Who the F**k are Alter Festival?

Article by Connor Fuller (@connorfuller__)

A few weeks while ago whilst strolling around the maze that is Beaverworks after Boiler Room we bumped into Roof. We sat down to chat all things Leeds and beyond when she started telling us about the new project she's part of, Alter Festival.

We thought it was too good not to share so we jumped on a call with the whole team to tell us just what they're about. From dream bookings to the day-to-day life of a festival maker, read it all below!

"Tell us a bit about the festival?"

"Alter Festival will take place the 2-4th  of August in Damerham, Hampshire. We’ve got an incredible lineup of DJs from across the spectrum of the electronic music scene who’ll be coming down to grace our two stages and provide the soundtrack to the weekend.

Our main aims are to build a sense of community and encourage our crowd to connect with like-minded individuals through group activities, including shared meals, pub quizzes, camp fires, yoga, workshops and more."

"One of our main values is representation. We are not only aiming to build a festival that prioritises female and queer talent, but also one that features up and coming artists from all over the country. We want to bring all ends of the UK scene together to form one big community."

"Where did the idea for Alter come from?" 

Ruth: "We were bored of seeing all-male line ups, tokenisation and women rarely being booked as headliners, and wanted to create a truly inclusive festival that celebrated the UK scene in all its forms and glory. The team behind the festival all have such different musical tastes and backgrounds and we wanted to come together to create an experience that others could share in. We also wanted it to go further than just an amazing and representative line up and create unforgettable and immersive experiences that will encourage attendees to turn their phones off and completely disconnect from the outside world for the weekend."

"The team behind the festival are all so creative, it’s been an honour to work with them, as silliness is celebrated and no idea is too far fetched."

Tilly: "I think for me a huge part of the motivation behind running a festival is feeling like there are so few areas in life where we can actually make a positive change. We can all see that the world is pretty f*cked right now and I think it’s very easy to feel absolutely powerless to change it and like our voices aren’t heard even when we do raise them. To me hosting a festival gives you the opportunity to actually create the kind of world you’d like to live in, even if it is only for a short period of time."

"Another driver for me is coming from such a rural background in the South West. It's always been super important to me to bring the scene I love back home because there are so few existing opportunities for DJs and creatives around here. If you want something to happen, you have to do it yourself, which is where the DIY approach comes from."

Georgie: "I’ve always found it so sad to see how commercialisation has begun to suck the life and community spirit out of festivals. Don’t get me wrong, there is something truly beautiful about seeing vast crowds all sharing in one experience. But when attending these festivals alongside tens of thousands of others, something’s always felt like it’s missing. For me, the idea behind Alter was to create that thing that’s been missing - To create a place with community at its core, not just as a by-product of attending the same event."

Zade: "I guess Alter has really come out of a need from the communities we are in to create a space which is not only inclusive of everyone, but also goes against your average corporate festival which charges £12 for a Red Stripe to instead create an environment which presents itself as a place to escape the depressing situation a lot of people our age find themselves in for a few days. Like Georgie said, the festival isn’t about money, or even trying to build something big, it's all tailored specifically to the community, and for us it's trying to do things which we would love to see in a perfect world dominated by music, art, respect for the environment and representation of everyone in our imperfect society."

What was your biggest inspiration for the festival? 

Tilly: "A huge source of inspiration for me is Institut for X which is a cultural hub in Aarhus, Denmark where I was lucky enough to live for a year. It’s quite tricky to do it justice in words but essentially it’s a space in the city where converted shipping containers can be rented for cheap and used for a whole host of different purposes including artist’s studios, recording studios, tattoo studios, restaurants, bars, shops etc. with a central space which is used to host events spanning from club nights to workshops to flea markets, a shared kitchen for communal dining and a skate bowl. It was the first time I’d been exposed to an example of an entirely self-sufficient community and all the incredible creative opportunities it brings for people. I feel like that kind of third space is totally lacking in the UK."

Zade: "I think my biggest inspiration was really living in the student community and to extension the event community within Leeds. Having all of your friends a walk away and being able to go to these amazingly curated events, not only with the lineup but also the set design and lighting was something that I loved and really miss. I think being able to recreate aspects of that, where you are again with all your mates living within a non-judgemental community for 3 days, only this time it’s living within an event chock full of artwork and activities rather than the streets of Hyde park."

