A new radio documentary on radical marching bands is available from the National Radio Project’s Making Contact.
You’ll hear from members of Infernal Noise Brigade about the efficacy of this kind of protest (and why they decided to disband), from Brass Liberation Orchestra players about their Left-unity mission, their Bad Hotel intervention, and more.
The documentary is a great expository and thinks through some of the sticky issues that have been raised in numerous HONK! Festival workshops, like militancy, cultural appropriation, and the role of public joy in protest. New listeners and longtime participants alike should take a listen.
Via: Mail. Thanks, Dashal!
Disclosure: I help(ed) to organize HONK! Festival mentioned above and in the piece, along with Groundswell guest blogger Susie Husted.
The weeks between us and the HONK! Festival are waning away, and to help make the excitement that much more palpable, here are links to the posters we’ve created. These are print-ready, please feel free to copy and distribute as far and wide as you’d like!
Credit for the background image goes to Seth Tobocman
Also, thanks to the talents volunteered by David Blank-Edelman, honkfest.org relaunched recently. The site will offer the opportunity to build on the festival’s four year long momentum, and will be a focal point of post-festival organizing efforts.
Among the highlights are listings of band attendees, with biographies, geo-tagging, and links to more content. We’ve organized pictures from past years, created a Twitter account, and much more. Be sure to check the schedule page and make plans to attend. See you there!
Disclosure: I am a member of the HONK! Festival Organizing Committee.
The HONK! Festival, oft-discussed on Groundswell, is summarized brilliantly in the documentary below. HONK! No Noise Is Illegal was crafted after the 2008 HONK! Festival by a team of Tufts University students, including Sara DeForest, Deborah Neigher, Jane Ottensmeyer and Chloe Zimmerman.
This year’s festival will converge in Davis Square, Somerville, MA on October 9-11, 2009.
The HONK! Festival is rapidly approaching; just less than two months time remains between now and the start of festivities on Friday, October 9th.
Groundswell officially kicks off its festival preview (see last year’s coverage here), with a call for participants in the HONK! Parade: Reclaim the Streets for Horns, Bikes, and Feet:
a giant processional performance that will take place Sunday, October 11 from noon to 2 p.m., starting at Davis Square in Somerville and ending at Harvard Square.
Can you and your organization join us this year? We would love to have your participation! It would be great if you could
Disclosure: I am a member of the HONK! Festival organizing committee, and helped put on last year’s event.
Noah Scalin recently designed the logo for alternative marching band The Asphalt Orchestra at Another Limited Rebellion, and writes:
They play songs by Björk, Frank Zappa, and Swedish metal band Meshuggah to name a few composers that you won’t hear on the usual school band roster.
Their first gig was in front of Lincoln Center, and video can be seen here, and here. Their high-profile debut, and mentions in major press, like the New York Times, lead fellow HONK! Festival organizer Trudi Cohen to comment that “producing and funding a band like this” substantiates the notion “that street music has actual cultural credibility!”
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