Last October Dan Smith played a show at the Viaduct Theater with his solo ambient synth project, Red Electric Rainbow, and a few other artists. It was in some ways just another show, but it was the first he’d set up himself instead of just asking a booker for a slot for his band—and it opened the floodgates for him. Within a month he was working to organize something much more daunting: this weekend’s Neon Marshmallow Fest, also at the Viaduct, an extravaganza of experimental music featuring more than 90 acts spread across four days.
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The city already has its share of festivals that accommodate experimental sounds, most notably September’s annual Adventures in Modern Music, presented by the Empty Bottle and British music magazine the Wire. But Neon Marshmallow is unique in its devotion to the deep underground, where ultralimited cassette releases are the primary currency. The DIY aesthetic binds the sprawling lineup together more than any musical commonality—the artists performing cover a wide spectrum, from harsh noise to free jazz to warped pop to murky ambient to electroacoustic improvisation.
Initially Smith and Kimmel planned to book about 20 acts and include perhaps one international artist. But their ambition got the better of them, and the huge roster they ended up with features five overseas artists, among them England’s Astral Social Club (the solo project of former Vibracathedral Orchestra leader Neil Campbell) and Switzerland’s Dave Phillips, a key member of confrontational noise crew Schimpfluch-Gruppe. Smith estimates the total expenses (including plane tickets for those five) to be about $12,000, nearly $4,000 of which has come out of his own pocket.
Artists perform on two stages, Acid and Blossom, throughout every show, with overlapping sets staggered so that it should be possible for fans to see at least 20 minutes of everyone. The full schedule is at neonmarshmallowfest.com, with each show’s lineup listed headliner first. (Set order is very much subject to change.)
Carlos Giffoni Born and raised in Venezuela and now living in New York, Carlos Giffoni could be called the spiritual godfather to the Neon Marshmallow Fest. Not only has he organized the similarly stylistically omnivorous No Fun Fest since 2004, but he’s also embraced and supported a wide variety of underground musicians via his label, No Fun Productions—he’s released everything from the post-Tangerine Dream synth ambience of Emeralds to the unhinged noise rock of Hair Police to the assaultive sound art of veteran Swedish-Israeli experimentalist Dror Feiler. In his own work he displays a similar range and restlessness—you never know what you’re going to get from him. It could be lacerating digital noise, grimy acid techno, or wrist-slitting dystopian minimalism like his recent album Severance (Hospital Productions)—a collection of funereal low-end squelches and brooding long tones produced on old-school Buchla and Serge modular analog synths. Sat 8/21, 7 PM, Acid Stage, and Sat 8/21, noon, Acid Stage with Astral Social Club
