in it together fest 2

There's some pretty cool news in the pipeline that I'm very excited to share, but today kicks off In It Together Fest 2 and with over 70 bands and 40 artists exhibiting at over 20 events around Washington DC, there's some things I've got to get to first...

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◆ THURSDAY, JULY 30 ◆

[07:00p] Print Show #1 ft. Baby Bry Bry @ 69:30 Club

[07:00p] Blizzard Babies / Bless / Valencia @ 453 Florida

[07:30p] BRNDA Album Release Show ft. Wildhoney / Den-Mate @ Black Cat

[07:30p] Atoka Chase / Near Northeast / Laurel Rose / Pat Jones @ GlowHouse

[08:00p] Paint Branch / Norwegian Arms / Chief Scout / Wanted Man @ Paperhaus

◆ FRIDAY, JULY 31 ◆

[05:00p] ARTSHOW_13: Going Out Of Business @ Hole In The Sky

[07:00p] RDGLDGRN / Laughing Man / Concord America @ Babe City

[08:00p] Kal Marks / Lady Bones / How To Be Topp / Sealab @ The (Sea) Lab

[08:00p] Youth Crush / The Public / Möbius Strip / Heart Attack Man / Misled Youth @ The Dougout

◆ SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 ◆

[12:00p] Empower DC Benefit Show ft. Eshovo / Motherknuckle @ Lamont Street Collective

[12:00p] Vundabar / June Gloom / Ezra Mae And The Gypsy Moon / Reed Appleseed / Lunchbox @ Ezra Mae's

[01:00p] Leapling / More Humans / Really Big Pinecone / Mattress Financial / Teen Mom @ The Beehive

[01:00p] Wing Dam / Witch Coast / Shark Week / Dark Tunnels / Laurel Rose / Grey Gardens @ Crack Rock Creek Church

[03:00p] In It Together Short Film Screening @ The Lookout

[04:30p] ★ Official InFestDC Showcase ★ ft. Cayetana / Thou / Rozwell Kid / Pygmy Lush / Two Inch Astronaut / Soda Bomb / ORCA / Jail Solidarity / The Black Sparks / Meridian @ St. Stephen's

[11:00p] Hurry / Late Bloomer / Alright @ Black Cat

◆ SUNDAY, AUGUST 2 ◆

[11:00a] Drone Brunch ft. The Plums / Chester Hawkins / Obetrol / Jack On Fire @ Spacelab-A

[12:00p] Free Play Pinball Party @ Lyman's Tavern

[12:00p] ShowPony / Breakup Season / Default Handshake @ AlleyCatHouse

[02:30p] Lilac Daze / Big Moth / Glueboy / Rachel Kline @ Above The Bayou

[06:00p] Positive Force 30th Anniversary Celebration ft. Big Hush / Swings / Didi / Collider / Broken Grids @ St. Stephen's

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If you're like me and just can't wait for IITF2, dive into the latest episode of In Yr Basement Radio to get a preview of the fun to come plus some unique insight behind the scenes with some of the people who helped put it together.

And don't sleep on picking up a copy of the InFestDC mixtape before they're all gone...

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In It Together Fest (IITF, InFestDC, etc.) is a four-day celebration of underground art, music, and activism at all venues propagating independent culture throughout the District of Columbia. Empowered by the hope to build a community amongst disparate DIY spaces, we've come together to foster participation, encourage new ideas, and highlight the under-appreciated. IITF aims to challenge, embolden the marginalized among us, and help transform our creative community into one free of traditional boundaries and productive in its endeavors. All events associated with IITF are all ages, always.

The two main showcases will be hosted at St. Stephen's, a church that has hosted DIY benefit shows for three decades thanks to Positive Force DC, an activist collective seeking radical social change, personal growth, and youth empowerment. This year we'll be helping to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Positive Force and Revolution Summer with an awesome benefit show with a special endowment from the DC City Council.

Thanks to these progressive community stapes, we'll be able to raise funds for three amazing local non-profit organizations doing great work throughout the District:

• We Are Family DC ...bringing advocacy, services, organizing, and companionship into the homes of the elderly, while helping to build friendships across boundaries like race, class, religion, age, culture, and sexual orientation.

• DC Abortion Fund ...an all-volunteer nonprofit that makes grants to pregnant people in the D.C. area who cannot afford the full cost of an abortion.

• Collective Action for Safe Spaces ...empowering people in the DC metro area to end public sexual harassment and assault.

In It Together Fest is proud to uphold a safer spaces policy, vowing to make all venues involved welcoming, engaging, and supportive environments free of oppressive actions, behaviors, and language. Participants and attendees are asked to consider how their language and behavior impacts others in attendance. Racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated, in tabling material or at the Fest itself at any and all affiliated spaces and/or in materials promoting such events at said spaces.

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For more information on In It Together Fest, please visit the website: 

www.infestdc.org

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...but that's not all! The following weekend on Sunday August 9, don't miss the fifth installment of Escape From DC Brunch at Hole In The Sky, featuring Turnip King, Bless, and Teen Liver - click flyer for details.

swingin'

In It Together Fest planning is coming along well and we've got lots of fun in store for those of you lucky to be in DC from July 30 to August 2! So far we've got 15 different events planned throughout the city featuring over 40 bands and counting. Some new additions to the festivities include Leapling, Kal Marks, Vundabar, Wing Dam, Hurry, Clique, and Big Hush. More info will be announced later this week, so be sure to check out the facebook and twitter for more details.

