Our DIY 2013 Recap

This weekend DIY brought together some great bands and artists and it seems as though it also brought fall with it. The three day festival is usually one of the marks of the end of summer in the area. From what I remember, last year's fest was pretty hot. But, as Detroiters do every fall, we all layered on the clothes and shivered in the 50 degree weather that felt more like 30.

Despite the low temperatures and rainy skies, the spirits were high at this year's DIY and it was a blast. This installment of the event featured one of the best lineups I can remember to date, with bigger acts like The Suicide Machines and Death, paired up with first timers like Ojala.

Friday night kicked off DIY with what Sadie and I agreed from the beginning was the best bill of the weekend, and now that it has passed we still maintain that statement. Things may have gotten off to a rocky start with George Morris getting pushed back, moved to another day, then moved again, along with some malfunctions during the Flint Eastwood set, but after that the stages and bands were all smooth sailing. At least from what the crowd could tell. On the WAB Stage, Alexis got things started off great and got the crowd moving, as always. Tunde, The Suicide Machines and Child Bite were just a few of the other acts that played outside, while The ILL Itches and Electric Corpse played inside The Loving Touch.

We were really shocked to see that The Suicide Machines were playing this event and curious as to what it would be like. Tons of people crawled out of the woodwork to see them, the jokes about playing an art fair in Ferndale were limited, and their set was as awesome as ever. The band even gave a shout out to Sadie for her birthday mid-set, which was pretty awesome and our 15 year old selves probably would have died.

With that being said, our coverage and pictures are lacking a bit from Friday and Saturday due to the mass amounts of partying going on. Regardless we can tell you these few things. The Suicide Machines were awesome. Tunde played at the same time, so although we were unable to catch him this night, we heard people talking about him and witnessed people coming up to him all night raving about his performance. Child Bite was excellent as always and The ILL Itches killed it. If you missed out on their set, you really need to make a point to catch these guys soon.

Saturday night's highlight was the reunion of Thunderbirds Are Now. Lucky for us and everyone else that missed this once in a lifetime reunion, the band filmed their set and will be releasing a video soon. If you also didn't get a chance to check out our interview with Ryan Allen about this reunion show, make sure you take a minute to read that here. We hear we really missed out on a hell of a show and a great time.

Sunday we were dead set on getting our absolute fill of the DIY Street Fair. This was the first chance we had to actually check out all of the amazing artists and of course some more great bands. Alongside the numerous Detroit t-shirt stands, there were truly some spectacular artists that come up with the craziest ideas utilizing cassette tapes, records, wood, paint fabric, and pretty much anything you can think of in the most creative ways. Most booths were reasonably priced, so it makes it difficult to not run around and buy a ton of stuff. Although there were MANY great tents, my favorite by far was the 18X24 Detroit Tent featuring some amazing show posters and other prints. Make sure you head over and check out 18X24 and all of their artists here.

Sunday was the rainiest of the 3 days, but the music still killed it. James Linck sounded bigger and more amazing than ever with a full band on stage with him. Then Destroy This Place played a great set, that was slightly overshadowed by the cute kids in the crowd, but still pretty sweet. Later in the night Bars of Gold played an incredibly energetic set. And then the crowd got to end the night with the highly anticipated debut of Ojala. This band was completely different than any of Chris Jarvis' other projects, but just as amazing. Make sure you check out our interview with Chris about Ojala and check them out online here. 

Overall this year's DIY was better than ever. There were some bands we were surprised to see on the schedule, some great new food trucks, and artists that were both new and old, but unlike those at your mom's art fair. One band joked about playing an art fair saying their career must be over, while others took it as a huge honor to start off at this highly regarded festival. Despite the jokes, we're sure everyone that was a part of DIY, whether in a tent or on the stage, was honored to be included in it and we know we are honored to have such great people in Detroit that are willing to work their butts off to put this event together every year. Definitely one of the best ways to close out the summer or kick off the fall, whichever way you want to look at it.

