Fields Festival – Bandwidth http://bandwidth.wamu.org WAMU 88.5's New Music Site Tue, 02 Oct 2018 15:23:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 Photos: 2016 Fields Festival http://bandwidth.wamu.org/photos-2016-fields-festival/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/photos-2016-fields-festival/#respond Tue, 23 Aug 2016 21:44:19 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=67920 Scenes from the 2016 Fields Festival at Susquehanna State Park near Darlington, Maryland:

Prince Rama:

Prince Rama performed Saturday night at Fields Fest 2016

Dan Deacon Ensemble:

Dan Deacon ensemble, including more than 20 members with a variety of instruments, performed Saturday night at Fields Festival

Abdu Ali with the Dan Deacon Ensemble:

Abdu Ali joined Dan Deacon onstage

FlucT:

Monica and Sigrid of the Experimental dance group FlucT

Future Islands:

Future Islands performing on the Fields stage Saturday evening

Lexie Mountain Boys:

Lexie Mountain Girls performing Sunday afternoon during Fields Festival 2016

People of the festival:

Festival attendee at Fields fest 2016

Festival attendees at Fields fest 2016

Dennis, a festival attendee, often takes videos of the performances he watches

Member of the festival security team:

A member of the Security Team at Fields Fest 2016

Pool party:

Friday night's Pool Party at Fields Festival

Sun Ra Arkestra:

Sun Ra Arkestra at Fields Festival 2016

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Fields Festival Is Back, With ‘Arts Everywhere’ At A Maryland State Park http://bandwidth.wamu.org/fields-festival-is-back-with-arts-everywhere-at-a-maryland-state-park/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/fields-festival-is-back-with-arts-everywhere-at-a-maryland-state-park/#respond Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:18:00 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=67744 The genesis of the Fields Festival was one part accidental, one part deliberate. Amanda Schmidt got an email from a listserv that alerted recipients to a cool nearby campground called Ramblewood. She had an idea to use it as the site of a camping music and arts festival.

Stewart Mostofsky saw the same post, and had the same general idea. For about a week, Schmidt and Mostofsky planned their respective events separately, but a mutual friend put them in touch, and they joined forces.

The first Fields, in 2014, was a kind of haven for local weird-cool music kids — the lineup at the Susquehanna State Park event included Baltimore stalwarts like Dan Deacon and Lexie Mountain Boys. It was such a hit — and such a draining experience for its organizers — that there was no festival in 2015.

But this year, it’s back, Friday through Sunday at the same site, which is off Interstate 95 near Darlington, Maryland. If the 2014 gathering was somewhat of a haven, the 2016 version is a full-on sanctuary, with more than 70 musical acts (including Deacon again, along with Future Islands, Juliana Huxtable and many more) performing.

“We’re dreamers and we’re doers and we just can’t do it any other way.”

This isn’t just a music and camping festival, the founders are quick to point out. For Schmidt, bringing in other artistic elements was of the utmost importance. This means visual and sound installations, theater, film, poetry, performance art and dance. And both Schmidt and Mostofsky like to tout the event’s “wellness” activities — including yoga, herb massage, tarot and Reiki-attuned candles.

“The multi-sensory, immersive, integrative aspect of kind of wandering around and there’s just arts everywhere” is the dream, Schmidt says. “Like you’re camping out there and you’re suddenly a part of this new world and it’s just all around you, that was really an inspiration for me and that’s something I really wanted to bring to the table.”

The two founders had somewhat overlapping reasons for wanting to plan a festival. For Schmidt, it was attending similar events and not loving the tunes, but loving the camping and overall atmosphere.

“I remember thinking ‘OMG it’s so amazing, camping out in nature,’” Schmidt says. “It’s like a vacation with a ton of other people with shared interests and you’re all kind of making this new home for yourself for the weekend and I think there’s something really beautiful about the communal aspect of it.”

Mostofsky grew up going to sleepaway camps and credits his astrological sign — Sagittarius — for his love of all things nature. (Schmidt says there’s a lot of Sagittarius in her, too.)

“The sense of community that would form in those situations was very powerful and definitely left a strong impression on me,” Mostofsky says.

Both Schmidt and Mostofsky were deeply entrenched in the Baltimore music and art scenes before planning their first Fields Fest. Schmidt, who works by day as a freelance writer of educational content, co-founded DIY space The Soft House. Mostofsky, a neurologist by trade, has run Ehse Records for over a decade.

When asked if it was hard managing all the aspects a multi-sensory festival, the pair laughs out loud before the question is finished.

“Sorry to laugh out loud — it’s so hard to juggle this,” Schmidt says. “Yeah, it’s crazy.”

No other way

Schmidt and Mostofsky say it helps that they’re totally in sync in one important area.

“We’re dreamers and we’re doers and we just can’t do it any other way, and yes that means sometimes taking on too much and sacrificing in certain ways,” Mostofsky says.

Now that they’re into their third year of running the event, they know exactly what kind of tone they want to set.

“The vibe is one [that is] both celebratory as well as thoughtful, sort of at the same time,” Mostofsky says. All the artists are at the top of their game, he says — it’s basically high art.

Schmidt is a little hesitant to use that phrase, but she basically agrees.

“I think there’s something more humble and gentle and loving,” says Schmidt. “But at the same time very inspiring and transformative.”

The Fields Festival runs Aug. 19-21 at Ramblewood Campgrounds, located in Susquehanna State Park in Darlington, Maryland. Tickets are still available on the event’s website.

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Photos: Baltimore Gets Weird At Fields Festival http://bandwidth.wamu.org/photos-baltimore-gets-weird-at-fields-festival/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/photos-baltimore-gets-weird-at-fields-festival/#respond Mon, 25 Aug 2014 18:08:02 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=38380 Promoted as a camping, music and arts event, Fields Festival took over a campsite in Maryland last weekend and brought hundreds of Baltimore musicians, ex-art students, costume aficionados and performers to the site in Darlington over three days. Some of the ambitious fest’s bigger attractions included Dan Deacon, Jenn Wasner’s Flock of Dimes and Matmos—but most of the artists booked to perform dwell happily in the margins of Baltimore’s arts community.

Photographer Valerie Paulsgrove attended Fields Festival and captured these moments from the colorful and occasionally rain-soaked weekend.

Abdu Ali at Fields Festival

Abdu Ali

Abdu Ali at Fields Festival

Abdu Ali

Zomes at Fields Festival

Zomes

soundNest installation at Fields Festival

soundNest installation

Pool stage at Fields Festival

The pool stage

Nautical Almanac at Fields Festival

Nautical Almanac

Nate Young AtFields Festival

Nate Young

Matmos at Fields Festival

Matmos

Lexie Mountain Boys at Fields Festival

Lexie Mountain Boys at Fields Festival

Lexie Mountain Boys at Fields Festival

Lexie Mountain Boys

Crowd at Lexie Mountain Boys at Fields Festival

The crowd watching Lexie Mountain Boys

Leprechaun Catering at Fields Festival

Leprechaun Catering

Inflatable Ball art at Fields Festival

Inflatable ball art

Horse Lords at Fields Festival

Horse Lords

Free Sherbet At FieldsFestival

Dave Adams’ performance “Free Sherbert”

Flock of Dimes at Fields Festival

Flock of Dimes

Flock of Dimes at Fields Festival

The crowd watching Flock of Dimes

Fields Festival

A conversation between partially clothed attendees

Fields Festival

The idyllic setting

Dan Deacon at Fields Festival

Dan Deacon at Fields Festival

Dan Deacon

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