Eyes and Hands Festival
by Gentry Boeckel

With no other reason besides wanting to show off some of their favorite local bands, Mark Oberg and Paul Connolley of Duluth, along with Steve Yasgar of Minneapolis, have been working together for the past two years to put on the Eyes and Hands Festival. By all accounts, its humble beginning in St. Cloud was a failure, or as Connolley more tactfully put it: "a lesson in organization." After a much more successful Duluth show, the three began talking about the next logical step - a show in Minneapolis. Both of the previous festival stops have included an array of non-musical additions (the dirty puppet show in Duluth was reportedly a big hit), but the two day stop at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown will allow for much more variety. "Yasgar has had a vision of flames since day one," said Connolley. That dream will come to fruition as the Illumination Fire Troupe will be breathing down fans' necks both nights of the festival. As well as fire-breathers, the festival has also booked six short films by the Free Range Film Festival and Frozen State Productions. But really, it's about the bands. Twelve bands will play over two nights, with Doomtree headlining on Friday night, and A Whisper in the Noise on Saturday. I talked with Oberg and Yasgar via e-mail about the specifics of the festival.

Rift: How and when did the organizers of the Eyes ands Hands Festival decide to bring it to Minneapolis, and specifically, to the Varsity Theater?

Oberg: I think that decision was made to try Minneapolis around November of last year, once we'd decided to try and put on another festival. We kind of decided that if we were to continue doing this, Minneapolis was the next logical step.

Regarding the Varsity Theater, it was our first option based solely upon the fact that all three of us really love the interior and the swank, decadent aura it radiates. Also, we were really intent on having film and--in this year's case--the Illumination Fire Troupe play a part in the Festival. That meant we needed to find a venue friendly to film and other performances outside of music.

We felt that the Varsity was really unique in that respect and, luckily for us, they were very accommodating and willing to book us.

Rift: What kind of turn out are you expecting? Compared to the St. Cloud and Duluth shows?

Oberg: 30 people could show up this year and it would trump our turnout in St. Cloud. The thing is, St. Cloud was less a festival and more just some dudes putting on a couple of poorly marketed, unadvertised punk rock shows. Couple that with a venue that isn't ideally located, and what you have is a recipe for total disaster. Luckily, we were friends with all the bands that played, no one died, and everyone had a relatively good time.

I think that Duluth was a modest success in that everyone we talked to had a great time and we, as festival organizers, didn't lose any money (again, thanks to the incredibly understanding spirit of the bands we booked). We broke even financially and gained some really valuable experience in how to pull something like this off.

What we hope and what we expect regarding the turnout at the Varsity are two different ball games, unfortunately. Obviously, we hope that the Varsity Theater will be sold out both nights. We expect, however, the Varsity to be at least half full both nights, and if it is, I think that for a festival like ours with little to no name recognition yet, that will be a success. That said, I think that given the strength of the artists involved here I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be at capacity both nights.

Rift: How did you wrangle up such a diverse group of Minnesota musicians?

Yasgar: The three of us each came up with a wish list of bands that we'd like to see play. Turns out, we had more than a few in common, so it made things easy on who we wanted to play. We all agreed that the lineup needed some diversity, and it really just naturally happened.

Rift: What specific attributes to each of the scheduled bands bring to the
festival?

Yasgar: Doomtree - Danger. Sure to bring some surprises, much like they did at last years show. Did you see last years show? They had throwing stars, knives, and a live band.

Digitata - A sweet electronic bath.

Kill The Vultures - Let's say there's a primitive tribe. Let's say that tribe has a certain few that are extra maniacal. These few are easily the smartest of the tribe. They are also easily the craziest. Well, those guys hold the rest of the tribe hostage while they play their death music as they dance around a bonfire. That group is Kill The Vultures.

Icollide - Passion.

If Thousands - Ambiance. Quiet time. A nice breath of fresh air.

Koalas - Punk Rock. The good old fashioned way. The kind where you don't know if the lead singer is going to jump off stage and bite your face off in front of everybody.

