Major festival announcements were sent via e-mail to press and subscribers beginning June 20, 2010. They can be viewed at the following links:
6/22 Media Alert – http://eepurl.com/D8Uz
7/20 Official Lineup – http://eepurl.com/Jy6f
8/24: Artist & Ticket Info http://eepurl.com/Ues-
9/14: Final Media Alert http://eepurl.com/4Q7Y
Online press was recieved from multiple local and national media sources:
• XLR8R.com 7/21: http://bit.ly/cNqaQM
• Metro Times Blog 7/21: http://bit.ly/cIqGqG
• Majestic Blog 7/23: http://bit.ly/cnygSL
• WLMF Blog 8/28: http://bit.ly/g0jKve
• Executive Mix 8/30: http://bit.ly/g1KqRL
• doDetroit.com 8/27: http://bit.ly/fVG3t5
• doDetroit.com 9/16: http://bit.ly/fiogQv
• Metromode/FilterD 9/18: http://bit.ly/bHpVoQ
• Metromode/FilterD 9/23: (Patrons Of The Scene) http://bit.ly/gv6d6P
Local print magazines highlighted artists from our performance roster and helped us garner attention by highlighing WLMF in their listings sections:
• Metro Times Night & Day 9/15: http://bit.ly/g6NQC8
• Metro Times 8/4: http://bit.ly/gsvT2T
• The South End 9/13: http://bit.ly/9Zgxbg
• Real Detroit Weekly 9/15: Artist Spotlight, Jimmy Edgar: http://bit.ly/cBBo0M (page 40)
• Real Detroit D-Days 9/21: http://bit.ly/eu63e2
Online Video Publication:
1) The RFW Sessions with A.M. Architect 10/4: http://bit.ly/ih4iNS
2) The RFW Sessions with Madis One 10/13: http://bit.ly/cV1SbP
3) Raw footage by Throwback Media: 01/26/11: http://vimeo.com/19178811
(password: welikemusic)
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What’s Not to Like?
New Detroit electronic music festival offers new sonic and visual explorations with the pros.
Spacy. Soulful. Illuminated. Dubby. Heavy. Sexy. These are words that describe the music at Detroit’s inaugural We Like Music Festival set for Saturday, September 18. The event is a collection of live downtempo, hip-hop, ambient, dubstep, techno and abstract beats all rolled into twelve hours of curious happenings taking place at both The Old Miami and the Magic Stick.
Sounds from the roster include acid house from DJ and producer James T. Cotton aka Tadd Mullinix, the downtempo Rhodes and guitar flourishes of Chicago’s Aether and San Antonio’s A.M. Architect, as well as electro beatsmiths Eliot Lipp, Leo123 and Mux Mool, all pouring live through JBL speakers at each stage. The lineup features 14 top local acts including a variety of soulful sounds from John Arnold, DJ Dez, Kyle Hall and emcee Intricate Dialect. On top of that, the artists on the bill have loaded their performances with the new-new: yet to be heard releases from the lineup include the debut album from live electronica band Madis One Transparent City, set to drop the day of the festival. That same Saturday afternoon will see trip-hop vocalist Perilelle celebrate the debut of her new album Fog Like This via Exchange Bureau Music. Kraddy (formerly of The Glitch Mob) will be debuting new tracks live from his forthcoming Labyrinth, and the festival is the final destination in the North American leg of Jimmy Edgar’s tour for XXX, a definitive new album featuring some of the artist-photographer’s most talked about electro compositions.
Original new material goes beyond just music at this fest: abstract live video mixing from VJ Kero will be projected on multiple screens (provided by Jon Hudson) throughout the Magic Stick next to giant text projections from Windsor’s Broken City Lab listing “100 Things We Like About Detroit.” You can contribute directly to the list by simply tweeting @brokencitylab to see your ideas on the walls. They join a visual artist lineup that boasts some of the first live video manipulators to participate in Detroit’s electronic music scene like Detronik (with a new partner in lo-fi/high-tech intricacies, StudioKlinikSeven) and Chris McNamara as part of nospectacle.
Visual art has helped to build the foundation of the first WLMF: with the addition of Kero’s real time Shadow Detection installation and a surprise attraction from Lindsay Jewell, audience members can expect to have fun interacting with large forms of digital and physical media. “We’re excited to see the artists work together to create the atmosphere of the event,” says Brandon Richards, the festival’s creator and executive producer, who had audience interplay in mind when he pulled out all the stops to make sure that the festival offered something unique to music fans. His idea for the festival was realized when he asked a few friends to help bring a couple of his favorite artists into town. Happy to help, friends Aaron Harrison and Emily Copeland jumped on board and soon after John Leonard was enlisted to give the festival its own brand. Freshcorp’s Adriel Thornton also joined in to lend his event planning expertise and ensure that this event doesn’t go unnoticed.
With a continuing positive response, what started as a humble downtempo event has burgeoned into a fresh amalgamation of polished styles. The We Like Music Festival has the potential to become a mainstay institution in Detroit as a platform for delivering exciting new music and ideas to curious audiences… so long as everyone likes it.
The first We Like Music Festival is Saturday, September 18 at the Old Miami from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. & the Magic Stick from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. $15 advance tickets available at Division Street Boutique, 1353 Division in Eastern Market. $20 at the door. Age restrictions apply. www.welikemusicfestival.com for details.
