INTERVIEW: Forage Fest
Forage Fest is a new, upcoming music festival that seeks to bring music back to Basement Theatre, revitalize the city centre, and celebrate the fresh voices growing in the underground. Defining itself as a home of mycelial connections, Forage Fest is all about discovering new connections and creating opportunities for artistic ‘cross-pollination’.
Rat World sits down with Alex de Vries (ADV), producer of Forage Fest, and Nia Vavao (Spdrtwnbby), one of the performers at the festival - where they chat about creating your own opportunities, building stronger communities, and foraging for new music.
Who are you and what do you do?
Alex: I am Alex or ADV. I am a musician and also producer of Forage Fest!
Nia: I'm Nia, and my artist name is Spdrtwnbby (Read: Spider Town Baby). I'm a musician as well, but at my day-job I work as the Pasifika research engagement librarian for Auckland Libraries.
What kicked off your respective musical journeys?
Nia: I feel like my journey as a Spdrtwnbby started last year, but the lead up to it has been since my primary school days. I’ve been building my confidence in singing and asking myself what do I like to sing, what suits me? Honestly, a lot of trial and error with genres. But now, I’m at a point where I don’t really care about genre – I do whatever feels right and I put it out there for people. That’s where I am at the moment.
What made you start Spdrtwnbby last year?
Nia: It was my partner who actually gave me the name [laughs] it’s not even a big story! We were just driving, and he was like, why don’t you call yourself Spdrtwnbby – because my Instagram name at the time was Spdrtwng0rl. Right now, I feel like I need a clean slate, you know? Or at least a new canvas to start working on. I do so much other stuff outside of my music that’s connected to ‘Nia’, but I just wanted my own special little base.
Yea, like a corner for your music to flourish for yourself. What about you, Alex?
Alex: It’s been so long! I guess for me, ADV as a project started when I was finishing film school. I had written a song (‘Bubble Bath’) and I honestly just wanted to make a music video so that I could have a directing credit.
I totally vibe with trying to forge opportunities for yourself.
Alex: Oh yea, I’m very much of the mind that – if you can’t find work, then make work. So, I just wanted to make that opportunity for myself. After we finished ‘Bubble Bath’, this whole album just came out of me and I was like, let’s roll with it! That process of discovering ADV was really fun and honestly, ADV is just my initials. So, there’s no real thought behind that. It’s what some of my friends called me and I ran with it.
Nia, you mentioned you had been singing since primary school – what about you, Alex? Have you always been interested in music?
Alex: Yea, since really young. I did classical singing in high school and had been dabbling in pop here and there, but coming back to it as an old man [laughs] it really gave me a different perspective and the maturity I needed for a project like this. I now have a clearer idea of what I want to create and the journey I want to go on. Also, knowing not to take things so personally – when you’re young, criticism really hits you. But now, I’m like – sweet, I’m gonna move on.
Yea, totally. I love how both of your artists' names are quite nonchalant and that your backstories are really organic! Very on brand. And on that note - What is Forage Fest? How are you both involved?
Alex: Forage Fest is my little baby! I work at Basement Theatre and the idea came out of wanting to bring music back to Basement. Being a space that uplifts young, new and emerging artists, it was really important to us that we could stretch that across all artforms. So, there was a gap in the program and I had this thought: What about a music festival? Is that a bit wild?! I was half expecting people to say no [laughs] but then, everyone was on board!
Forage Fest is really a way to focus on young, new and emerging musicians where, in the current landscape, it can be hard to find opportunities and to break into the scene. I wanted to help other artists who are in a similar position to myself so that we can find funding, build networks, develop as artists and cross pollinate with different art forms.
That’s so true – I keep talking to people in the theatre scene or in the music scene about very similar things, but there isn’t much crossover. It’s really awesome you are actually building a space for those conversations to happen. Nia, what drew you to being a part of Forage Fest?
