Over the past year here at CoS, we’ve had the wonderful opportunity to pick the brain of arguably the biggest name in the American music festival business, Ashley Capps. This past summer we had the pleasure of talking with Capps about his biggest festival, Bonnaroo. Twice. Now, the seasons have changed, it’s fall, and next week he returns with another new festival. We felt it was time to call him up again to get the skinny on the inaugural MoogFest.
To recap, MoogFest is a three-day indoor event taking place around the beautiful city of Asheville, North Carolina, this coming Halloween weekend. The lineup is stacked, and as the name implies, the festival will be honoring the life and ingenuity of Robert Moog. Who is Bob Moog, you ask? Since the mid-50′s, Moog’s work as the inventor of the modern synthesizer has been instrumental in reshaping the musical landscape as we know it. Think about it. How many bands and musicians can you name that use Moog synthesizers in some way, and I’m not just talking about contemporary musicians either. Go back and really think about it. Is your head done spinning? Moog’s synthesizers have played just as significant a roll in shaping the sound of popular music during the past 50 years as the electric guitar. In that time span, his instruments have invented entirely new genres and re-defined old ones, helping to create music that simply wouldn’t exist without them. That’s pretty monumental, and so it only makes sense that there finally be a festival as big as Moogfest to honor the man we owe the sound of modern music too.
It may be too soon to say, but MoogFest already has the strong potential to be a late October mainstay in the festival circuit. Recently, I had the chance to ask Capps about his latest creation and what all he has planned for us. If this works out the way he hopes it will, I have a good idea where you’ll be going for Halloween from now on.
How did the idea come about to do Moogfest?
Well, in this particular case, like most ideas, it came from a variety of different sources. Certainly we’ve been very active in the city of Asheville, presenting music for two decades or more, and it’s been a very nurturing and supportive community for what we’ve done, so the idea of doing a music festival in Asheville has been there for a while. When Bob Moog died in 2005, the idea of doing something to celebrate the legacy of this guy who was such a pioneer in contemporary music was there. Of course, with Asheville being his adopted hometown, but also the headquarters of Moog Music, it seemed to make a lot of sense, so we started discussing it.
At the time, there was already a MoogFest, and there are actually MoogFests taking place all over the world, but there was one in particular that was an annual event in New York. I think there was a feeling that that event had run its course and needed a fresh perspective. All of these things came together into the discussion that ultimately led into what we’re doing now.
Asheville, NC
How long has this been in the making?
Well, it depends on where you start. I would say that we’ve actively been looking at creating the event that we now have coming up in a couple of weeks for about two-and-a-half, three years. But the idea has been germinating for even longer than that.
Is there any relation to the New York MoogFest or the other MoogFests?
Only in the sense that the New York festival was officially sanctioned by Moog Music. After our discussions and they made the decisions, it was all amicable on everybody’s part. But the decision was made to transfer the festival more or less to Asheville.
You decided to make this festival venue-based as opposed to another camping festival. What are the advantages of doing it this way?
I love both types of events, obviously. For some reason I think, at least in my mind, the Moog concept, and the concept we ultimately brought into the festival, really called for creating different types of environments and experiences for presenting different types of music. I was also looking to utilize the infrastructure that Asheville offers, everything being in walking distance, so on and so forth. There’s no particular reason that it would be an indoor or outdoor festival, but I think one of the things I do like about the indoor events is the opportunity to really focus on different types of experiences and take advantage of different rooms and the various characteristics that they offer.
With so many different experiences being planned, what then can people expect from this inaugural year?
There’s going to be an extraordinary amount of amazing music. I’m looking forward to so much during that weekend I don’t even know where to begin. One of the things that we’re also taking advantage of is the fact that with these various spaces we’re able to do a lot in terms of décor in creating this really amazing environment. We’re working with a team of artists and designers to really transform, especially the Asheville Civic Center, the arena space, the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, the lobby, and all the connecting areas into a pretty exciting visual environment.
Will each venue have its own atmosphere, its own theme.
Absolutely.
Could you elaborate more on these themes?
It’s hard to elaborate on right now. It’s all in the design and execution process right now, so I’m going to be as amazed by it as anyone else. I’ve seen a lot of preliminary ideas and designs, and I think it’s going to be pretty mind-blowing.
Will you be attending any of the shows?
I’ll be at all of the shows some way or another. If I can be at all of them, I’ll be at all of them. I’m pretty much a music fanatic myself, so I’m looking forward to all these performances.
Any in particular that you can’t wait for?
