As we pack away the Christmas albums for another year, January brings with it an early start to the festival season and Southsea’s very own Icebreaker. With a key ethos on promoting local underground bands, Icebreaker Festival hosts 120 acts across 12 locations and all held within walking distance.
Chief organiser of the team behind the festival, Mike Hartley, took time out during the festive period to reflect over 2016 and looks ahead to a busy January.
Icebreaker Festival
Hi Mike,
Thanks for taking time out to speak to Mr Teeth… hope all is well.
So, as we come to the end of 2016, how has your year been?
“Pretty Good thank you! Very busy one – we were awarded runner up for ‘Best Event’ for the Wow24/7 Awards, hosted Icebreaker 2016 which sold out, put on a large number of Pilot Promotions shows as well as re-launching our band ‘Underground Pilots’ with our new style too. It’s been a very good year!”
Which events have been your musical highlights (other than your own festival of course!)?
“This year is the first year I’ve not attended any festivals since 2005, so my favourite musical event (other than the festivals I’ve been involved with) would be Slipknot at Alexandra Palace in January.”
Festival season kicked off back in January with Icebreaker, what made you put it on so early in the year?
“We learnt from putting on our Pilot Promotions shows in in 2013 and 2014 that there was nothing substantial musically going on in the city at that time of year. We’ve always wanted to give Portsmouth musicians a chance to have a day that’s focussed on them – it just fitted in together nicely!”
Icebreaker 2015 – Hummune
How’s the planning going for January 2017?
“Very well thank you, we are ahead of schedule and just getting excited for it all!”
You and the team make a point of listening to every artist before announcing who’s playing. How many applications do you reckon you had (and how many get to play)?
“We had just over 750 applications for this year with just 120 slots available (including the headliners) which made our job even harder as we listened to every single application.”
Any favourite new discoveries?
“We made some fantastic discoveries on acts who we’ve never heard of before. Though, I wouldn’t like to single them out over acts we have heard of as our entire line up is fantastic!”
Icebreaker 2016 – Hang Dai
Having put on other gigs during recent years, do any artists get special treatment?
“Not at all. Each act is treated the same.”
Which leads me on to the local scene in general, I often hear people say they think it can sometimes be a bit “clicky”, so as both musician and a promoter what’s your opinion?
“I don’t think it is personally, so a really tricky question to answer!”
How far afield are bands coming from to play at January’s event?
“Most of our performers are from Portsmouth and its’ surrounding areas. Then we always have acts from Brighton, Bournemouth, Southampton, Reading and Basingstoke coming down too but this year we have Tijuana Bibles coming all the way down from Glasgow to add a mixture to our line up.”
Icebreaker 2016 – These Septic Stars
With other festivals that have a focus on supporting local/underground music starting to add more established acts to the bill, are there any plans to do so with Icebreaker?
“We will always maintain our focus on the local acts with Icebreaker, however you never know what the future holds…”
How do you go about the logistical nightmare of organising who’s playing where and when?
“One of my favourite parts of the planning process, I love seeing the festival take shape – I would ensure that the artists would suit the stage its playing at. It’s so important to maintain respect for the venues and their neighbours, by putting on genres that they wish to have. For example, we wouldn’t put on a heavy metal group in Little Johnny Russell’s. It makes the selection process a lot simpler as we know what acts need to go where.”
Icebreaker 2016 – Belligerence
What would you say to anyone that hasn’t been to Icebreaker before?
“Icebreaker Festival is a fantastic way of viewing so many local bands in one day, with one wristband that allows entry into 12 venues across Albert Road and Elm Grove. We have 120 acts performing with a great mix of genres for you to choose from.
Tickets are £12 adv (£15 on the day), please come down and have a great day listening to amazing musicians perform their own original material.”
Finally, with a whole year ahead of you, what’s next on the agenda?
“After Icebreaker Festival, Pilot Promotions return in March with every other week at Edge of the Wedge. Underground Pilots returning in the spring after a short break and we begin planning for a much bigger Icebreaker Festival in 2018… All to be revealed soon.”
Icebreaker Festival 2017
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