Last Tuesday, a wave of artists confirmed for the music lineup at St. Pete’s Et Cultura was announced, indubitably sending the Tampa Bay area’s collection of indie-rock scene-watchers into a blissful freefall. The five-day music, art, film and interactive festival had previously announced that Waxahatchee — an Americana-flavored rock and roll project from P.S. Eliot and Swearin’ member Katie Crutchfield — would be on the bill, but the fresh crop of acts also included Daptone Records’ kings of Staten Island Afro-soul (The Budos Band), alt-country from Jay Farrar’s post-Uncle Tupelo project Son Volt, and Talking Heads-obsessed Montreal D.I.Y. dudes Ought.
Also part of that lineup: Slowdive.
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Son Volt, Slowdive, The Budos Band and more added to St. Pete's Et Cultura Festival
The London rock outfit was part of a late ‘80s/early ‘90s guitar-centric movement that included bands like Blur, Moose and Swervedriver, but frontman Neil Halstead hinted that he wanted Slowdive to transcended the shoegaze sounds that were the order of the day when it released a debut LP, Just For A Day, in 1991. Halstead made sure Slowdive cemented itself in modern-rock lore with the release of its next album, Souvlaki, in 1993. The 10-track effort was a Brian Eno-approved, 40-minute pleasure cruise that gently hypnotized fans with stacks upon stacks of ethereal, and sometimes propulsive, guitar wash. Slowdive’s final album — Pygmalion — would follow in ‘94, and posthumous projects like Mojave 3 and Televise came and went, but nothing could ever really satiate fans’ thirst for more from the band.
All of that made a 2014 reunion at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival that much more exciting, and renewed hopes of a new album were ultimately fulfilled this May when Dead Oceans released Slowdive’s eponymous fourth album to much critical acclaim. The supporting tour disappointingly didn’t have a Bay area date, but that all changed thanks to Et Cultura (EtC).
Festival co-founders Joel Malizia and Lea Umberger — former HSN-ers who serve as Director of Development and Director of Brand and Social Media, respectively — know the musical elements of EtC are turning heads, but they’re quick to deflect the accolades to the financial support of a huge donor (Jim Aresty) plus EtC’s community music collaborators Tony Rifugiato and Jessica Clark (both of St. Pete promotions company No Clubs), whom the festival trusts to pick the best available artists for the lineup.
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Et Cultura Festival 2017 feat music from Slowdive/Waxahatchee/Ought/The Budos Band/more
“They came at us with these bands, and they're like, ‘This is really exciting stuff guys,’ and we’re like, ‘OK — we trust you,’” Umberger, 41, told CL. “We've said from the beginning that if we pick the bands, we would only sell 300 tickets.” (Clark and Rifugiato for their parts are adamant about really just helping execute the vision that EtC founders presented when they met.)
The quip draws healthy laughter from the pair, and the lightheartedness — despite being just a few months out from the beginning of the festival — has a lot to do with the collective that makes EtC happen and the opportunity to further put St. Pete on the map.
“We have a realistic perspective on the amount of work this is going to take, but we’re really confident in the team assembled to help pull this off, the people in the city that we're doing this in, and those who are saying nice things and getting the word out,” Malizia, 41, said. He and Umberger remember just under 100 volunteers making it happen for last year’s inaugural run, and they estimate needing between 200-300 bodies when this year’s events go down November 15-19. They also mentioned being ready to announce local support on the 23-band lineup after the mid-September addition of even more national talent. Umberger hopes fans take advantage of EtC’s multi-day pass, too.
“Every one of the venues we’re utilizing has a certain capacity, and that means we have a limited number of passes we can sell,” she said. Those numbers will affect how many tickets — if any — EtC can sell as the individual shows approach. She’s hoping the supporters of the bands who might have paid $40 on multiple nights at Jannus will spring for the $75 option and get into everything EtC has to offer. “The concerts alone would cost upwards of $120.”
Other EtC events include markets and pop-up art shows, plus screenings of a carefully assembled lineup of shorts and documentaries, which Malizia promises won’t depress anyone.
“They really are all light and fun,” he said of the film lineup curated by Derek Horne, “but we are really going to dig in for the interactive element.”
The ambitious agenda for that element of EtC will feature speakers from around the world who’ll wax on topics like wellness, urban planning, and even the future of food as part of a “Seeds” track that addresses biodiversity, urban agriculture and sustainable farming in a developing city. It’s all very relevant for a Sunshine City quickly becoming a must-visit American town, and organizers seem to be more proud of that hometown element than anything.
“We couldn’t do this if people around here were like, ‘No you guys are crazy,’” Umberger said. “The community is really diving in and it’s really inspiring to to watch the city build it. This festival and this area are unique; this isn’t Williamsburg, it’s not like the little pockets of other towns.”
“It’s Florida, and it’s St. Pete, and it’s really, really cool — I’m totally invested.”
Get more information on Et Cultura via local.cltampa.com and listen to Slowdive below.
w/Slowdive/Waxahatchee/The Budos Band/Ought/Son Volt/Madaila/William Tyler/The Florida Bjorkestra/more