I hate to single out anything in particular, because there’s so much that I’m looking forward to. I’ve been able to see a lot of music over the year, so many of the artists that are performing I’ve seen many, many times. I just saw Massive Attack in New York back in the spring, and they were absolutely amazing. Thievery Corporation at Bonnaroo this year was incredible. The thing that I haven’t seen yet, that I’m really excited to see, would be Jónsi; I’ve heard amazing things about his show. There are a few lesser-known acts on the bill, Emeralds for one, Omar Souleyman, but gosh there’s just so much, Four Tet, Caribou. I don’t really know where to start.
What is it about the Moog sound and these bands that really resonates with you?
I think the process for booking MoogFest this year, and really what sets this MoogFest apart from the MoogFests of the past, was the decision to really focus on a very contemporary expression. Not just of the Moog instruments themselves, but also embodying the spirit that Bob Moog brought to his innovation and the way that he approached life.
So often in the past, the MoogFests have rightfully celebrated some of the great artists of the past that really transformed music using the instruments, but instead of focusing so heavily on the past, we decided to focus on the present and the future. But we’re still paying homage to the past with Devo, who are still very much a contemporary act, but arguably their heyday was a couple of decades ago.
Aside from the music, what else will people be able to check out at the festival?
We’re indoors, and obviously we’ll have a lot of different things going on at all the venues throughout the evenings. During the day we’re going to let people experience Asheville, but also we’ll have workshops and films and lectures and musical demonstrations. There are some art exhibitions, so there’s going to be a lot of stuff going on the whole weekend.
It is going to be Halloween weekend, so will that be a theme as well?
You know, that’s the one part where I think we can let the audience take the lead. That’s the fun thing about doing an event on Halloween weekend. I already know that some of the people who are going to be attending the festival weekend are going all out to do these amazing costumes and crazy stuff. That’s what’s going to entertain me. I can’t wait to see some of the ideas people come up with for costumes to celebrate the Halloween weekend.
Was the festival planned over this weekend on purpose, or did it just work out that way?
Well, we were looking at different time periods, and it ended up being both the best time as well as a really fun time to do it, so I think this could well become a tradition.
Is MoogFest the follow-up to Vegoose, which was your previous Halloween weekend festival?
It’s funny; I can honestly say that when we arrived at doing this over Halloween weekend, it never crossed my mind that this was in any way a replacement for Vegoose. It just kind of turned out that way. Frankly, I didn’t even think about it for weeks after it had been announced.
Will you ever go for another festival in Las Vegas, or is that a closed chapter in history?
Never say never. We have a number of really exciting events in the planning stage, and sometimes it’s hard to say for sure which one’s actually going to be next. Here at A.C. Entertainment, there’s no shortage of projects on the table. We’re really exited to move them forward.
Some of them are actually, or at least multi-day music festivals. Some could be outdoors, some could be indoors. Like I said, they’re in the planning stages, so it’s hard to say.
Overall, it seems like you and A.C. Entertainment have really streamlined the festival creating process. Has it become easier to start these up?
Creating festivals is certainly a challenge. To me there’s a very special chemistry behind a successful festival. It’s not just about booking a lot of bands; it’s really about creating a complete experience over the course of the weekend. I don’t really feel like the process is particularly streamlined. Each event has its own unique set of characteristics and its own unique set of things to be worked through and determined in order for that event to become a reality, and hopefully a success. At this particular point, there is no magic formula. It’s really about taking each unique event and making it amazing.
You, with A.C. Entertainment, have done a lot to help music festivals in general over the past decade. In your opinion, what did you end up doing right that has been able to help music festivals flourish in this country for the first time.
First of all, we’ve really focused on creating the very best experience for the fans that we possibly can. I think that that continues to be the number one motivation as we plan any of our events and then putting together the very best possible team to bring these concepts to fruition. We really look at the big picture and think in terms of, not just a one-time thing, but really creating a festival that’s going to endure and become an annual event. It’s very challenging, and with out the continuation of it, it’s probably not worth doing.
Of those experiences, your festivals have been known for getting different musicians together on stage, so can we expect to see some collaborations at MoogFest as well?
I think we’re going to see a lot of surprises. We like surprises.
Speaking of surprises, next year is a big one for Bonnaroo. You’ve been quoted as saying that you have “more headliners than we can fit…”
Did I say that? We’re certainly excited about the options that we have for the tenth anniversary, but it’s all a process. It’s hard to say right now what it’s going to look like, but certainly it feels good so far. I think a lot of the ideas we’ve been talking about amongst ourselves as well as to artists about and so on, I think we’re going to have an amazing…god, I keep using that word. I think we’re going to have, once again, an unforgettable Bonnaroo.
Are you attending MoogFest? Getting there a day early? Better RSVP for the Official MoogFest Kickoff Party, featuring a DJ set by King Britt!
