TWOMINDS FESTIVAL
Twominds are a group of mates who got together because they wanted to create high quality experiences centred around music and art. That kaupapa, which has been intertwined from their first flat party, still applies to their newest venture - throwing a music festival. To get a finger on the pulse, Flynn sat down with Corban and Dan from the label/collective to discuss the imminent and inaugural Twominds Festival.
The festival is situated twenty minutes from the garden city CDB at the idyllic Spencer Park, close enough to come for the day but far enough away to feel like you are removed from the city. The locale is embedded within a 70 Ha forest, flanked coastally by Spencer Park Beach. But this wasn’t always the plan as the boys tell me. “We originally wanted to do it at Okains bay, but when we got on a call with the council they told us there would be a million hoops to jump through. Instead they recommended this one called Spencer Beach Holiday Park.” With Dan over in Australia, Corban scouted out the site and at first was sceptical. “It's a campsite, so we thought it was kinda lame - not what you would expect from a festival site. But then I started to look at it through a different lens, and started to picture where the stages would be, and it actually changed my mind and I thought it would be a really unique site which would make a great festival.”
The boys have clearly changed their tune since that first scouting mission. “It’s a festival in a campsite, no other festival is in a campsite, it’s fucking sick.” The venue clearly brings an energy and aura not present at many other festivals but it also tips on its head some of the expectations usually dogging festivals. “Instead of cramming a campsite into a festival site, you are fitting a festival into a campsite. How often do you go to a festival with 12 flushable toilets next to the stage, and go to the campsite with 12 usable showers and twenty toilets, where it's all in furnished buildings?” It’s definitely a twist on regular festival camping, one of barebones amenities, cramped into a field, restricted by fences. Twominds Festival is offering an experience where you don't need to compromise with all the crappy baggage you usually expect to come with camping.
This isn’t the first outing for Twominds, far from it, anyone involved in the Christchurch music scene can attest to their ubiquitous nature over the last few years, but it is a clear levelling up. “It's a daunting drawing board to be staring at but ever since the first flat party, this has been one of the things in the vision. There is no right time, if you wait around for the perfect moment, that moment will never come”. There may be no perfect moment, but the team have clearly built a reputation for creating spaces and fostering creative output. “Running a festival has never felt like this crazy impossible thing - it's felt achievable. We have always been in the process of building a brand and developing a skill set to a point where we thought we could actually take the challenge on. There have been a lot of moments where we have been staring at the drawing board, pretty stressed and terrified as well as really excited.”
Photo provided by Twominds
Twominds Festival is a step up but also a step forward for the collective. “It's not an outdoor concert, because it goes back to the atmosphere and environment I reckon. Trying to create a fully rounded experience. People have the intention to go have fun, not just to be the person in the front row of their favourite act - they are there to experience everything there is to offer. We want people to enjoy the smorgasboard of fun we have curated”. For them, it's less about the performer, and more about the atmosphere. The performance is almost the people on the dance floor. Dan recounts some advice fellow festival thrower, Alex Turnbull, told him “The product is not the artists or who is playing, the product is the people and the experience they are having.”
Twominds gigs have to them a certain aura, a safe and inclusive feel, but one that pushes the boundaries and tries new things. I asked the boys about this and how they thought this had come about.
Twominds are set to bring a bit of Flux out to Spencer Park
They told me it came naturally with the people they surround themselves with and with the territory in which they find themselves. “The kind of music Twominds is about is loosely defined as House Music, and that's a genre that was founded on inclusive values. The goal was to create a safe space for oppressed and marginalised communities to come together and be themselves without fear of being judged. So it's something that, from becoming more involved in the house music scene, we have become more aware of and learned to adopt.” They tell me that a lot of effort goes into the atmosphere that they create at their gigs. “[It's all carefully constructed], whether it is the way that they are decorated and set up, to the messages and themes of the artwork or music we put on.” Twominds are the facilitators of these spaces. They push those spaces to the places they envision them to be, and create an environment that's purpose is to have fun.
For a lot of festivals, lineups are a result of existing relationships, talks with promoters, and trying to attract a wider crowd. The lineup for Twominds Festival doesn’t feel like this, it feels like a carefully curated lineup by artists for artists. “All three stages have a different vibe. One you might call our “mainstage”, because it has two of the most renowned artists - who we are so privileged to have playing. Another stage is a bit heavier and faster, and darker. The other is more smooth house, fruitful and disco.”
Twominds Festival boasts some heavyweight internationals while still demonstrating the amazing local community in Ōtautahi and across the country as a whole. “It is a lineup by the music community for the music community. We are only one group of a thriving ecosystem, and the idea for the festival was to bring them all together where people can come and experience music from the entire electronic spectrum.” Incredibly across the lineup, two-thirds of the acts are locals. But this isn’t a lineup hiding anyone. “There is such incredible billing of New Zealand talent to show off. They are amazing and punch above their weight.” Add to that the sprinkling of international talent, who are not just huge but of such high quality, and you have a scrumptious mix, you can really sink your teeth into. The boys only had one piece of advice about the lineup - “If you aren’t super familiar, we have to ask for a little bit of trust to come see and feel it. Because when you come you will know.”
Before I left, I wanted to know who the crew were looking forward to seeing, and who they would recommend checking out before stepping out into Spencer Park….
Corban:
“To avoid picking a favourite child I’m gonna say some artists that other artists on the lineup have mentioned they are really keen to see. A couple acts have mentioned Atarangi, and Half Queen - two DJs flying down from Auckland. Craigslist Soundsystem are a local act, they bring a really different sound to the table, more dancefloor-inviting world music, something to check out. HAAi! I was a big fan of DJ Boring, but I didn’t know HAAi as well, but have gotten into through the booking process. They are a rising star across Europe and Australia and doesn’t come here often, so are definitely one to catch.
Dan:
Christopher Tubbs is one of the most experienced house/dance music people in our whole country, he is definitely one of the most underrated. When I saw Half Queen, it was one of the most encapsulating DJ sets I’ve seen in a long time. And check out beforehand, Willo and our local legend Patella.