Branson’s money, where would you hold your dream festival and who would headline?
Iceland in the summer, out in the country; Björk to headline to an intimate crowd. Or maybe somewhere else; flying out everyone good to a Napoleon IIIrd show on the top of an Incan temple, with a full moon and shit? That would be pretty cool.
And following that, would you ever look to expand Brainlove festival?
Maybe! It started out as just an annual label party, conveniently close to my birthday; it would be fun to extend it for sure but running a label is enough of a job already… one of the major limits on what we do is the time we can put into it.
Even without Glastonbury this year there are still festivals that are struggling to keep afloat and going under, despite the possibility of enticing new customers in regular Glasto goers. Do you have any opinions or experience of the struggle some of these festivals are facing?
We’re a small all-dayer so it’s not relevant to us. In terms of bigger festivals suffering, I’ve thought these last few years that none of them really stand out that much – a stage, a field, some food stalls, lots of booze, and the same bands trucking around between them – where’s the imagination and adventure? Amazing locations and fun things to do? The British festival circuit does seem stagnant compared to what goes on out in Europe – too much security and too pricey, for a start… but I’m no expert, people who run big festivals would say something completely different.
I first met you around 6 years ago through the website Drowned in Sound. Do you feel that music based websites have made it easier or harder for bands to get exposed and for them to meet their fans?
You did? What was your username? Every extra avenue of communication makes it easier to reach other people in any capacity. The internet is awesome. Internet forever.
As a follow on to that question, how have you found handling the music community as a label manager?
There are a lot of indie labels out there, and so the biggest challenge is rising above the noise. I guess you just have to have faith that releasing amazing music is enough, and play your cards right with regards to social media and promotion and all that stuff, which we do okay at. We have Mat Riviere taking matters into his own hands for his new album by making trailers which pop up online periodically. That’s pretty cool.
OFF TOPIC:
What are your thoughts on the film District 9?
It was cool. Near-future political science fiction is right up my street generally. Have you seen that one “Monsters”? It is rad. I recommend it.
Cider or Beer?
Cider, seeing as you’re offering. A pint of Stowford please, or Aspalls if they have it.
If cider, are you a fan of Brothers fruity cider?
I think I might have tried some kind of … lemon one? It was more like alco-pop.
Will you be going to any Olympic events and what are your thoughts on Danny Boyle directing the opening ceremony?
I will be ignoring the Olympics to the best of my ability. Danny Boyle? That’s weird.
7bitarcade - Archive 