Interview :: Octopus Pi – Wormwoodstock Special

January 24th 2012

             Image from Wormwood UV – December 2011.

 

Absinthe. Psychedelia. Camping. Oh, and a 50-strong water pistol turn-and-draw. Where do we sign up, right?!

Answer: Wormwoodstock. A unique DIY festival bringing together good people, good vibes and friggin' fantastic music. Over the weekend (Friday 27 – Sunday 29 January), up to 300 people will head down to a secret location just south of Sydney and set up camp for two days of mind-bending, eye-opening, brain-stimulating GOOD TIMES.

The brainchild of Kimberley Galceran, aka Octopus Pi, Wormwoodstock evolved from a series of smaller gigs around Sydney over the last few months. 

On the eve of the inaugural Wormwood festival, we had a chat to Kimberley to find out how she makes all this magic happen…

 

FBi: Wormwoodstock is an extension of the Wormwood nights you host – can you give us a rundown of how those nights go down?

Kimberley: They start out very relaxed but get increasingly intense as the night wears on. We've got visuals going off in different areas – liquid light, projections, silent film screenings; an installation taking place – live art or a new projection experiment we want to try out; we decorate the space depending on the event – UV Wormwood was particularly spectacular. We have other antics like shisha pipes administered by the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland or interactive drawing which changes at each event. Then theres the music – we usually build from some ambient experimental stuff up to a band that makes everyone dance their hearts out and smile their asses off – or it could be music that really just stimulates your brain all night. People comment on the 'good vibes' because it's creates a friendly and inclusive environment.

What have been some of the highlights from Wormwood so far – any especially memorable artists, bands or crowd-members?

Every Wormwood has it's own highlights and most of the bands blow me away! The Fighting League and Dead China Doll at Wormwood Halloween, La Tarantella at Wormwood 3D, Mesa Cosa at Wormwood UV, Scattered Order at Wormwood Wonderland… these were some incredible moments where the bands and the crowd are wrapped up in the experience together, the room goes electric!

How did you go about choosing a venue for the festival?

I'd been mulling about the idea of the festival for about six months but the location wasn't falling into place. It turned out to be an obvious choice the whole time; a good friend had just the location for it and was keen to do something like this; so I got started on Wormwoodstock right away.

What kind of shenanigans can we expect over the two days of Wormwoodstock?

It's going to be pretty relaxing, entertaining days on a gorgeous property followed by intense nights; not just the bands but the visuals and lighting we have in store too, it'll be spectacular! As far as shenanigans we bought 50 water pistols for a high-noon turn & draw on Saturday… and plenty more. I think everyone will make new friends and leave feeling pretty damn inspired.

Who else have you got on board to help get the festival off the ground?

A lot of friends in production have stepped up to help – Dirty Shirlows and 2Flies are doing our sound, Kingdom Productions is doing our lighting, Optic Soup are doing visuals; people have offered marquees and screens, some are doing

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