If you’re a lover of music and haven’t already heard about the arrival of Jersey’s brand new summer event, Reasons Electronic Music & Arts Festival, you really should think about sharpening up your party-radar skills. The boys behind event production collective ‘Rocksteady’ have decided to ramp up this year’s electronic music offerings, and expectations, in Jersey this summer by delivering a 12 hour event showcasing no less than 30 artists performing over four separate stages in the stunning surroundings of Jersey’s Coronation Park, once voted ‘Best Park in the British Isles’.
With a record number of festivals taking place in the Channel Islands at present (see Page 20 for our diary of festivals) is there really a call for more local jamborees of a musical nature? And will Reasons Festival really be bringing something new to the island’s event-scape?
The answer is, on both counts, of course, yes. Reasons Festival is the brainchild of local DJs and promoters Ben Newman & John O’Connell, founders of the Rocksteady collective. Reflecting on decades of the extraordinary electronic scene, come Saturday 11th July 2015, they aim to recognise, appreciate and celebrate the many corners of this much loved, cultural phenomena by inviting a plethora of varied talented artists in the field, with the objective of delivering an eco friendly, all-inclusive, and outright fun electronic music festival, to be danced at and remembered, by both islanders and visitors alike.
One look at this year’s line up announcements so far clearly shows the scope of musical contradiction yet connectedness, heroes of heritage alongside modern electronic musical maestros.
The first wave of acts were announced at a special Reasons Festival launch last month, musically hosted by darling of the UK scene, Justin Robertson. Among the 15 acts announced that night were UK techno duo Simian Mobile Disco (cued up to close the main stage), Jazzy B OBE (founder of Soul II Soul, both group & sound-system), Berlin based producer Jägerverb, residents of DJ collective Tessellate, Horsemeat Disco, Aim & Space Dimension Controller.
The second wave of artists announced include Josh Wink, Drum & Bass producer/DJ Wilkinson, alternative L.A. Hip Hop act The Pharcyde (performing album Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde in full), Norman Jay, Hip Hop funksters The Mouse Outfit, Logistics, Josh Butler & Thomas Gandey AKA Cagedbaby Live, with many more headliners still to be confirmed.
Alongside the music, which is of course King at Reasons, you’ll be able to find art installations, spoken word performances and live Q&As with some of the featured artists. Once 11pm comes around and you’re aching to shimmy your sneaks some more, a pair of specially curated after-parties will take place at both Havana & Rojo Bar in St Helier.
Festival Director Ben Newman says “Our long term aim is for Electronic Music to be recognised as the culturally relevant art form that it is here in Jersey, in the same way that it is in much of Europe. This event, whilst of course aiming to be great fun, is about much more than just a party – we hope to highlight to people what has influenced the music that arguably dominates popular music culture today, and in turn demonstrate how this music influences the world around us, in so many ways”.
There are Reasons for a lot of things here. Reasons to get your crew on board for Saturday 11th July, Reasons to get your discounted early bird tickets in pronto, and most likely, dare we say, Reasons to book the Monday off…
See you there!
www.reasonsfestival.com