A Whisper In The Noise - A perfect blend of orchestra, rock, drama, mania. Have you seen the press picture of them holding lanterns near a deserted house? That's a perfect description of them. Music for finding your way on a lonely dark night

Die Electric! - Rock N Roll the way AC/DC like it. Men, with guitars and bats and balls.

Building Better Bombs - Doomtree's P.O.S. screaming, singing, praising, dancing and prancing. Three other dudes named Isaac, Drew, and Ryan that play music so fast and with such fury that their instruments smoke. They play guitars made of bones made of bands they have already slayed.

The Keep Aways - Duluth power pop. They bring dignity to the festivities.

Portrait Of A Drowned Man - Instrumental. Powerful. Sometimes a band with no singer says more than having one would. This is that experience.

Nick Robin & Friends - A collective hodgepodge of local musicians including myself, Christopher Emblom, and a pretty girl named Portia. We are a new group of musicians from different bands that are trying to make thing happen on a rootsy rock/folk/experimental edge. Will be playing a song from my new band "Be Lonna" a Chris Emblom song, and then we will all come together and play 5-6 Nick Robin jams. Who's Nick Robin? If you don't already know brother, you soon will. Expect Rock/Folk/Blues/Instrumental Experimentation. Buckle up and grab a drink.

Rift: You've got Doomtree and A Whisper in the Noise lined up again. What's
your connection with them?

Yasgar: When I came up with the idea of a local festival, I contacted A Whisper In The Noise right away. If I wanted to get some of the best Minnesota had to offer, they were an easy choice. Doomtree as well. I played drums in a local band called The Swiss Army, and we are very close to the Doomtree crew. They were a no brainer. Those guys are brothers in arms. I've been friends with Stef ( P.O.S.) since 1999, and I've been watching him grow and get better every year as a musician. Having him play at this years show will be rewarding for me, watching my boy grow up and kill it the way I knew he would back then. AWITN responded to us about last years show right away and showed interest. We made fast friends with them and haven't look back. This will be their last show in Minnesota before the band moves to New York. Both performances are sure to be dramatic and highly emotional.

Rift: Can you elaborate on the non-music events happening at the festival? What role will the Illumination Fire Troupe have? What will the Free Range Film Festival be doing? You won't have a mock barn set up on stage, will you? What kind of films will Frozen State Productions be showing?

Oberg: I think the non-musical events are going to be incredible.

Steve Yasgar, one of the co-organizers of the Eyes + Hands really wanted fire breathers at the event this year, hence The Illumination Fire Troupe is going to be wandering around all weekend blowing and spinning fire. I kind of like the idea of these fire breathing, hippie weirdoes getting into the indie/hip-hop kids' airspace and messing with them a bit. The fire also taps directly into our reptilian brain, which, after a few drinks, is about all we have left.

As for the movies, they'll be shown each night between the first three band changeovers. We wanted to do that so that the movies are playing during a time when the crowd has yet to fully lubricate itself and is inclined to be a bit more receptive to their charm.

We won't have a mock barn, but Mike Scholtz--who organizes the Free Range Film Festival--has assured me that one of the films he's scheduled to show, "Night of the Sassy," is sure to flip some people out. It's about a bigfoot enthusiast who goes camping with her boyfriend and has a very close encounter (read: VERY CLOSE) with the legendary creature.

Rift: Is this going to become an annual event?

Oberg: Let's hope so.

I mean, that's obviously the plan, but this is still a very by the bootstraps kind of thing, which lends itself to incredible amounts of stress. We all have other jobs and responsibilities outside of this festival, so right now it's really a labor of love.

I'm really confident though that this is going to be a great experience this year and, who knows, maybe in 5 years we'll look back on this as the start of something really cool for Minneapolis and it's music and arts community.

Eyes & Hands Festival:
Friday:
Doomtree
Digitata
Kill The Vultures
Icollide
If Thousands
Koalas

Saturday:
A Whisper In The Noise
Die Electric!
Building Better Bombs
The Keep Aways
Portrait Of A Drowned Man
Nick Robin & Friends

Tickets:
$12 each night.
21+ show
Dates:
Friday, April 28, 2006
Saturday, April 29th, 2006
Time:
6:00pm

www.myspace.com/eyesandhandsfestival
www.eyesandhandsfestival.com/