Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was 18 I was writing for 6 different magazines, spending all my time interviewing bands, reviewing albums, and writing feature articles. It was tiring and sometimes very frustrating, but I met a lot of awesome people and got to be involved in a lot of very cool things that I’ll never forget. I’ve made friends with hundreds of record labels, publicists, and bands, spanning numerous genres. I’ve yet to make a dime for any of my work, but the beauty of being involved in the DIY music scene is that money isn’t the motivating factor,which is why I love it so much.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve been less and less involved with the independent music community because I just haven’t had as much time as I used to. I’ve been involved with numerous other magazines over the years, and I’m always dabbling with some side project and keeping in touch with all my old contacts. The last couple years I’ve been co-running an e-zine called The Silent Ballet that focuses primarily on independent instrumental/experimental music (i.e. post-rock, IDM, electronic). They’ve done a lot really influential things for that scene, and have become the best resource out there for fans of the respective genres.
Living in Florida didn’t lend itself well to the type of music I was listening to because many of the bands I liked couldn’t afford to make it out there for one reason or another. I found myself having to travel out of state to have the opportunity to finally see a great live show. As cool as taking mini-vacations was, it was expensive to do that just to see one or two bands. My plight gave me the idea of organizing a music festival in large cities where instrumental music is prevalent. That way people could make one trip and see a lot of great bands they wouldn’t normally be able to.
After months of planning and numerous attempts, the inaugural show will be taking place in Los Angeles. It will feature 10 bands from the California/Arizona area, spanning two of the coolest venues in LA. My hope is that it will attract lots of fans from out of state who were looking for an excuse to take a mini-vacation and love this style of music. It’s an experimental project, that has been fun setting up and will no doubt be an awesome experience. If anyone is in the LA area and wants to check out some new independent artists, this should be worth your time 
