A little rain couldn’t stop the Keene State College community from putting on some live music on Saturday, April 26, when Campus Ecology ran Solarfest, a solar-powered music festival. The event was moved from outdoors on the KSC campus to inside the student center. The dancing and music went from 11 a.m. until around 7 p.m., including bands Flabberghaster, TheColorOrange, Midnight Snack, Roots of Creation, The Country Toads, Hydrofunk, Leon Trout and GOOSEPIMP ORCHESTRA. But for some bands at this event, it was about more than just getting up on stage and playing music.
Boston-based band Midnight Snack consists of, according to their Facebook, Jack Johnson, Zoe Gelinas, Katie Richter, Mike Johnson, Peter Brownlee, Jacob Burnstein, Zack Kardon and Devin D’Amato.
This wasn’t Midnight Snack’s first time playing Solarfest at KSC. “Solarfest is a super fun event — we’ve played it a couple times. We just love coming back,” vocalist and keys player Jack Johnson said.
Johnson described the genre of the band as, “a blend of psychedelic rock and funk.” He said the band has a “spacey, delayed reverb side to it, and a little electronic-psychedelic sound with a funky and groovy aspect.”
Johnson said, between minimal use of energy, recycling and composting, the band definitely values the earth-friendly elements of Solarfest. He said he loves the idea of solar energy and how it is incorporated into the event. “I think alternative sources of electricity and power in general are important right now. Resources are dwindling,” he said.
In terms of the solar-energy facet, Johnson said, “We never got too deep into that side of it — when you’re the band that’s playing you’re kind of wrapped up in the musical aspects.” Johnson explained how, as a band, it was difficult to focus on too much besides playing and seeing the other bands play and show their love for the event. He said it would be interesting to go to Solarfest even if he was not playing music, in order to experience the deeper ecological element of the festival.
Karina Barriga Albring / Senior Reporter:
Members of GOOSEPIMP ORCHESTRA perform at Solarfest April 26.
Band Hydrofunk consists of Nick Votruba and Adam Rhan. Votruba described the band’s music as a funky “fusion of a lot of things.”
Votruba said it was substantial for the new power-duo to play at Solarfest. “We really wanted to be a part of the community and support the use of solar energy,” he said.
As a member of the Keene-based band, Votruba said he valued the sense of community during the event and expressed a support for local organizations. “Solarfest is community-based, and I see the emergence of that [in other music festivals] and I think it’s a good thing. We fully support it — solar energy and the local vendors coming out and around,” he said.
Leon Trout, another Keene-based band, consists of Mitch Michaud, Ethan Hotchkiss and Roger Dumaine.
When asked what exactly their genre of music is, Michaud said, “Tough to nail down. We just love having a variety. Ethan and I are really into soul and Motown. Roger and I really like jazz. All of us really like reggae a lot. I think its just a collective blend. But I think we’ve been able to balance it out really well.”
Michaud brought up the fact that he thought it was inspiring how much Solarfest was into working with earth-friendly organizations.
He, like Votruba, said more and more music festivals are starting to recognize organizations that are earth-friendly and incorporate them with the music. Michaud brought up his particular interest in Conscious Alliance, an organization based out of Colorado, as well as Strangers Helping Strangers, which was actually present at Solarfest. Both non-profit organizations are about aiding in hunger relief and educating on local food systems. Eating local and healthy living are also values of Michaud’s. “I want to use music as a platform to promote that,” he said. He brought up the fact that what the band members do as students also have some correlation. Dumaine is an environmental studies major and Hotchkiss is a premed student — they care about the well-being of the environment and people. “We all have that common thread running through us — just caring about ourselves and people and the planet.”
Michaud described Solarfest as, “More or less a springboard for something I would love to do in the future — playing at festivals that have a conscious vibe to them helps spread the word about the environment and social justice.”
Michaud concluded saying he hopes and looks forward to reaching out and making a change as a band during more events like these. “What we do offstage is way more important than what we do on stage,” he said.
Danielle Mulligan can be contacted at dmulligan@keene-equinox.com