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  Vibraphonic Festival 2006 Interview
interview 0378 added
06.03.06 words: Mehul Doshi
technical:
QED
Descending into Exeter will be a melting pot of arts
spanning a two-week timescale, ready to decant little bitties, new and old, for your aural pleasure. Dancing shoes on the mend after this fortnight: the Vibraphonic Festival 2006 will promise a blend of music sorely vacant from the other 50 weeks in ye olde city of Exeter. Maceo Parker will blare the alto sax alongside the premier mic-handler Kano; Breakestra will funk out power-in-numbers-style, while Courtney Pine and Polar Bear will illuminate British Jazz, tru-school and nu-school. Ain’t it funky, now?
 The Vibraphonic Festival is a two-week event consisting of a music programme, various exhibitions and other off-the-radar workshops (circuit-bending, anyone?). To the music first. Exeter, more precisely a constellation of venues, will bring the funk again. The Vibraphonic Festival is a celebration of cultural diversity: a recognition of and homage to the pantheon of Black musical heritage, not to forget its contemporary torch-bearers. Culture and Diversity, two buzzwords of the New Left lexicon which get bandied around willy nilly, are nonetheless represented and reproduced here through the sonic spectrum of the Vibraphonic line-up. Over two weeks, all the colours of the rainbow: jazz, funk, soul, blues, hip-hop, roots reggae (breathe), grime, breaks, bass and ass (phew) will be given shine in a showcase of accelerated eclectism. The funk will be too hot to handle.
The featured artists: Maceo Parker, Courtney Pine, Kano, Breakestra, Nostalgia 77, Mark Rae, Young Blood Brass Band, Freestyler DJ’s, Big Joe Turner, Polar Bear, to name but a few. Local and regional acts will also be on display: Audible the insane beatboxer, Vibraphonic-created Exhibitionists, the Barnaby Ray Quartet and the Pete Canter Quartet.
Vibraphonic is an Exeter City Council-led initiative borne out of the ambition of one man, David Whitelock, the Festival & Arts Manager at the Council. Vibraphonic moves along like some quasi-consciousness, Whitelock carrying with him local promoters and local venues in what is an actual community partnership. Hold It Down, Beatz and Bobz, Future Sound of Exeter (FSOE), Wonky Beats, professional and experienced local promoters, all collate their expertise with Council-size resources to deliver an event offering quality music with a genuinely un-corporate theme: the damn Music. I speak to David Whitelock, digging up just what is Vibraphonic?
MD: What is Vibraphonic?
 DW: Basically it was conceived by me as a festival that would embrace a collection of musical genre that were not so much underrepresented in the city but a disparate group so I thought it would be wise to bring them under a focused, branded identity.
After 6 months of living in the city I met local promoters such as Hold it Down, all of whom are professional promoters putting on high quality events. Most of them had a dance feel, a lot of hip-hop: basically music of Black origin.
It is a festival that celebrates cultural diversity and good quality contemporary music.
MD: Is it a wholly Council-led initiative?
DW: Seeing as I work for the Council yes it is a Council-led initiative. However it is unique in that I have fostered this partnership that I have initiated with the promoters. We’ve all got our expertise and there is a definite strong network of support between us.
MD: How do you get involved with the acts?
DW: Well I book most of the acts for and on behalf of promoters. It is part of this community partnership. We’re sharing the risk as part of a co-production between the Council and the promoters. I’ve been in the music industry for over twenty years; I’ve been through virtually every music genre.
MD: When did it all start?
DW: 2004. I wanted to start it off with an RSL radio station. It all started off with the strong network support and now it’s really taken off into something.
“...It is a festival that celebrates cultural diversity and good quality contemporary music...”
MD: For those people who don’t listen or enjoy the mainstream acts and the indie bands this is a really good opportunity for them to see different kinds of acts, different live performances.
DW: Absolutely. The mainstream radio with Gemini and to an extent some of Radio 1, there are some things which aren’t covered. Our audience is probably the BBC Radio 6 domain: if you had to take one DJ to describe it, it would probably be Giles Peterson.
 When you take all the genres from be-bop to hip-hop together you’ll find a large portion of the market, enough to compete with the rock acts.
MD: Tell us about the Maceo Parker event. He’s a foundation in music period.
DW: Oh, absolutely. A lot of producers have sampled him in hip-hop and the musicians he’s worked with. He’s been around for a while, touring with Prince and his work with the JB Allstars. His night in Exeter is the first date on his tour: it’s quite a coup to have him, which is always nice! You need one of those big names and this is the one that will reach out all age groups. He’ll even get those 45-plus discerning types coming out.
MD: People will recognise him for his place in musical lineage. You’re in a good position: you can get to see whoever you virtually want to, right?
DW: Not necessarily! If I had my own way matters would be slightly difficult, and not as successful. My tastes can be in some aspects very eclectic and very underground. Off the top of my head I’d get down Cougar or the Brazilian Girls. It’s about getting a balance of what people want and having a degree of talent spotting. It’s about looking to the underground to see what’s emerging.
WE have Kano this year. Last year he wouldn’t have been that much of a recognisable name, but there’s now been a push on him so his stocks rising.
“...Our audience is probably the BBC Radio 6 domain: if you had to take one DJ to describe it, it would probably be Giles Peterson...”
MD: The interesting thing about Vibraphonic to me is that it tries to break the regionalism of areas as closed as London.
DW: Yes in that respect it is a unique festival. I don’t know of any other examples whereby something of this magnitude and quality is held over a two-week period outside of London.
MD: As the Council member how do you see the Council itself as contributing to the arts and culture in and around Exeter?
 DW: Well I am the Council representative for this matter. As the Festival and Arts Manager it is part of my responsibility. Over the years there has been an increased amount of support for the local music scene. I feel that it is something that I have tried to achieve. It is about creating a platform: Vibraphonic is such a platform to showcase what is something normally regarded as underneath most people. I’m referring to music as a whole. It’s been hard trying to get this seen as important area against people who do not regard this as such.
MD: The Vibraphonic Festival is certainly a platform for that then.
DW: Of course. I’d like to see in a few years time some really great artists coming out of Exeter. The support slots here are designed for the lesser known local acts. We have the Barnaby Ray Quartet and the Pete Canter Quartet, all local to the region.
I would like to see something similar to what happened in Bristol during the Massive Attack era. Mid-90s Bristol was a special place to be what with the trip-hop to Roni Size all emanating from there.
MD: There are definitely the beginnings of a movement here.
DW: Yeah, it is generally an exciting thing. Last year was full of surreal moments. The Abyssinians played the Exeter Phoenix. Here were these three white-bearded Rastafarians descending onto quiet Exeter almost like the three Wise Men.
“...I’d like to see in a few years time some really great artists coming out of Exeter… I would like to see something similar to what happened in Bristol during the Massive Attack era...”
MD: Music is becoming more and more important, especially for young people. How has Vibraphonic responded to this?
 DW: Vibraphonic is quite progressive in that respect. People are becoming more and more tuned in to this. And it doesn’t really stop and start with young people. That’s the beauty. I don’t want to focus too much on just one certain demographic. There are some old folks out there who are aware of their Breakestra’s as much as they are of their Maceo Parker’s.
Plan of action: 3rd March till the 19th March, just a fortnight, no higher or lower. The Vibraphonic Festival 2006, in its third year, will give new impetus to what it is to be funky.
- Mehul Doshi
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