Preview: Not Much More Than Music Fest

Last July, Columbus, Ohio’s 11th, and most likely last, More Than Music fest prematurely tanked. Though I won’t get into the reasons behind the upset, I will say It was a blow to the promoters who’d spent countless months organizing the event, a blow to the 60 local, national and international bands and musicians who planned to participate, and a blow to the fans who’d traveled from around the country or bought advanced tickets. But, for those of you who can remember back to Dayton’s heyday, you’ll recall that many of the early MTM’s were hosted at Dayton’s own Brookwood Hall. It seems fitting then that a couple of kids from Dayton would pick up the fumbled ball and fill the void left by MTM.

On June 4, 5, and 6 Dayton will host the Not Much More Than Music Fest; a celebration of music, bad haircuts, and little else. And we at Bettawreckonize say that it is about time that someone brought something of this caliber back to the Gem City. Though the fest seems to have little in common with the bloated corpse left by our Columbus-brethren – no art installations, empty workshops, European electronic artists, or The Locust for the fiftieth time, these kids have actually learned a little something from MTM – they already kinda have a back up venue.

Bettawreckonize briefly caught up with one of the fest’s organizers, James Alan to find out how this is going to go down. We wish them the best of luck, encourage everyone to attend, and are keeping our fingers crossed that Ohio doesn’t suffer another unforeseen blow or ruined good time.

Interview conducted via e-mail by Tim Anderl. Pictures provided by Bettawreckonize’s of Christmas past.

Bettawreckonize: Last spring and summer the buzz amidst the internet message boards seemed to be whether or not the More Than Music fest was really about more than music. Is the title of your fest an answer to that phenomenon?

James: I guess in a way it is. I never really saw MTM as being much more than music. I’m aware that many years ago it was a very strong fest that meant a lot. But I think at its death it was very tired and disconnected from what it once was. Also, the name is stolen from a Charles Bronson record. Mark McCoy is the clever one here.

BW: How were the bands on the fest's roster selected? What types of music is the fest focusing on?

J: Only a handful of the bands were actually invited then we got a lot of requests from a lot of really good bands. We had to turn down a good 80+ bands that wanted to play too. Lots of fest related emails the past six months. I guess we were initially focusing on hardcore/punk/diy/whatever, but I think we have a pretty wide range of bands, both in sound and popularity.

The Dream is Dead, photo by Lisa Thompson

BW: What other activities does the fest have to offer?

J: Not much more than music. We attempted to get some workshops together but no one offered to help with any.

BW: What is the price of admission? Will we still be able to purchase tickets the day of the fest?

J: Advance tickets can be purchased from www.vivalavinyl.org/notmuchmore for $25 or it is $10 a day at the door.

BW: How many native Ohio bands are playing the fest? Was there a criteria that "local" bands had to meet to be included in the fest?

J: There are 10 Ohio bands playing the fest. We were definitely picky with the local bands as the spots were so limited. Only four Dayton bands are playing, and we picked four way different bands (Gun Medal Gray, The 8 Bit Revival, Yes, Collapse! and Attax Unit Youth). Other Ohio bands include Columbus' The Cinema Eye, Party Patrol and Rats Into Robots, and Cincy's Dead Hate The Living, Noarmsnolegs and Tumor Feast.

The Cinema Eye, photo by Clark

BW: How many bands total are playing the fest?

J: There are 40 bands playing.

BW: Who else is involved in the planning and execution of the fest and what role do they play?

J: Alice from www.vivalavinyl.org built and runs our website. Matt and Andy are doing all the ads and general planning and I’m doing lots of planning and booking. Everyone helped on the booking though.

BW: At the last Michigan Fest, both Jessica Hopper and Roby Newton (Milemarker) had much to say about the very small number of women musicians who'd be performing as part of the fest. Are there bands that have female members among their ranks performing at the fest. Who are they?

J: Several bands with female members are playing including: Dead Hate The Living, The Cinema Eye, Turn Around Norman….I know I’m forgetting a ton.

The Minus Tide, Photo by Anne Anderl

BW: I noticed that a few of the bands included in the original line-up had cancelled. Do expect many more changes?

J: Sadly a few really good bands either broke up or had to change their tours and can’t play now. I don’t expect many changes in the lineup now.

BW: The big mystery among my friends seems to be where this event will be held. Can we let people know the venue where this event will take place?

J: Right now we have a hall confirmed, but it might move over to El Diablo. It’s not final….sadly...

BW: Is the entire ticket price going to cover costs related to the fest or is there a beneficiary too?

J: As of now, there is no beneficiary. We have talked about it, but we have a lot of costs rolled up in the fest, and we are going to try to pay all the traveling bands well too.
Without further adieu, here is the schedule:
FRIDAY, June 4 (starts around 4 pm)
Gun Medal Gray
Searchingforchin
Dead Letter Auction
The Fugue
The Cinema Eye
The Minus Tide
Stop it!!
Lords
Kodan Armada
Coliseum
Breather Resist

SATURDAY, June 5 (Starts around 1 pm)
The 8 bit Revival
Paul Michel
Rats Into Robots
Textbook Traitors
Sinaloa
Tusk
Crimson Spectre
The Disease
The Holy Mountain
Welcome The Plague Year
Fax Arcana
Lickgoldensky
Forensics
Fourteen Or Fight
He Who Corrupts

SUNDAY, June 6 (starts around 1 pm)
Tumor Feast
No Arms No Legs
The Dead Hate The Living
Department of Homeland Security
Pretty Faces
Turn Around Norman
Funeral For Rosewater
Attax Unit Youth
Denim And Diamonds
The Clancy Six
Tyranny of Shaw
The Dream is Dead

For more information, check out the fest’s website at: http://www.vivalavinyl.org/notmuchmore/.