| Summer is coming, but there is another season in the air for music lovers — festival season. Festival goers around North America look forward to attending Coachella, Sasquatch and multiple Virgin festivals, and thanks to Zak Pashak, director of the brand new Sled Island Festival, Calgary is about to be put on the map.
The first indie music festival in Calgary will take place from June 27 to 30, and will feature international acts like Cat Power and Spoon alongside local bands like Consonant C and Azeda Booth. The four days will be spread among various venues throughout the city, including MacEwan Hall (University of Calgary), and Pashak’s club, Broken City.
As the owner of Broken City, Pashak has spent the last three years satisfying the needs of the indie faithful in Calgary, providing a venue for acts like the Stills. Though the club is a big part of Pashak’s life, he is trying to keep it separate from Sled Island.
"When you run a club, it can get pretty insular," Pashak says. "People put up walls and start to get really defensive and competitive. It was kind of important for me to break that mentality and just relax and let Broken City be its own thing."
A music festival presents challenges that owning a club doesn’t. One of Pashak’s main concerns is keeping the festival true to itself and avoiding the big business presence that plagues other music festivals. Though there will be sponsor presence at the events, Pashak is modelling Sled Island after the Pop Montreal festival, and is determined to let the music do the talking.
"I think sometimes festivals can get a little bit too business-y," he says. "I’ve heard some horror stories from South by Southwest. I’ve also heard some amazing stories, too, but I’ve heard about it being a little too processed, like it gets to be a bit of a meat market for bands.
"I’d like there to be some industry involved, and I hope that agents will come and check out the shows and take a look at some of our local bands, but the purpose is just that we’re going to put on a great festival. As long as we do that, that’s how we avoid turning it into more of a schmooze-fest."
Though bands are coming from across the country to play at Sled Island, Pashak’s passion to develop a larger music community in Calgary is the driving force behind the festival.
"I’ve seen a lot of great bands in this town have trouble getting any recognition," he says. "I felt it could use a little bit of an extra push in terms of acknowledging and celebrating the bands we have here."
More information on the festival, including participating bands, can be found at www.sledisland.com. The complete schedule will be released June 1. |
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