This October Digital Music Marketing was involved as a first time sponsor on the Santa Barbara New Noise Music Festival. The festival is now in it's fifth year of operation and continues to grow. We recently got a chance to catch up with founder and fearless leader Jeff Theimer and he was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. Here is what he had to say.
DMM: How did the New Noise Music Foundation form and who was involved?
Jeff: NNMF formed in 2009. I was working in radio marketing in Los Angeles and had this bug to get back to Santa Barbara where I grew up. I loved music and digital technology and was an avid SXSW attendee. I was interested in exploring where the music industry was headed and how we could affect positive change for artists.
After going to SXSW for 3 consecutive years, I realized there was room for something like it in Santa Barbara-- perhaps a bit smaller. : ) I reached out to a friend who worked at the local Alternative Weekly paper (Matt Kettman, Santa Barbara Independent) and asked if this sounded like something he and the paper would/could get behind. He told me they had discussed something similar but never got it going and suggested I meet another friend (Tim Boris) who was also discussing having a music industry type event in SB. Together we formed the Festival and then the Foundation as a way to keep both the New Noise brand active throughout the year and to explore things we were interested in and thought important to the Santa Barbara music and tech scene. The Foundation is an avenue for us to do fun things with youth music, local music and bring a diverse group of concerts to Santa Barbara. At the time, there was only a couple promoters/groups doing concerts. Our main goal is to see SB artists succeed and try our best to help them by creating opportunities within and outside of Santa Barbara.
DMM: The New Noise Music Conference & Festival celebrates its 5th anniversary this year (Congratulations!) Can you tell us about some takeaways learned from the past and how the event has evolved over the last 5 years?
Jeff: I think the longevity comes from not trying to "hit a single and wake up on third." What I mean is we started New Noise with very little money (and it still operates on a beer budget). We've always had that 'let's see if we can pull it off again next year' attitude. I think that organic growth is healthy. We have never had a ton of big corporate sponsors, so that has made us lean and thankful for what we can do with relatively little. The basic format has remained the same, but we have added a few things like our annual Block Party which definitely is going to be a big part of our future growth. We are also evolving in that I am trying to actively get local clubs to join in with their own events/parties/bookings rather than just trying to do it all on our own. I think that will also add to the festivities and this is the first year I felt we were turning the corner on that type of participation. It felt really good. I also believe this year we had more people taking advantage of purchasing our badge (where you can go in and out of venues for three days). That definitely has been something we actively try to encourage and I think the concept is finally kicking in for our participants. Year one we sold a lot more single event tickets. I think our brand has really grown and people know we aren't going to put just anything on our stages during the festival. We care. We listen.
DMM: What is the future of New Noise?
Jeff: Keep partnering with other organizations and businesses. Keep growing and hopefully continue bringing new music that people dig to Santa Barbara. I hope to partner with the Santa Barbara Bowl more in the coming years so we can have that amazing venue play a bigger role in our event. That is something I definitely want to try n make happen. It's by far one of the best venues in the country so it just makes sense right? As Joe Strummer said, "The Future is Unwritten." As long as it's fun and their is an audience, we will keep rocking.
DMM: The “Living Room” is an all ages Drug and alcohol free environment for young artists to have a platform to express themselves. What got you started on this journey to help give young artists a 300+ capacity venue to call home?
Jeff: We have been through a ton of issues with trying to reopen the Living Room. Unfortunately, real estate is expensive in Santa Barbara so finding the right space in the right location has been a challenge. That said, I think it will happen eventually. I grew up in SB in the 80's & 90's. the Living Room opened and we had a 300 capacity all ages venue that had some of my favorite bands would play, and then we could perform there easily the next week and even take part in the club decisions if you cared enough to sit in on the meetings and participate. That was a WOW moment for me (and a ton of people to this day). Without it, I would never have been inspired to be in a band, explore what I could do around the music industry etc. That is why I care so much and want to see it open. We do a ton of youth music concerts and events throughout the year, but having a dedicated space that can host both nationally touring artists as well as locals without having to rely solely on alcohol sales would be a coup for this town. It would also serve as a hub for creative arts. I really think with all the great music and arts organizations in town, we will get it eventually. The vision and will is there. Patience I suppose....
DMM: What have been some of the challenges associated with providing an all ages event in Santa Barbara? Also what is the rewarding upside to such events?
Jeff: The challenges are simple: they cost more to produce then they can bring in at the gate. The economics of producing concerts on a small scale is not great. I do not suggest anyone to become an independent promoter (for a full time job). Do it for the passion. All ages shows essential in my opinion to a music scene. That said, Bars/clubs need alcohol revenue to pay their high rents, so what happens is they either are forced to charge some ridiculous rent to the promoter or simply decline even a sold out all ages show on a weekend (when kids need something to do) because they know they won't make any money even with 300 kids in the house. It's lame. It's honestly probably one of the main reasons New Noise is non profit- we have hosted hundreds of all ages events over the past 5 years. A lot of them we did knowing we weren't going to make our money back. Sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is, so we try to whenever we can.
When it's a youth oriented show, the reward is easy. How can you NOT dig seeing kids who are barely 12 years old ripping a Zeppelin song by the Skate Park??
Another reward is a more diverse set of local artists, better shows and the growth of a music scene. Muddy Waters Cafe should be given an award for all they have done in Santa Barbara for our SB music scene and artists. Without it, I think SB would be a wasteland for new music. We definitely need more all ages opportunities and that is what New Noise will continue to support. Whether it's our show or not. That is rewarding- just being in Santa Barbara and getting to work with all these talented people and bands.
Thank you to Jeff and his whole crew for an excellent time in Santa Barbara! If you would like to learn more about The New Noise Music conference and festival you can vist them @ NewNoise.org Next event for The New Noise music festival is coming up this December.
Friday December 6, 2013
Seymour Duncans 3rd Annual Benefit Concert For Notes For Notes
The Lobero Theatre
Featuring Jimmy Vivino,The Basic Cable Band,Slash and the Robert Randolph Band
Clip from this years Festival
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