In the meantime, there are two DZ artists playing shows tonight that you should check out if you're in DC or Baltimore. Click the flyers below for more details:

Big Hush w/ Nude Beach, Outer Spaces, and Chain Rank at Saint-Ex in DC

Romantic States w/ Alter, Blessin', and Retired at The Crown in Baltimore

Those of you searching for something new from these two bands, here's a sneak peak of one gorgeous new Big Hush track plus live archives from DC's show scene on the latest episode of In Yr Basement Radio and a brand new song from Romantic States on a compilation celebrating the now-defunct KEITH house in Baltimore.

If you miss out of these gigs, don't sweat too hard - Big Hush will be playing with The Swirlies at Black Cat on July 6 (click flyer below for details) and Romantic States have some exciting show news to be announced in the very near future~ :)

it's coming

It's been a long time coming: In It Together Fest is taking place again in Washington DC this summer! The DIY fest's second iteration will be held from July 30 through August 2 at various spaces around the District, and we've got a top-notch assortment of acts already confirmed, including:

Cayetana / Rozwell Kid / Soda Bomb / Two Inch Astronaut / Jail Solidarity / Thou / and more

This year, we'll be working to support Collective Action For Safe Spaces, DC Abortion Fund, and We Are Family. For more information about the fest, click the graphic above. And if you haven't yet checked out the InFestDC mixtape, take a listen to the compilation below. If you like what you hear, make sure to pick up a copy before they're all gone - all proceeds from the cassette will be going back to the previously mentioned organizations! :) 

Tune in to In Yr Basement Radio on Radio CPR every other Wednesday from 6-7pm ET for more live cuts and upcoming show announcements. If you're in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC, you can turn your dial to 101.7 FM, but those of you outside of our range can still catch the show streaming online using this easy-to-remember link: tinyurl.com/radiocpr

I'll be skipping my next turn in the rotation, but you can catch me live on Wednesday June 24 or check out the back catalog here.

I got to record The Creature People last month, check out this beautifully hypnotizing, previously unreleased gem:

On the live show front, a couple of DZ denizens have some great gigs lined up for the near future in the DMV. Click the flyers below for more details:

Thursday, June 4 at The Windup Space in Baltimore

Romantic States w/ Cold Beat, Outer Spaces, and Boy Spit

Wednesday, June 10 at The Lilly Trotter Tea Lounge

Adam Torres w/ The Creature People, Poppy Patica, and The UVF Rays

Sunday, June 14 at Hole In The Sky

Escape From DC Brunch III: The Black Sparks, Rachel Kline, and The Sniffs

Sunday, June 14 at Above The Bayou

Romantic States w/ Beth Israel and Bless

Lastly, ICYMI the new music video for Adam Torres' "Dusty Wing Spirit" was premiered on Stereogum last week, but you can view it right here. And don't miss Adam on tour! For a full list of cities and dates, check out his website.

walking dogs

The InFestDC mixtape showcases 22 of the top live tracks from some of DC's best rising bands, but in case that wasn't enough, I've got a pleasant surprise in store for you. Thanks to Radio CPR, I've now got the chance to share even more audio archives from the city's underground show scene. Check out the first ever broadcast In Yr Basement Radio below for some great B-sides that didn't make the compilation, and don't miss next week's episode on Wednesday, May 13 from 6-7pm ET on 101.7FM in Mt. Pleasant or online here.

Many thanks to Ad Hoc, Washington City Paper, and DC Music Download for their coverage of the InFestDC mixtape, and to Decoder Magazine and DCist for their praises:

"The whole collection is a thrashing but articulate window into the various communities the Fest, and DZ Tapes itself, knit together through their projects." - Decoder Magazine 

"Combining live music with a sense of community organizing and charity are the perfect trio to describe ... the personality of D.C.’s own cultural history" - DCist

Up next on the live event front is the next Escape From DC Brunch show at Hole In The Sky this Sunday, May 10 featuring the public debut of a new project with members of Two Inch Astronaut and Young Rapids called Sloganeers, alongside Chris Taylor in The Creature People and HITS resident guitar wizard Justin Zami (click flyer for details).

In case you missed the last show, we captured the first ever performance by Green God here on VHS for your viewing pleasure:

In other DZ show news, Big Hush take the stage with Beach Fossils and Den-Mate at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Thursday, May 14 (click here for details).

Lastly, the yearly Nelsonville Music Festival in Nelsonville, OH will be taking place May 28-31 and will be hosting some spectacularly talented musicians, including DZ alum Adam Torres. Other acts along for the fun include The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Ryley Walker, Michael Hurley, and more.

Before signing off, I wanted to send my gratitude to the Baltimore City Paper for their graciously in-depth review of the Romantic States release, calling it "a seductive, cohesive whole [that] isn't merely impressive, it's quite often hypnotic," and to DC Music Download for including me in their recent piece on Record Store Day.

Until next time, stay sound...