Moog Music announces that Moogfest will be biennial, with the next event scheduled for 2016.
So what do you think about Moogfest, or any other music event, taking place every other year?
First I think Moogfest 2014 had probably the best lineup ever. If producing that type of lineup and pulling off a festival right takes two years of prep for them, then do it. My only fear as a organizer/promoter would be fans loosing interest. With the extreme competitive landscape, clutter, and the sheer fight for attention these days they will have to do a great job at subtly keeping ‘top of mind’ over the course of two years. Though maybe that will make the anticipation and hype all that much better. As a fan my concern is whether the event actually makes it back, and for how long. Given Moog Music has announced this very early and the event is now in the hands of an extremely creditable organization that has been a monumental staple in the industry for decades — chances are very good, so probably no worries there.
Official Statement from Moog Music below along with some videos from Moogfest 2014 Sound Labs where YACHT, Escort, & ADULT. perform all analog recreations of their songs.
YACHT gets intimate, performing their track ‘Plastic Soul’ completely live as a 4-piece
Escort (typically represented onstage as a 17-piece live band) utilized every synth at their disposal by programming MIDI data to every instrument in the Moog Sound Lab
Detroit duo ADULT. resynthesize their song “Heartbreak” with a trio of analog synths.
Moogfest Now a Biennial Event – Moog Music official statement on the Moogfest Biennial
Moogfest 2014 was a reboot of the festival, with much of the planning and execution taking place inside the Moog headquarters, just upstairs from where the synthesizers are designed and built by hand. Engineering a production of this scale is a process that can’t be mass-produced, much like Moog synthesizers themselves.
The decision to produce Moogfest biennially is in an effort to maintain the authenticity of the event, as well as the financial and spiritual health of Moog Music and its employees, whose primary focus will always be designing and building synthesizers.
“Moogfest 2014 was a proof of concept so we could experiment with a new business, a unique format, and a new creative direction,” says Mike Adams, Moog Music Inc. President & CEO. “Producing Moogfest every other year allows us to retain the high level of innovative programming as well as the originality and independence we established in 2014.”
This new iteration of Moogfest, with Moog Music Inc. at the helm, brought thousands of musicians, inventors, engineers, futurists, ethicists, visual artists and their fans together to discuss the future of technology and creativity. It established a space for conversation and collaboration while bringing visibility to North Carolina as an international hub of new ideas. Musical performers included legends like Kraftwerk, Keith Emerson, Nile Rogers and Giorgio Moroder alongside future and current stars like M.I.A., Flying Lotus, Dan Deacon, and Factory Floor.
“This future-forward version of Moogfest is in its infancy,” says Emmy Parker, Brand Director of Moogfest and Moog. “It will take some time for it to grow, but it’s clear that people want an unadulterated ideas-based festival that combines new art, music and technology. Moogfest is a personification of the Moog ethos and we’re honored to dedicate a full two years for curating each festival, with a sustainable, long-term plan for maintaining this platform for all those who share our passion.”