Octo Gato by Megan Garzone
South Florida musicians hear all the time how hard it is to sustain a local scene, and thank goodness most refuse to listen. In a region that sprawls both culturally and geographically, while sitting too far south for some national tours, people aren’t waiting around for underlying conditions to change: They’re starting bands and making new fans here and beyond.
Two years ago, in fact, Ben Childs and Hector Diaz of the Killbillies, an offbeat bluegrass and Celtic trio from West Palm Beach, were so psyched by what was happening around them — even with a pandemic still making band life complicated — they wanted to let others know.
“We were really excited about the local music scene in general and thought there was a lot of talent here, so what could we do to help showcase it,” Diaz told PureHoney by email. The first answer was: Start a podcast. The second was: Launch a festival with podcast guests.
Two years, one fest, assorted sponsors and almost 100 podcast episodes along, 561 Music Festival TWO! will take over Mathews Brewing Company in Lake Worth for ONE DAY ONLY, April 1, with 20 of your neighbors’ best musical acts, plus tap beers inside and food trucks outside.
Outrageous surf punks Octo Gato top the bill, joined by dubby, funky jam band Tasty Vibrations, the Killbillies themselves (with third bandmate James Galiano) and an amazing homegrown array of rock, folk and more. Kinetic punkers Rogue Theory, Celtic bangers Uproot Hootenanny, versatile indie musician HADEE., folk-rocker Andii Styron are just a few of the talents Diaz and Childs are spotlighting and celebrating.
“This year we will also have the 561 Music Living Room where Ben and I will be doing quick little interview sessions with the artists to use on the podcast episode that will be following the festival as it will be our 100th episode and we will be celebrating that milestone at the festival,” Diaz said.
Killbillies by Danelle Michaud @alchemicalphoto
The 561 Music podcast premiered in March 2021 with Diaz and Childs bringing on some of their favorites from 561 and surrounding area codes to talk about music and share it with listeners. Punks, DJs, rockers, singer-songwriters, reggae bands and metalheads, a burlesque dancer (Ruby Tesla of Lake Worth), and others started making the trek to Live Music Community, a music school with recording facilities in Palm Beach Gardens.
Episodes landed weekly, and pretty soon 561 Music — airing on podcast channels and 561 Music’s own YouTube — had amassed a remarkable and varied compendium of homegrown music, and proof of South Florida’s many subcultures sparking music worth hearing.
“When we started getting close to the one year mark,” Diaz said, “we joked about how it would be fun to do a local music festival featuring past guests.” Part of the joke, of course, is how dauntingly labor-intensive it is to plan, book and run and all-day music festival. But the inaugural edition went about as well as a first-time venture could.
“We had several local favorites in year one, like Spred the Dub, Sierra Lane and Sons of a Tradesman to name a few,” Diaz said. Bands were on two stages, one acoustic. “While one was playing the other was setting up and so it went all day for 20 artists, back and forth without a silent moment in the day,” Diaz said.”It ended up being a huge success and so we decided to do it again this year.”
Both stages this year will be electric. More sponsors have come aboard and Diaz said he’s also looking for volunteers to help staff the event. (They can sign up at the festival’s web site.)
Octo Gato’s Mike Locke described headlining 561 Music almost epically, as a kind of surprise homecoming. “We were shipwrecked on Octo Gato island and presumed dead for over four years!” Locke told PureHoney by email, adding, “[W]e have a lot of catching up to do … starting out with making sure everyone at 561Music Fest gets lei’d! WE BACK, Octo-cats!”
561 Music Festival happens April 1 at Mathews Brewing Company in Lake Worth. 561musicfestival.com GET TICKETS HERE ~ Sean Piccoli
