Over Half a Million ear drums served.
Over Half a Million ear drums served.
Event Recap: Great North Music & Arts Festival 2014 | Plus Interview with Of the Trees
November 6th, 2014
by Kyle Taylor
Article + Interview Here
Interview:
Photo by James Bell
It is rare to find a festival that fully immerses its patrons in the force of different aspects of the art world colliding. However, Great North Music & Arts Festival in Norridgewock, Maine set a hefty bar spotlighting artists of all sorts.
Of course a heavy drawing point for many patrons was the stellar music lineup, which offered a delightful blend of jam and jamtronica bands, as well as numerous producers pumping intelligent beats. The headliners for the weekend were the funky saxophone sensation GRiZ and breakbeat mind-bender Tipper, who had two sets- one setting the mood with smooth ambient beats, and the second sinking its teeth into some more fast-paced beats. GRiZ’s set was unlike any I had heard from him thus far: the Detroit (now Denver) producer/saxophonist dove into some of his older productions and plenty of other weird, funky grooves.
The musical talent for the weekend reached beyond just the name of its headliners though. The main stage was further taken over by an impressive arsenal of bands, including Papadosio, Conspirator, Nahko & Meidicine for the People, Melvin Seals & JGB, Twiddle, and Consider the Source.
Great North’s second stage, The Temporal Dome, was largely curated by Gravitas Recordings and Temporal Talent, featuring countless progressive producers. Acts like Psymbionic, Freddy Todd, ill-esha, The OriGinALz, Marvel Years, CloZee, Space Jesus, Brightside and Of The Trees served up some crunhy bass beats, covering everything from glitch-hop to future bass and trap. Govinda and D.V.S* lit things up in a blaze of livetronica glory; D.V.S* smoothing his ambient guitar waves of dreamy beats, and Govinda delving into his ever-twisted beats layered against violin prowess. Late night beats were covered by Desert Dwellers, Bluetech and Orchard Lounge, each bringing a unique flavor to the sound system.
The music was only one dimension of Great North. For the entirety of the weekend, every stage was a blaze of glory, boasting a variety of psychedelic digital mapping artists. Tipper was joined for his sets by special guest visual artist Johnathan Singer.
A full gallery tent was devoted entirely to live painters and other visual artists, who were hard at work on their craft all weekend. Live painters included Alex Grey, Allyson Grey, Adam Psybe, Andy Reed and many more.
The festival grounds were overall transformed into a fantastical wonderland, littered with art installations and a plentiful line of skilled craft vendors. Great North was also host to The Furthur Bus on its 50th anniversary tour for the weekend.
While the festival did reach lower temperatures- being in Maine near the end of September- this situation was easily remedied with heated domes available to patrons and warm food offered around the clock. The non-stop presence of crowds getting down to all the festival’s amazing music, which also ricocheted from the speakers all hours of the day, also made it easy to generate plenty of warm energy via dancing.
While in Maine, we also had the opportunity to catch up with Portland, Maine based producer Of The Trees, who brought his eclectic style of hip-hop and bassy beats to The Temporal Dome late Friday night. You can read the interview and hear some of Tyler Coombs’ (Of The Trees) funky productions below.
Great North Music & Arts Festival - Website // Facebook // Twitter
All photos by James Bell (view album on our Facebook page HERE)
Funkadelphia: "You're currently based out of Portland, Maine- did you grow up in Maine;
or, did you end up there more recently in life?"
Of The Trees: "Yep, I've been living here for 23 long years. I'm certainly a homebody."
Funkadelphia: "Do you draw inspiration from the natural beauty of Maine's landscapes?"
Of The Trees: "Absolutely- the coasts and the forests are engrained into my soul. I love it here."
Funkadelphia: "Your music blends together a variety of styles- glitch, hip-hop, and bass music just to name a few- where do you draw inspiration from musically?
Primarily electronic music or a wider spectrum of material?"
Of The Trees: "Definitely a stronger influence from electronic music in general, but I'm a huge fan of everything from early nineteen hundreds folk and blues to nerdy progressive metal epic stuff."
Funkadelphia: "Can you tell us some artists you feel have been strongly influential for you personally- even if not necessarily for your music?"
Of The Trees: "Aphex Twins, Boards of Canada, J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Radiohead, Opeth, and anything southern-rap flavored and crunked out."
Funkadelphia: "Were you always primarily interested in electronic music,
or were you ever part of any non-electronic projects?"
Of The Trees: "In high school I was involved in a few short-lived metal bands and other wacky projects. I started making simplistic rap beats on my cheap netbook in my community college dorm room in 2009, and it evolved into what I do now."
Funkadelphia: "What drew your attention to electronic production initially?"
Of The Trees: "The first time I heard 'Gamma Goblins' by Infected Mushroom."
Funkadelphia: "You recently released your latest'Selections' mixtape- can you reveal any details on any other upcoming Of The Trees releases?"
Of The Trees: "I'm currently waiting on some remixes for my third EP release, along with a remix for my friend Psymbionic, with a few singles sprinkled in."
Funkadelphia: "Do you have any plans for any Fall or Winter touring?"
Of The Trees: "We just confirmed a really exciting booking today; I can't exactly reveal too much about it- but it's certainly a fantastic addition to my resume."
Funkadelphia: "We've seen a lot of solo production from you so far. Can we hope to see any Of The Trees collaborations with other producers or other musicians in the future?"
Of The Trees: "Woking won a few collaborations right now and gearing towards more in the near future. Definitely want to pair up with more Gravitas [Recordings] artists."
Funkadelphia: "A good deal of producers and electronic artist have begun to
incorporate live instrumental elements into their live performances-
might we see anything similar in any future Of The Trees sets?"
Of The Trees: "Absolutely- I've been incorporating live synths [and] guitar and looping into my latest sets and will be taking that to the next step in the near future. Soon enough, you'll ever hear the same version of a tune in any two given sets."