OBEY Convention, Halifax’s musical and artistic foray into the unorthodox and unusual, have just announced the full run of musicians and performers for their 2018 lineup.
Now in it’s 11th year, OBEY will be hosting its 20+ events at unusual, historic and alternative venues across the city, including libraries, churches, art galleries, gardens, garages and bars. The festival will include electronica, avant-jazz, punk, hip-hop, modern composition, noise and ambient music as well as visual art, spoken word and more. Also making education an important part of its programming, it will be host to educational events such as the EverySeeker Symposium, a series of educational events that explore new ideas at the intersection of sound, and the O’BABY children’s art workshop.
The festival’s aim is to focus on the celebration of people and projects involving struggle, difference, freedom and play. It brings together acts, artists and events that organizers feel are underrepresented in the area, giving attendees a chance to experience not one, but many new things and hopefully “scratch some deep itches people might not even know they have yet,” says OBEY Convention’s creative director Andrew Patterson.
Though it started out largely focused on punk, OBEY has become a festival that does not fit within the borders of a particular genre or identity. One of its only constants is its constant state of change, evolution and boundary pushing.
“We often explore the darker sides of music, experimentation and psyche (and there’s definitely still a fair amount of that at the festival this year), but from a curatorial perspective, I became interested in the idea of radical joy. So we’ve got four days of programming that really stretches over a wide spectrum of perspectives. There are artists travelling from Bordeaux, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Portland, Hamilton, Walton… all over the place!” says Patterson.
“The world changes at a frightening pace these days, so that means from year to year, the festival can feel quite different. And from moment to moment, the festival experience changes; our audiences see jazz, hip-hop, electronic, punk, ambient, folk; sometimes all on the same bill. As a curator, one of my main focuses is how to draw lines across genres, across boundaries. Our motto is ‘Free Ideas In Sound and Music’. We work hard to liberate the experiences of performing, listening and being together.”
Patterson explains that one of the biggest strengths, and in fact one of the biggest draws for audience attendance is that OBEY’s avant garde nature pushes them to the forefront of the scene. It often results in the festival snagging performers right before they blow up.
“Honestly, every year there are shows that just totally knock me sideways. I’ve cried tears of joy at every OBEY I’ve worked on or attended as a fan. It’s a sign of curatorial success if the programme inspires me to weep from a strange mix of happiness and awe. I expect this year will be no different. There’s gonna be plenty of heaviness and brilliance and celebration. Just seeing people gather around new ideas and hold space collectively for shared experience, it’s a really special thing.
It also seems important to mention here that there’s not one singular community that contributes to and supports OBEY. Because we’re working at the fringes, there’s all kinds of people from different backgrounds, age brackets, financial situations, with different interests and perspectives that come out to our shows. We work hard to present shows in a way that makes them accessible; every venue is physically accessible, has gender-neutral washrooms, every show is free or pay-what-you-can. We’re bringing a true alternative to the musical landscape here. We’re approaching music from a spiritual place, rather than music merely as entertainment, or musicians as beer salesmen, which is a common model that fucks up musicians and audiences alike.
Overall, I’d say we’re bringing a curiosity to people here. Our goal is to reward and encourage curiosity. Curiosity is what breaks down false barriers and allows people to be together in a truer, fuller way. OBEY Convention is a weekend about being together. Those willing to explore and dig in understand that. That’s how we’ve stuck around all these years”
The full festival lineup includes Anaïs Maviel, Arielle Twist, Bria Cherise Miller, Cutie, DIáSPORA, DJ Douvet, DJ Fadzwa, Gina Burgess, Hussam Al Assaf, id m theftable, Jerico, Joseph Shabason, Liu Fang, Markus Floats, Maximata, Melissa Labrador & Corbin Hart, Melody McKiver, New Hermitage, Nidia, Ono, Pharmakon, Platitudes, Ray Fenwick, Sacred Wolf Singers, Sarah Hennies, Science Project, Skin Tone, Strange Froots, Vile Creature, WANDARIAN, and Yohvn Blvck.
OBEY Convention takes place May 24th to 27th, 2018 in Halifax. Over half of OBEY Convention’s programming is free to attend, and all ticketed events are pay-what-you-can and free for anyone under 19 years old.