Following a hugely successful year in 2014, the organisers of the now annual Yours & Owls Music & Arts Festival have now announced in June their triumphant return for 2015, with a brand new lineup and even a considerable expansion, with multiple days and weekend camping.
This year’s festivities are set to kick off at Stuart Park in Wollongong, which served as the festival’s trusty home for its sold-out 2014 event, on Friday, 2nd October and will continue until Saturday, 3rd October.
This year also features a ridiculously strong local line up including The Preatures, Cloud Control, The Delta Riggs, The Rubens, Gang Of Youths, Saskwatch, The Smith Street Band and Ash Grunwald to name a couple. Ahead of the event next weekend, we caught up with the festival organiser Ben Tillman to chat about the almost accidental success of the festival and what’s in store for the future.
Before Yours & Owls
“In terms of throwing shows and being involved in the ‘music business’ or whatever, it kind of begun when I was at uni.
The first share house I moved into was with a bunch of friends when we were all like 18 or 19 and the thing looked like a big barn, so we used to throw these ‘barn parties’.
[include_post id=”449892″]After a couple, word started getting out and they started getting pretty wild, like hundreds and hundreds of people just rocking up, fires, fireworks (often inside the house), heaps of cops that would eventually turn up and break the thing up.
Anyways, after a few of these progressively escalating parties we eventually got fined by the police, and so being 19 and at uni we, as a household, had to figure out how to pay these damned fines, and what better way to raise some coin than to throw a party.
We hit a bunch of clubs up with our idea (a party with art, bands and Djs) and being in Wollongong we wanted it to be as different and I guess as provocative and debaucherous as possible. We eventually settled on the only gay club in town, called it ‘Liberteen Ranch’ and that was the beginning.
The parties were really successful, and from there it led to more one off parties, being asked to regularly book a venue, being ripped off by the venue, starting up our own shop / venue (which had its own story of progression in itself), eventually selling it, taking on new venues to book, starting a record label and then finally making the call to do a festival.”
The Original Inception
“It was just a natural progression I think. From throwing more and more shows, and them gradually getting bigger and bigger, it just got to the point where it made sense to start doing them outside and in a bigger and more unique environment.
We wanted to be doing something that was totally different and new for the area and after a while, we ran out of existing venues to do stuff in, and it became clear that to do and to achieve what we wanted, the freedom of outdoors and the idea of unused spaces was what were necessary and important.
The first festival we did was through the label (Farmer & The Owl) and it was just us trying to showcase a bunch of local talent in the area, as well as brining a bunch of cooler and more underground stuff to Wollongong, that probably if was doing its own show would have probably struggled in a regular venue.
It was a single stage show in this weird empty lot thing attached to a park and it was really cool. We ran the bar, built our own stage, brought in bands and production and got the thing legally approved by council (the approval came in the day before the show). It was amazing in a semi-dodgy DIY kind of way and it really gave us confidence to grow and expand that idea.”
From Inception To Creation
“As is with most things, it all started with a conversation. We had done a couple of smaller outdoor festivalish type things, and then when we were starting to think about Yours & Owls 4th Birthday we were just like ‘yep, lets do it’.
I think the fact that we have often been quick to just act and start to implement ideas and get things going without too much time and thought has in ways been a weakness, but then also at the same time been a real strength.
We started having some chats with council and all the various other stuff that goes along with that, and within a couple of months we had pretty much fully committed to the idea, begun booking and promoting the thing, locking in logistics and tickets onsale. Again, we may or may not have had approvals back at this stage, but luckily we had a bit of beginners luck and it all played out well in the end.”
How To Curate A Line Up
“We have always started with writing out our ideal wish lists. It’s a really fun part of the ‘job’, just sitting around with everyone and talking about what bands we’d love to see.
What would be amazing, who is into what, what would work well for the vibe and I guess kind of go from there. The nice thing about loving music and also throwing a festival is that you get to kind of self indulge and choose the bands you want to see. This has always been a fine line for me as it’s easy to get too caught up in your own taste and forget about what the rest of the country also like (and would pay to go see).
“The whole festival really made me feel connected. To my friends, my family, the people I work with, the community”Once we have the wish list it kind of gives you an idea of the vibe you’d love to go for and how you would like the event to progress or feel and that kind of acts as a guide or something to work off…
Next comes the actual reality of it all. Hitting bands up, seeing who is around, who is interested and trying to make that work within a financial reality.
Naturally that initial wish list is whittled down based on availabilities and then again due to the cold hard fact of $$$. So what you’re left with is a couple of bands from that first list and a whole new list of band that fit your ideal ‘vibe’ and also work well with the couple of acts you have managed to secure.
Repeat that process a couple of times, add in a few tasty offers from bands we had been suggested kindly by their respective agents (once word of the festival gets out) and we are well on the way to having a complete and rounded lineup that can be enjoyed by us (self indulgently) and the general public.”
Year one: Highlights
– “When Hockey Dad came on and the crowd just turned on and went wild. It all felt like a ‘real thing’.”
– “Just looking out and seeing thousands of people dancing, people eating, people drinking, a cool stage and good sound and realising we had done all that, and it was actually working.”
– “When friends came up to me super stoked and all (probably drunkenly) proud of us saying how “man this is actually like a real thing. Its like a proper festival”.”
– “Hearing from the bands they loved it, had fun and were so stoked to have been able to play. Its been a really nice part of this life to have been able to kind of grow and expand alongside a bunch of the bands. For example I’ve done a lot of shows with the Stickys boys and seen them grow over the years from their first show down here in a dodgy pub with like 20 or 30 people to gradually bigger and bigger rooms and to have that all culminate at something we put on and them playing to thousands of kids singing along to their songs it was a really nice moment.
It was like a moment of clarity that made me realise and appreciate how far we had come and this funny journey we have been on, but then also at the same time acknowledging that those friends and people we have crossed paths with (like the Stickys boys) and are in our lives everyday have also been on their own totally different and yet equally as amazing journeys of their own, however in this one time and place, none of that mattered and we were all totally connected and it was amazing.”
“I think that last point summed it up. The whole festival really made me feel connected. To my friends, my family, the people I work with, the community, the area and the complete strangers who just came along to have fun. This thing is like a living breathing thing and it connects us all to one another in a really fun and positive way.”
Year One: Biggest lessons
– “Have enough time to plan.”
– “Get more toilet paper.”
– “Let people work to their strengths.”
– “We have always been really DIY and done things off our own backs (without massive budgets or investors), but sometimes you just have to know when its just best to pay for the thing and get it done properly.”
Tips For Budding Festival Promoters
– “Don’t do it for a job. Do it for the love. If you’re in it for the $$$ its probably a safer bet to head down to the track and throw your hard earned on whatever dog has the funniest name.”
– “Be passionate.”
– “Take plenty of time to plan it.”
– “Don’t go too big too soon. Build your brand, your support network and database.”
“Other than that, I’m hardly an expert, so I probably wouldn’t be listening to any of my advice if I were you.”
Yours & Owls 5th Birthday Festival
The Preatures
Cloud Control
The Delta Riggs
The Rubens
Gang Of Youths
Saskwatch
The Smith Street Band
Ash Grunwald
Bahamas
Salmonella Dub Soundsystem
Shining Bird
The Pinheads
Friday, 2nd October – Saturday, 3rd October 2015
Stuart Park, North Wollongong NSW
Tickets: Yours & Owls
Header photo credit Chris Frape, source: Yours & Owls Facebook