Georgie: "Perhaps this will sound a little cliche, but my biggest inspiration has definitely been all the wonderful musicians and creatives that I have met during the past few years. Being exposed to the inner workings of their minds, and then seeing them make their ideas a reality instilled the driving force behind making sure our visions come to fruition"

"You've put some serious production into the debut line up. Tell us a bit more about it?"

Ruth: "We wanted Phase 1 to instantly reflect our values of both uplifting up and coming talent, and showcasing a representative lineup. The artists we have announced so far are the ones who are constantly pushing the UK scene forward, whether that be production wise with artists such as Kitsta, Stolen Velour, Polo Lilli, DJ Love and Phasmid, or changing the landscape of DJing with artists such as Mi-el, Melati and Ohmydais. We also wanted Phase 1 to reflect the fact that our selection of DJs are spread across the UK, with artists from Bristol, London, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and beyond."

Georgie: "It’s just brilliant. You’ll come away from the festival having heard DJs you already knew, and DJs you’ll want to get to know more. It’s representative, refreshing and really up-and-coming."

Tilly: "Honestly there is so much incredible talent out there at the moment it’s been hard to narrow it down and stop booking people even when we’ve already filled all our sets and exceeded our budget. Every day I come across someone else on Instagram or Soundcloud who really excites me!"

"How did you find the jump from venue to festival organisation?"

Ruth: "Logistics wise, there is definitely a lot more to think about as you’re creating an experience that spans a whole weekend rather than just a few hours. Tilly and Zade of Wax Palace are absolute pros at this stuff, they’ve had experience putting on festivals before so know the detail of work you have to put in. Every hour of the weekend has to essentially be planned out and so much thought has to go into how the company’s values translate into actual logistics, whether that be safer space policies, the activities we’re planning, the sequence of artists playing, or even right down to the food people are going to eat!"

Georgie: "It’s so exciting. If you’d told 21-year-old me who’d just started Aurora Sound with Ruth, that three years down the line I’d be sitting on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere, looking over our newly found festival site, I'd have thought you were joking. Obviously there’s a million more things that have to come into consideration when planning an event that’s three days long, but when the weekend arrives it will definitely be worth it."

Zade: "Luckily I’ve got a bit of experience doing this sort of stuff before with The Kaleidoscope but it’s definitely more of a leap over a very large and very scary ravine going from venue to festival organisation haha. As you're hosting something with hundreds of people for 72 hours, you’ve not only got the opportunity to create an alternate society for 3 days, almost like a small town specifically curated for the communities we’re interacting with, but also need to think how am I gonna feed these people? Make sure they’ve got access to water and won't get sunstroke or get trench foot if the weather goes south? Make sure that they’re safe and won’t get hurt on the structures or trip themselves up? There’s a silly amount which goes into the operations side which I don’t think people realise, and even working out how to manage and finance something this size is a very very steep learning curve, let alone all of the music and creativity we want to pump in to make it something special. Luckily we have an absolutely amazing team who are putting everything in to make it a reality, something which is probably the most important aspect of making a festival come to life!"

"Have you got a dream booking for the festival?"

Ruth: "I think a dream booking would be DJ Fuckoff because she is just such a creative producer who is really pushing the boundaries, unfortunately she won’t be on the line up this year, next year though maybe…."

Georgie: "as ruth said… DJ Fuckoff would be an unbelievable addition to our lineup… but sadly its tooooo stacked already"

Tilly: "Two dream bookings for me would definitely be Angel D’Lite and DJ Sweet6teen because their sets are so fun and I think they’d just fit the vibe of the festival so perfectly, so Angel D’Lite and DJ Sweet6teen if you’re reading this and you fancy it please drop us a DM lol"

Zade: "Think my dream booking would be a Donnay Soldier and 3DMA collab, definitely a sillier addition to the festival but having seen them both separately the energy they would bring combined would be unmatched "

There's no better combination than great music in an intimate environment so make sure you get yourselves down to Alter this summer!

Tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/alterfestival/1123178