Sasquatch Festival founder Adam Zacks talks developing artists, landing Sigur Ros

Arts Web Exclusive

A lot of the focus at Sasquatch Festival this year will be put on its big-name headlining bands like Mumford and Sons, The Postal Service, The Lumineers, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. But it’s the smaller, up-and-coming bands playing the May 24-27 music festival that has founder Adam Zacks the most excited.

Zacks, who started the festival in 2002 when he moved to Seattle, WA after booking shows in Portland for many years, says he gets the most enthusiastic about developing acts playing the festival. “They are the most excited to be there and the fans are passionate to bear early witness to the next big thing,” he says. “That’s a recipe for incredible performances.”

The picturesque mainstage at Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre (photo Christopher Nelson).
The picturesque Sasquatch Festival main stage at the Gorge Amphitheatre (photo Christopher Nelson).

The four-day Sasquatch Festival, taking place at the picturesque Gorge Ampitheatre two hours east of Seattle, has grown into one of the premier events in the northwest. Thousands of fans come from Canada and further to take in a veritable cornucopia of music, mostly in the indie rock, folk and hip-hop veins. And, as Zacks points out, there is a bevy of developing artists. Death Grips, Reignwolf, Killer Mike, Japandroids, Akron/Family, and many more will have extra eyes on them when they play this year’s Sasquatch.

Another such band is Florida’s Torche, one of only two heavy bands playing Sasquatch this year (the other is Seattle locals Red Fang). Rooted in the all-ages hardcore and metal scene, Torche released their latest album, Harmonicraft, in 2012 and have been embraced by a larger audience due to the popularity of stoner metal and shoegaze, two subgenres that the band flirt with heavily.

Torche’s rise from the underground has found them playing larger festival like Sasquatch and riding the wave of new kinds of crowds and different audiences.

“We are really excited about the fest and we’ll just be excited to be back out on the road seeing all of our friends, making new ones, and rockin’ the fuck out,” says Torche vocalist/guitarist Steve Brooks.

This year’s Sasquatch lineup announcement, which we told you about recently, features a lot bands that have been labeled as “hipsters,” leading some to adorn the festival with the same tag. Zacks is quick to point out that Sasquatch is not about labels, but rather bringing people together to bear witness to great music.

“Labels are nonsense, but criticism is welcome nonetheless,” says Zacks, “it keeps us honest and tests the courage of our convictions. I think what some people may mean by ‘hipster’ is really trendy, self-conscious conformity, which is not the spirit of the festival at all.”

Brooks says for bands like Torche, who are more genre-specific, playing a festival that’s even remotely “hipster” is a welcome shift from playing festivals and shows with strictly metal or underground bands. “I like all kinds of music so it will be a nice change of pace to see some hipster, indie-type bands,” says Brooks. “We will still crush them with our sonic bad-ass-itude though.”

Vancouver's Said the Whale salute last year's audience on one of Sasquatch's side stages (photo Christopher Nelson).
Vancouver’s Said the Whale salute last year’s audience on one of Sasquatch’s side stages (photo Christopher Nelson).

Festival attendees will arrive at the Gorge Ampitheatre grounds beginning on Friday, May 24 and will spend the next four days seeing as many bands as they can handle. Indie rock, hip-hop, electronic, folk, rock, comedy, and much more will be represented on five stages covering the festival’s outdoor grounds. And although it sounds like it could be a logistical nightmare, the biggest challenge isn’t scheduling the hundreds of bands; rather, it’s creating an identity for Sasquatch that rivals other music festivals.

“The hardest part is keeping it fresh and maintaining a distinct identity among a growing field of US festivals,” says Zacks. “The bigger the ship grows, the harder it is to steer.”

A big enough ship to land international recording artists Sigur Ros, an Icelandic band considered one of the world’s best live bands, and one that Zacks has been eyeing a long time for Sasquatch’s main stage. Now, after years of hoping and trying for Sigur Ros, Zacks will have a chance to see the band play at his festival on the night of Saturday, May 25.

“I’ve imagined Sigur Ros playing at the Gorge for a long time now, so it will be a bit of a dream come true for them to finally be providing the soundtrack for that jaw-dropping landscape,” he says.

So, as tens of thousands of music fans converge on his festival from May 24 to 27, Zacks will be able to celebrate another year of exposing new bands to eager and enthusiastic music fans. The role of Sasquatch Festival founder is one he accepts wholeheartedly and doesn’t take for granted.

“I’m proud and grateful,” says Zacks. “It’s a responsibility I take very seriously, too.”

Sasquatch Music Festival
Friday, May 24-Monday, May 27
The Gorge Amphitheatre (George, WA)
sasquatchfestival.com