~C

Introducing Ojala: Debuting and Headlining at D.I.Y Fest on Sunday

Last year we introduced you to Phantasmagoria, a two person team that opened up my eyes to a type of music that I had not traditionally been accustomed to listening to. That project made me realize that I could like electronically created music, if it was done well. I became a fan of Chris Jarvis and also started listening to the music put out by his solo act Ancient Language. I quickly learned that Chris was a talented and creative person who is constantly attempting to challenge himself musically and personally. It's actually quite inspiring to have a conversation with this guy, he is always looking for the good in the world, something I can't say about most people.

Photo Credit: Ron Brown

Chris has decided to challenge himself again and started a new project called Ojala that will literally perform for the first time on the main stage at DIY this Sunday. Talk about putting it all out there! This is a pretty big place to debut a new project, but I have no doubt that when they finish we will all be fans of this new endeavor. This time he has enlisted a full band to join him on stage and promises that this new music will be a little different that what he has done in the past. As he grows so does his music.

I asked Chris to talk to us before the show and tell us a little more about the creation of Ojala leading up to their first performance. Read what he has to say and make sure to check them out as they close out the show on the WAB Stage this Sunday, September 15th at DIY.

Hip In Detroit- What made the two of you (yourself and Adam Fitzgerald) decide that you wanted to write music together?
Chris- "Everything about this project has been based on synchronicities or fate or whatever you wanna call it. We didn't exactly decide, the universe brought us together. We've been good friends for years so when we both suddenly found ourselves without anywhere to live we decided to move in together and making music together just made sense. We've both been fans of each others music for a long time."

Hip In Detroit- Why did you choose the name Ojala?
Chris- "Again, we didn't chose it, the name chose us. Ojala means hopeful or for the religiously or spiritually inclined "god willing" which has deep personal meaning for both of us where we are in our lives. The word became a sort of mantra that we use in daily conversation."

Hip In Detroit- I know that you work off a laptop, what is your current software/ hardware setup? Do you think this factor matters when writing and performing your music?
Chris- "The laptop has been an important factor in my solo and past music projects but it takes the backseat in Ojala. I'm only using the laptop for samples and interludes in between songs. Ojala is an entirely live experience with Adam on vocals and guitar, me on keys and synth, Jeff Cuny from James Linck and House Phone on bass, and Zach Pliska from FUR on drums."

Hip In Detroit- Your first live performance will be at DIY, why did you choose this as your first appearance?
Chris- "Once again we didn't really seek out playing at the DIY street fair, the festival chose us. But we love the festival and all the people and artists involved so we're honored to play our first show there."

Hip In Detroit- What artists are you currently listening to and how do they influence the music that you write?
Chris- "We've been listening to Paul McCartney's Ram a lot which is one of my favorite albums of all time. The Beatles - Revolver, Paul Simon, Joy Division, Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights, Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire - Funeral. It might inspire our music indirectly but we never talk about it. I think the influence is more apparent in our recording process and techniques."

Hip In Detroit- In your own words, what is the meaning of life ?
Chris- "Nobody knows for certain but I think the meaning of life is to make the world a better place in your own way. To awaken to your life's true purpose and rise above materialism and the debt based consumer culture that were born into with no choice. Art is the only thing that will save us. Only through beauty will people be awakened to their true potential. We're all hurtling towards the end of time, only we can decide what that means for us as a species."

Hip In Detroit- Do you think were alone in the universe?
Chris- "No, I don't believe we are alone in the universe, but I don't necessarily mean extra terrestrials in the physical sense that most people think of. I believe there are those too, but I think were more influenced by interdimensional beings or entities that exist on different planes of vibration."

Hip In Detroit- When will you release your first album?
Chris- "We haven't discussed a release date yet, but we're working on it. You'll hear it as soon as we finish it."

Hip In Detroit- Ferndale, Royal Oak, Ham Town or Detroit, which is your fav place to party? Which is the best for picking up girls?
Chris- "I'm biased because I live in Ham Town, but I love Detroit too. I seem to meet a lot of intriguingly beautiful girls in both cities."

~S