Nia: I actually reached out to Basement Theatre for something different – I wanted to put on my own music event that supports wahine R&B, neo-soul artists. Unfortunately, Basement didn’t have any space for that event, but they asked if I wanted to be involved with Forage Fest! I’m so grateful that Alex has seen that gap and actually done something about it. Being a part of such a cool line up and seeing my friends on the line up too - it feels like we’re all on the same journey. Things can feel really isolating, you know, but this event makes me know I’m not alone.
I love hearing your experience being a part of Forage Fest and how it’s actually making important change. I’m curious about the mycological/foraging theme – where did that come from?
Alex: It was kind of related to that image of trying to find new music, new artists, new underground experiences and it feeling like foraging for food. That idea is definitely going to come through in terms of the set and lighting design, so it’s going to be quite an experience.
I love that this concept implies a larger ecosystem – a connection between people and art forms.
Alex: Yea, I do feel like our connections in the music industry are very mycelial. We have a lot of crossover between fans, friends and family, and it’s all about bringing that together under the same banner – introducing artists to each other, finding potential collaborations, creating opportunities together. We want everyone to expand each other’s horizons and get involved in things, from both an audience and artist perspective.
Nia: And being a part of Forage Fest, I’ve also discovered new artists. It’s given a reason for people to connect, otherwise we wouldn’t have been in the same space. How would I even know about these bands if it wasn’t for the festival
Absolutely. How did you go about choosing musicians? What was the process behind curating the festival?
Alex: I go to a lot of gigs and I write reviews, so it was kind of the bands that stood out to me. Musicians who I thought would be cool to see in a festival lineup. But also, asking around and doing research too. For an example, Tyrun opened for my album release party, and I was like, oh my gosh you need to do a longer set! Let’s make this happen! Or I saw Club Ruby play and their energy was insane. I wanted to see them again. It’s really just a process of digging around and doing the work - Sitting down and listening to everyone’s music and piecing together a vibe.
I love that this theme of foraging and finding new music comes through in the process. Beyond Forage Fest, what are both of your dreams for the local music industry?
Nia: I would love to see more crossover between arts, theatre, dance, and music. How can we collaborate and how can we make opportunities for ourselves? Funding is a big barrier, but if we collaborated and made more community across different forms, we wouldn’t feel so under-resourced – someone will have something you don’t have, and you will have something that someone else is looking for. It’s about making those collaborations a normal thing, rather than happening once every six months.
Alex: I just really love these small-scale events and festivals. Yea, sure, New Zealand has huge festivals with international acts, but at the same time there’s a real hunger for hyper-local experiences – things that are quite accessible, that are in your city, and that you don’t have to go camping for three nights for. I’m really excited for what music can bring to the city centre and how it can rejuvenate things. For a while, it felt like the energy in Auckland was dissipating, so it’s been quite exciting to see more things pop up in the city. Like, a week after Forage Fest is The Other’s Way! That creative energy is what makes a city liveable.
Absolutely. And how do you forage for your own new music?
Nia: I like going to gigs. Experiencing new bands in person and being like, holy shit who is that bassist?! Growing a good fan-artist relationship, tagging bands in stories, looking up the opener for your mate’s gig. Showing up for each other is so important. It seems little, but things slowly expand until you realize you have a whole community around you backing each other up.
Alex: Yea, similar. I go to a lot of gigs too. I think not just turning up for the main act is important – being there for the opener and supporting someone who is putting themselves out there. Also going to unexpected gigs. I’m always just scouring and seeing what’s around. I love digging through Spotify and finding hidden gems. It’s like going through a spider web of artists and then suddenly you’re listening to something new and you don’t know how you got there!
Totally! It feels so good when you’re like, 1 of 200 listeners.
Alex: That's the best.
And how would you describe Forage Fest in one word?
Nia: Harvest.
Alex: I want to say…mycelial. Yeah, I'm sticking to the theme!
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Forage Fest is on from the 21-23 November at Basement Theatre. Tickets are free, but there are limited spots available, so make sure to RSVP here!
You can support Nia (Spdrtwnbby) on Instagram, and can listen to her music on Spotify
You can support Alex (ADV) on Instagram, and can listen to his music on Spotify