Santa Cruz Music Festival teaser weekend Oct. 10-11 hints at bigger things to come
The festival that started as the brainchild of two 20-somethings—one with self-described “crazy eyes” and the other formerly known for shoulder-length hair, has now grown into something that requires its very own pre-party.
Last year, creators Thomas Dawson and Brian Crabtree put on the first multi-venue music festival in downtown Santa Cruz. And after drawing more than 2,000 attendees in 2013, they’re setting their sights high for next weekend’s Santa Cruz Music Festival (SCMF) event, which will serve as the pre-party for the second annual SCMF in April of 2015.
More than 20 acts will perform at three stages at the Catalyst over the course of two days. Far East Movement (remember poppin’ bottles to “Like a G6?”) and Gaslamp Killer headline the electro-bass event as a teaser to next spring’s main event.
Inspired by a 2012 trip to the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, Dawson came back to Crabtree with a proposal: music, everywhere. Shortly thereafter, they purchased the domain name SantaCruzMusicFestival.com, and from there, the reality began to take shape.
“We looked at each other and said, ‘This is either the best or the worst idea that we’ve ever had,’” says Crabtree, who promotes local shows and manages the hip-hop group Eliquate with Dawson and Sam Working.
While the pre-party is a smaller preview (due to financial and booking hurdles, the bigger event had to be pushed back), the focus is still on the smorgasbord of local talent.
“Last year, out of the 100 artists, 60 were local,” says Crabtree. ”It was good to see people coming out going ‘My friend’s band told me to come, I didn’t really know what to expect, and I spent the whole day seeing all my friends in all their bands.’ That’s what we’re going for.”
Thanks to their connection with Raindance and Euphoric Styles—who Dawson insists are the essential other half to planning this year’s SCMF (“it takes a whole army of people,” he says)—many of the groups yet to be announced are from the Santa Cruz area. Amongst the local notables, Crabtree and Dawson agree that Tree is one act not to be missed, along with Dimond Saints, Smasheltooth and Daddy Long Legs.
“And then the Gaslamp Killer is going to mess up everybody’s minds,” says Dawson. In a good way, of course.
While the pre-party has a more streamlined focus, the organizers have ambitious hopes for the future of SCMF.
“We want to close down streets, have music in the streets—we want everyone to be excited about it and have all the businesses benefit from it,” says Dawson. “We want everyone to want to be involved, because they see the benefit of bringing people to this town that we all love.”
It won’t necessarily be easy.
“This town really prides itself on wanting arts, but it does a good job of squashing people who are doing it,” says Dawson. “You have this underage electronic drug culture that is terrifying because 15-year olds are OD’ing at festivals and it’s scaring people. We’re not trying to support that, but we are trying to push the arts and support local music.”
Crabtree says that planning last year’s SCMF was difficult also because the festival model was so new here.
“Getting venues to play along with a universal wristband was a big issue—a lot of them wanted to do their own ticket. That defeats the whole purpose of what we’re doing, we want to be able to walk from club to club, from bar to bar,” he says.
In order to make the city’s music scene more vibrant, it’ll require dialogue and cooperation between groups, says Dawson.
“I hear these stories of the ’80s and early ’90s, and this town was on fire. Not like it was burning down, but it was full of life, full of energy, full of music—people would come from all around to come be a part of the Santa Cruz energy,” he says. “We want to turn this into the biggest event in Santa Cruz.”
Info: Oct. 10-11, $27-50, The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. 423-1338. PHOTO: Far East Movement headline the Santa Cruz Music Festival pre-party.
