The 11th Annual SONIC BLOOM, will once again be held on June 16-19, 2016 in Spanish Peaks Country, CO. This 4-Day Transformational Festival features world class artists and a full art gallery, active workshops, visual arts, learning experiences and yoga with much attention paid to the stunning environment, indulge all of your senses during the Summer Solstice! The 2016 music headliners include Tipper (2 sets), Bonobo (DJ set), The Opiuo Band, EOTO, Michal Menert & The Pretty Fantastics, Nightmares on Wax (DJ set) & more. Discover most progressive electronic innovators and live electronic acts with styles that span the electronic music spectrum, from the highly celebrated to the relatively unknown. If you are looking what's new and hot, look no further!
When I was presented with the opportunity to have a little chat with one of the founders Jamie Janover I jumped at the chance...and here is the result.
Taraleigh: Sonic Bloom is now the premiere electronic music festival in Colorado. How did it go from an idea in your head to an actual real life festival here on Earth?
Photo by Eric Allen
Jamie: It was an organic process that basically grew out of a weekend of outdoor shows of the band ZILLA (Michael Travis, Aaron Holstein, Jamie Janover) with our friends opening, (Bassnectar, Ooah, The Funginears & others) back in 2006. We named it "SONIC BLOOM" and it went on to become an annual Colorado camp-out tradition, now in it's 11th year.
Taraleigh: I find amazing concepts come to reality when you just go out and do what you love. Sounds to me that's exactly what happened to Sonic Bloom and it's just blossomed from there. Obstacles often happen when throwing a large live music event. What was the biggest obstacle you faced when bringing this festival to life and how did you overcome it?
Jamie: The biggest obstacles are usually those from outside the festival itself, the challenges of finding the right festival site in the right location with the right environment. The way this has been overcome has been to change locations until we found the perfect combination of qualities, which we have in Hummingbird Ranch in the Spanish Peaks country of Colorado's front-range.
Taraleigh: Often times you have to try on many sparkly unicorn onesies until you find the one that fits like a glove. If you asked your mother to describe Sonic Bloom what would she say?
Jamie: She would probably say something about how it reminds her of summer camp. Of how fun it is to have all these different people from different places coming together to share so many different types of music, art, projects and all play together.
Taraleigh: Your mom knows what's up! If aliens were up in space observing Earth and happened to stumble upon Sonic Bloom while it was happening, how do you think that conversation would go?
Jamie: They would be encouraged to see that we are all cooperating, sharing, learning, teaching, creating and showing compassion for each other and they would wish that more of the people on Earth would act as people do when collaborating to create a festival. They would hope that the phenomenon of festival culture would influence the world in general, that maybe if all religions and faiths on Earth were able to look at each other and basically allow everyone to observe their own "styles of faith" like the way we celebrate different styles of music and dance around the world in all the various cultures, then maybe we could evolve this planet into something we could eventually call "Festival Earth".
Taraleigh: It's all happening already. Those hypothetical extraterrestrials are very observant. My hope is that if anyone out there is observing Earth, they are focusing on music festivals and how beautiful the culture is. Your festival, Sonic Bloom is about so much more than just music. Why did you decide to incorporate speakers, art and yoga?
Photo by Eric Allen
Jamie: For us, (meaning the global transformational festival culture), a festival is not really a festival unless it brings together all forms of human expression, creativity and fun. It's a complete experiential environment with multiple feedback-loops of interaction, creating a unified field of interconnection.
Taraleigh: If someone has never been to a festival before and they are reading this right now, what would you tell them?
Jamie: A festival is a place to observe, absorb and experience many different kinds and styles of creativity, learning, play, art, music and interaction. A place you can meet people from many different far-away places without having to go anywhere. Where you can try out new ways of being and not be judged. You can find out what interests you vs. what you don't care about quite as much. Basically it's a place where the pace of you learning about yourself is accelerated perhaps compared to the normal routine of everyday life.
Taraleigh: I've personally learned the most about myself because of live music and the experiences I've had at festivals. They provided a safe space for me to let out the real me that I was afraid of being ridiculed if I let her out in my daily life. They gave me a taste of what that feels like and gave me the courage to experiment with what that would look like on an average Tuesday. Creating an opportunity for others to experience that is a world changer. I'm so grateful for you and what you're up to. What are you grateful for right now?
Jamie: The evolution of consciousness on this planet towards more empathy and compassion.
Taraleigh: What are you looking forward to most?
Jamie: This planet collectively co-creating Festival Earth!
Taraleigh: I am so excited about the possibilities! Anything else you'd like to share?
Jamie: Bits of wisdom that resonate with me from people I admire:
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." - Buckminster Fuller
"We are the universe learning more about itself." - Nassim Haramein
"The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others." -Vincent van Gogh
"Follow your bliss, and doors will open where there were no doors before" - Joseph Campbell
Taraleigh: ...and so it freakin is! Thank you for allowing us to have a tiny glimpse into your head and heart. To everyone who is reading this... Go to Sonic Bloom!!!!
Just like Jamie shared today, let's keep the festival rolling when the show ends. Get sparkles, smoothies and rock-n-roll delivered to your inbox from me right HERE.
The awesome in me sees and bows to the awesome in you,
Taraleigh Weathers