David Castillo is talking about his experience with his project, Pizza Time, playing some of the bigger music festivals that now cram concert-going calendars nine months out of the year. Recently, Castillo was talking to a friend about putting on a festival of his own, the kind of festival he would like to go to. The fest idea morphed into a pretty radical one: an all online music festival that anyone could be a part of and witness from the comfort of their own computer. The first ever Bummeroo, a day-long music, comedy and performance art extravaganza will begin uploading this Sunday, December 21 and can be watched from anywhere through the Pizza Time YouTube channel.
See also: Album Review: Dirty Demos - Pizza Time
When Castillo first came up with the notion of creating virtual festival of sets uploaded to a YouTube playlist, he took an informal poll of his Facebook friends to see if the concept was even of interest to anyone else. The response was overwhelmingly positive and the musician and organizer says he now has more than fifty performances lined up for Sunday's initial offering.
"It's this accidentally really cool thing, I think. I actually like it more than I did before," says Castillo, sharing that other people's excitement over such an event made him want to follow through and make Bummeroo happen. He says anyone who expressed interest in performing for the festival was welcome to take part -- all artists had to do was send Castillo a filmed performance up to fifteen minutes long in MP4 format. The lower quality format was intentional, providing the fest with an accessible and cohesive aesthetic. Local musical acts like Homebody, Crab Lab, Thug Entrancer, Cop Circles and Chase Ambler are all slated to participate, along with national acts like Love Cop, Free Weed and Jerry Rogers. Comedian Sam Tallent is on the roster and Castillo expects way more than just cut and dry music and stand-up sets from everyone involved.
Castillo also says that since he began organizing Bummeroo, friends have told him that they are planning viewing parties as if it were a live event. It is live, in a sense, because the organizer plans to start uploading one set after another, allowing watchers to essentially "tune in" at any time starting this Sunday and catch the performances as they materialize on the Internet. Once the fifty or so sets are added to the Bummeroo playlist, they will exist forever, allowing viewers to watch the segments from anywhere, anytime. No tickets, no lines, no pushing through crowds -- all you need is an Internet connection and you've got an all-access pass to Bummeroo 2014.
Tune into Bummeroo this Sunday, December 21 via the Pizza Time YouTube channel. There is not set time announced yet for the festival to begin, but check the Facebook event page for details and a full list of participating acts.
Be my voyeur (or better yet, let me stalk you) on Twitter: @cocodavies
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