Joe sat down with James – self professed Muso and Hamilton lover #1 – to discuss how he put on a gig in town to celebrate his birthday and the music that he loves; Rather than let culture be something that happens to him, he got stuck in and built it up around him.
Mr. Hamilton himself. Hello! So, James Fest. Tell me about it.
So, James Fest was just meant to be just a one-off, but I might do one again. I actually copied my friend Doug who does Doug Fest, and that one started as a drunken bet. Like we’d been to a million gigs, and then one time went “why can’t we host one?”
It started with celebrating Doug’s birthday, but has grown into Doug-space, Doug-fest jnr, Doug-fest 2. So, it’s really started to grow and become a part of Hamilton. And I’m the hype man for the gigs. So, me and my friend Zard, who I make music with, we’re the hype men. We do the hosting of the gigs, and I kind of went “I want do one too”
What goes into putting a gig on like this?
When you hold a gig, you have the possibility to do anything, you know? So, it’s just about having fun. So, you figure out what music you want. You get a venue, you put it all together. For my last gig, James Fest, I just had some of my favourite bands that I could get at the time to come play for me.
And just for people who might be considering doing this for their own future, you did it at last place? Did they take a cut of the tickets and stuff as well?
I mean, as long as you pay the venue, that’s all they really care about. So just make sure you pay the venue. Anything that’s remaining, you just pay the artists.
There’s really no reason anyone with a couple of contacts can’t do that. What are your thoughts on the Hamilton music scene?
The Hamilton music scene has its own special vibe man, it’s different. You know, Hamilton is a city, but it’s a small city. I love the Hamilton scene much more than any other scene. But that’s just because I’m used to it, you know? I’ve been exposed to it, and a lot of my friends are in bands, and, and I’ve grown up watching other people in bands before me, you know, other people making music before me, so it’s just like, to be a part of it, and to be around it, and to kind of be inside the culture, it’s just really special. People underestimate the Hamilton live music culture; we really have our own twist on it.
One problem with the Hamilton scene is that everyone tries to do their own thing, and it’s great, because everyone’s on their own vibe. but we still need to work on coming together; there’s not a lot of cross band collaboration. Everyone sticks to themselves; they cut each other off.
How does it compare to other cities?
It’s hard, we don’t have much opportunity, and councils don’t give us enough space, there’s not enough funding towards these kind of things. but I think that’s what makes it more special: it’s all passion. People are going out of their way to make these things happen, and it takes effort, but seeing the effort is so inspirational, it’s not just this thing that’s there that we take for granted, we work for it. We really do cherish our gigs and our live music.
Playlist
GRWM Disorientation Edition
- I feel fantastic – riovaz
- Let’s go crazy – Prince
- New Gold – Gorillaz
- Liars Tale – Kneecap
- Runner’s High – Muna
- OMG – The Neighbourhood
- Love Buzz – Nirvana
- Is it true – Tame Impala
- Drain Me! – Towa Bird
- Smile – Wolf Alice
- People – The 1975
- Mean Girls – Charlie xcx
