by Michael Saltzman
The twenty-first century has brought difficult years for struggling musicians. The once-vibrant major-label scene has stiffened and contracted, with only four major music groups running the show after years of mergers and acquisitions. What's more, since file-sharing and the digital revolution began cutting into company profits, the Big Four have grown extremely cautious over new signings, and the understanding in Hollywood today is that major labels do not develop new artists. In other words, if a band's first album doesn't sell, its members might as well head back to their day jobs. (This system, of course, is terribly shortsighted; the list of musicians whose major-label debuts failed to sell includes both Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.)
But every dark corporate cloud has a silver lining, and this conservative major-label environment has fed a thriving independent scene. More and more, with the democratic powers of the Internet as their beacon, artists are choosing the independent route to promote and distribute their music––and the underground music community grows stronger everyday.
Nowhere is this growth more apparent than at the third San Diego Indie Music Fest, held March 3, 2007, in San Diego's North Park neighborhood, along University Avenue between Ray and Utah Streets. Featuring more than 70 diverse acts across seven themed stages, this year's festival marks a milestone for contemporary, independent music.
“This is the only exclusively independent music festival dedicated to celebrating independent music, business and thought,” says co-producer Alicia Champion, who founded the festival with fellow musician Danielle LoPresti. Since the first San Diego Indie Music Fest in November 2004, the event has ballooned from a small crowd of 500 at a single location to an expected attendance of up to 5000 spread over an entire neighborhood.
And the event has even begun attracting genuine headliners––artists who have recorded successfully for major labels but now choose the freer independent route, including Southern California ska-punk pioneers Fishbone, lesbian folk icon Michelle Shocked, and Murmurs founder Heather Grody performing with her new group, Redcar. In addition to the main stage, where the headliners perform, the festival boasts an acoustic stage, a women's history month stage and even an independent film and spoken-word venue.
“We are so proud of our line-up,” Champion says. “It's the most diverse line-up we've had yet.”
Champion and LoPresti met in 2003, performing back-to-back at a festival. Both women have rejected major-label courtship in favor of starting their own labels––Champ Records and Say It Records, respectively––and self-releasing their music. The next step was putting on their own shows, and then an entire festival.
“Since the beginning, this festival has been produced pretty much by just two people,” Champion says. “Year round, it's a true labor of love, 24/7, that Danielle and I do just because we believe in the mission so much.”
LoPresti adds, “The day-to-day reality is we start working as early as our bodies will let us … It's hard to work that hard and not get sick.”
In addition to managing every aspect of the event––from booking the headliners, to sifting through hundreds of submissions from all over the world, to coordinating with the city and the venues––LoPresti and Champion will also be performing on this year's main stage.
“The last rehearsal I had I couldn't sing,” says LoPresti, who plays soulful, self-affirming pop-rock with her band the Masses. “By the time we get onstage that day we're so exhausted, it's an interesting experience to say the least.”
Producing a large festival, running a label and promoting one's own work leaves little time to create music, but, LoPresti says, “The ability to write what I want to write and be as courageous as I want to be with my subject matter––it's worth all the headache and the trauma and the financial concern … It's really hard to put a price tag on peace of mind and peace of heart.”
As LoPresti explains, the festival's independent spirit goes beyond just music. Independent artisans, local businesses, henna tattooists and even voter registration services will all be present on March 3.
“What I try to do is make the connection between independent art and independent business,” she says. “If you're tired of seeing the corporations make the decisions for us, then start funding independents with the choices of what you buy. The more we continue to hand the power over to huge corporations that have no interest in our communities, then we're doing just that––we're turning over all the power to a faceless force.”
The flip-side of that chilling vision is the San Diego Indie Music Fest, a lively, percolating, wide-ranging community of independents, centered on a twelve-hour celebration of music.
“During the Vietnam War the peace movement was largely catapulted by the music of the time,” LoPresti says. “So for me it's not a huge leap to say, ‘Support these independent artists who have the courage to say the things you want to say, and watch the change start to happen.’ That which we support grows––period.”
For more information on San Diego Indie Music Fest III, please visit www.sdindiemusicfest.com, www.myspace.com/sdimf, or call 800/486-9957. Michael Saltzman is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles. He can be reached at mjs320@gmail.com.