Brightest Young Things

The 3rd Annual FORWARD Festival is just around the corner - the kickoff event is a fusion of live art, design, music, magic, fashion, projections and more this Wednesday at the Fridge - from there the festival will run for 5 days straight at a variety of venues across the city. Scott Ahn of murmurdc.com recently sat down with one of the festival's masterminds for an in depth interview to find out more about this celebration of digital culture and electronic music....

Scott Ahn (SA):  Last year’s Forward Festival was quite successful as there was a good turnout and infused much of the talent that’s in the DC area and out. Is there increasing pressure to make this third installment as successful, if not more?

David Fogel (DF):  Success is an interesting word isn’t it? In the context of a party/festival/event it can be interpreted on multiple levels: Turnout, Economics, Vibe, Programming, Retention, Environmental Impact, Profile…I’m glad you saw last year as a Success. We were very proud of what we were able to accomplish and certainly hope this year is better!

As an event organizer and especially in the case of FORWARD we always put pressure on ourselves to provide a unique, special experience. On the other hand, there’s always pressure from the community to do the same. We all want to grow, while at the same time provide an intimate, community based experience. I think this year will definitely be an evolution and progression on last year and event goers will feel that. At the same time, it’s going to be great to hear feedback from folks about what worked and didn’t work for them so we can continue to improve. We take positive and negative feedback very seriously. While we’re doing what we love, at the end of the day this is all really about providing something for the community that they love, appreciate, support and get excited about.

SA:  What was the initial idea behind the Forward Festival?

DF:  First and foremost, building community. There’s nothing like spending several days with the same faces, expanding your horizons and perspectives in kick-ass environments. Most of us get that on the weekend, or at specific events/nights that we look forward to – but spending multiple days with folks is where the real connective magic happens.

We also felt that the timing was right. After bringing National and International talent to DC for years, along with a slew of other awesome crews, noticing that a lot of good music was also being produced in the DC Met we simply felt that the time was right to continue to increase our community’s profile on the global map through a multi-day festival format. We always wanted the festival to be about more than just electronic music, because inspiration is drawn from so many places. So it was crucial for us to have a component that cultivated the understanding and skill set of electronic creative culture. That’s why we have workshops, partner with galleries and other digitally inclined folks. We knew that we wanted to do it around the Spring equinox b/c that’s our favorite season in DC and a really energizing time of year for us.

We’ve always prided ourselves on bringing new talent to DC as well. Not only to show off to them a city that we truly love, but to give folks the opportunity to experience something different. The notion of one DJ being the same as another is a bunch of crap. Everyone has a special vibe and style and you don’t mature as an artist, listener or event goer by hearing the same person/act over and over again. To that end, we’re proud to be hosting 5 DC debuts during the festival.

One of the other things that’s also always been really important for us, has been making our events accessible and affordable. All of the events are 18+ and a pass for the entire festival is a mere $45. We truly hope that people continue to buy passes. It helps us do what we do and embodies the essence of what a festival experience is in terms of having multiple options and expanding your horizons. Attending a festival is undoubtedly one of the best ways to discover.

SA:  In what ways do you believe it will progress from last year?

DF:  Progress and evolution are CRUCIAL! First and foremost, we’re adding an additional day to the event – kicking things off with our premier multi-media event X on a Wed. as a happy-hour type of affair. Second, we’re partnering with The Fridge and The Curator’s Office gallery’s to showcase some profound and bad ass digital art. We really hope to expand on this aspect of the festival next year. We’re also partnering with some other great local crews that are doing a lot for the scene. This year we’re hosting nights that address specific aspects, sounds of the broader scene. This is a bit of a catch 22 for us, b/c on the one hand we strongly believe that good music is good music and genre’s are lame – but we also recognize and respect that people are into specific styles and appreciate it when we take the time and effort to showcase it. We will also be creating a FORWARD compilation CD that people can buy. Finally, we’re not using a single venue this year that we used last year – which is exciting for us as organizers, but for our community as well.

SA:  It’s nice to see some of the other groups like ELM, District Ignition, and JQM collaborating with 88, is this something you guys hope to continue beyond Forward?

DF:  We certainly hope so! We need all the help we can get! It’s an honor to be working with each of the above mentioned crews as well as The Sonic Circuits guys and all of the venues, galleries and associated artists. Hopefully next year we’ll have more side events as part of the fest. One of the things I’m really looking forward to is people walking up and down U St. on Friday night between the events at U Hall and Station 9. We hope that there’s a lot more of that next year.

SA:  Tell us about some of the new performers we’ll see this year.

DF:  There are several great interviews up on our blog from several of this year’s participating artists: Barem, Noah Pred, KiloWatts, Aligning Minds and soon Trus’me, Mike Slott and MRK1 so visit: www.eightyeightdc.com/88blog for more detailed, in-depth stuff as well as mixes!

First of all, let me just say that we love our locals and without them our scene would straight suck. They get mad props and folks should definitely show up and show them some support.

As far as out of town talent is concerned and personal highlights, I don’t know if Theo Parrish has ever played DC before and he is a straight up legend and genius. MRK1 is a pioneer of Dubstep and Kraddy helped define they hyphy west-coast sound that while picking up overseas started in the US. Shen just came out with a new release on Muti music so expect to hear a new style from him, Jeremy Ellis is one of the best live performers you will ever see and Mike Slott released an album that struck a chord with electronic music producers across multiple genres. The guy is incredible.

SA:  What are some of the subtle elements that we should look out for?

DF:  Enjoy and take in the mission of The Fridge, that place is truly special. We’re going to be creating a “techno environment” on Thursday night with some of the freshest minds in the business – experience that. Listen for the differences and similarities in MRK1, Kraddy and Aligning Minds sound on Friday. Notice how the walls are wet at TNT on Saturday – that’s what a house party is all about. When was the last time 6 live electronic acts played DC at one time? Never, but it’s happening Sunday and many believe it’s the future of EDM.

SA:  What do you hope people take away from the 5-day event?

DF:  Love, inspiration, appreciation, smiles and more Love.

One of the vital elements of the FORWARD Festival that sets it apart from typical electronic music events in DC are the workshops planned for Saturday afternoon at the Fridge.

ABLETON LIVE WORKSHOP w/ Certified Instructor Noah Pred
Hours: 12pm - 2pm
Venue: The Fridge | Rear Alley 516 8th St SE
Cost: $50 (FREE FOR ALL FESTIVAL PASS HOLDERS)

2-hour intermediate session: making ableton live work for you, covering...

- clip envelope automation
- follow actions
- building racks
- generative midi
- using the groove pool
+ many more tips and tricks...

3D WORKSHOP w/ Kamil Nawratil of 2Stimuli
Hours: 3pm - 5pm
Venue: The Fridge | Rear Alley 516 8th St SE
Cost: $50 (FREE FOR ALL FESTIVAL PASS HOLDERS)

Description of the 3D Workshop:

2-hour intermediate/advanced session - 3d camera mapping and after effects compositing.
Instructor: Kamil Nawratil
Cost: $35
Time: 3 - 5pm

Learn how to:
- build a scene based on a photograph
- create and animate objects
- illuminate the scene, and render using gi
- bring the file to AE and composit
- tips and tricks

It is recommended that participants bring laptop/desktop with a trial version of cinema 4d and after effects

Here is a short sample of what the workshop will be covering....

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/10062596[/vimeo]

PRESALE FORWARD PASSES AVAILABLE FOR THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL - ONLY $45: http://forward3.eventbrite.com/