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Photo By Matt Borgerding
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MidPoint Festival honchos Sean Rhiney (left) and Bill
Donabedian show where the action is.
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The MidPoint Music Festival, the most ambitious and effective undertaking in recent local music history, will once again have the streets of Cincinnati crawling with musicians, music fans and biz aficionados this weekend. Following last year's successful inaugural event, organizers (fittingly, also local musicians) Sean Rhiney and Bill Donabedian have spent the intermittent time working dilligently to help get this year's showcase/conference closer to the stature of the "biggies" in the field (i.e., South By Southwest in Austin, Tex., and the CMJ conference in New York City).
With the underlying goal of drawing attention to Cincinnati's rich music scene, the organizers report that the success of last year's event has translated into increased band registrations and nationwide interest, not to mention the peripheral rewards of having more national/regional bands putting Cincinnati on their itineraries and local artists taking advantage of networking connections made last year.
Being a new conference, each year will prove to be a watershed one. Rhiney and Donabedian have made some significant changes -- keeping all of the showcases in the Main Street area of downtown, stretching the diversity, etc. -- to ensure prime benefits and user-friendliness for the artists and other attendees. CityBeat recently chatted with the founders about MidPoint: Round Two.
CityBeat: You guys have been admirably reactive to some of the things that maybe didn't run as smoothly last year, as opposed to the usual Cincinnati mindset of "Fuck you, this is the way we're doing it." What were some things you learned from last year that you've applied to the programming of this year's event?
Sean Rhiney: Fuck you, I don't have to answer that question!
Centralizing the showcases was essential to both participants and industry panelists. As far as the conference, we put a lot of thought into our topics this year. The goal is to provide useful, practical information that's applicable to independent artists. No snow jobs or pie-in-the-sky presentations.
Bill Donabedian: We received some very good feedback. It was invaluable. We had a meeting and went through every e-mail and discussed them. There were some things we couldn't do because of time and/or money. But the No. 1 suggestion was a no-brainer -- keeping the venues in walking distance. It was a challenge putting together 15 stages on Main Street, but it should make the festival more enjoyable and our jobs easier.
CB: What was the main motivating factor for centralizing the fest on Main Street?
BD: Attendees wanted all the venues within walking distance. They want to be able to go to any venue at any time and not have to wait for a bus or find a parking place. My guess is people will catch a lot of half sets so they can see more bands.
SR: Of course we miss the (Northern Kentucky) venues and for that matter all the venues in Clifton and Northside that support local music year round. Several great venues contacted us after last year and wanted to be a part of this year's festival. It was very tempting. We'd love to be all-inclusive, but it's in the best interest of the festival to be as successful and utilitarian as it can in the first few years. Spreading out too thin does a disservice to the musicians and the fans who want to see them. That doesn't discount (being) able to expand if the right options present themselves in the future.
CB: I've noticed an increase in diversity, genre-wise, this year in some of the showcases. Was it a conscious effort or was it more that those folks actually submitted materials to play this time around?
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Photo By Matt Borgerding
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Bill Donabedian
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SR: I'd say it's a combination of our efforts and just the general expansion a festival faces in its second year. Either way, it's a good thing in my book. I don't care where you stand on Cincy's "too-diverse-to-have-a scene" issue, but it's easily our strongest characteristic. No Grunge like Seattle, no Jangle like Athens, no Manchester grooves, but an amazingly eclectic mix. We did try to reach out to a number of genres and artists, but I'd like to be more successful in developing some of those areas for future conferences.
CB: Are you still getting a small percentage of R&B;, Hip Hop, Punk or Blues acts submitting? Any thoughts as to why?
BD: We're still having trouble with Country, Punk and Hip Hop. I hope that improves over the years. I think when we demonstrate that we pick bands because of talent and not genre, we'll get more submissions from all genres.
I have no idea why certain genres don't submit more. If I had to make a guess, it would be that these genres have felt excluded by major festivals in the past. And if you look around, you'll see that a lot of the genres you mentioned have their own festivals. Who can blame them? That's why we have the MidPoint Music Festival. Most of the major festivals in the country don't have a lot of Midwestern bands.
CB: "The kids" are a demographic that often gets overlooked by music events here in town, with many bar owners reluctant to make shows all-ages. Did you make any effort to reach that audience with some all-ages shows?
BD: We realize that a younger audience might be receptive to the festival. So this year we have an all-ages venue, a fully enclosed tent sponsored by the awesome people at Red Bull that will be located in Neon's parking lot. It will hold almost 300 people. If it's a success, we'll probably add some more next year.
CB: The response locally has been tremendous. What kind of feedback have you gotten outside of the area?
BD: The local music scene is really excited about this event. And they should be. Even the artists and bands that don't make the festival are excited. They realize this is a positive thing for the city and the scene. Outside the city, we have started to get noticed. You get a lot of, "Oh, yeah, I heard about you guys." That's a positive sign. Hopefully it turns into excitement and MidPoint is mentioned in the same breath with some of the other large festivals.
CB: What are your thoughts on recent reports about bringing the Beale Street maven John Elkington to "fix up" the Main Street Entertainment District? (Elkington has reportedly been offered $100,000 for his input.) That would seem to have a direct effect on MidPoint in the future. I say screw the Beale Street guy and let you two be the planning committee!
SR: I can be had for 100 grand. I think any attention the Main Street district gets is a positive for all of us. It's such a unique, fabulous place. And that's just it -- any attempt to complement its uniqueness is a bonus, and any attempt to homogenize it could be seen as a negative. Let's never forget that it's small businesses, storefronts, record stores, antique stores, cool bars, clubs and restaurants that draw us to places like the French Quarter or Broad Ripple in Indy or Soho in London or (Greenwich) Village in New York. Locally owned businesses are invested in the area, let's not take that away.
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Photo By Matt Borgerding
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Sean Rhiney
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It has great potential, and I'm all for any efforts to make it work, including finding folks with proven track records to bring new blood. The Bengals went after Marvin Lewis after all, and look at the goodwill that generated for a team that's been at least as controversial as the (redevelopment) of Main Street.
I think as long as any outside consultant works hand in hand with the local businesses that are already invested in the area, it could be successful. That's part of our intent with keeping (MPMF) headquartered here. Let's help grow some businesses that make original music part of the landscape. Personally, I'd like to see three to five new clubs spring up there in the next year.
CB: What are you looking forward to most this year? Besides Sunday.
BD: I'm looking forward to enjoying the festival this year. Last year I didn't really have the time to walk around and listen to the bands. This year we're better organized, and it won't be as hectic.
SR: Honestly, seeing everyone again this year and meeting new folks. That was the best part of the process. Connecting with musicians, industry folks from all over the world right here in our backyard that were simply Web sites and names to me for nine months. And then watching Cincy musicians serve as great hosts to all these out-of-towners. It may be a lot of work, but it's still like hosting one big party. I feel like Mr. Rourke greeting people as they get off the plane on to Fantasy Island: "Smiles everyone. Smiles!"
THE MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL takes place Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Info on the panels, showcases and other activities can be found at mpmf.com and in the MidPoint program inserted in this issue of CityBeat. Check out Mike Breen's picks at Make a ’Point.
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