Ahead of the much anticipated S┼Án Festival this year, I spoke to Elan Evans, Welsh Language Music Promoter at Clwb Ifor Bach, about what makes this festival so uniquely exciting.
How would you describe S┼Án, and what makes it different from other music festivals?
S┼Án Festival is a multi-venue, multi-genre, inner-city festival where we work with lots of different venues around the city centre to create one big festival. I think whatÔÇÖs nice about S┼Án is that you can sort of fall into different venues and watch bands – so you might watch a folk band to start your day, and by then end of the day youÔÇÖre in a sweaty venue with lots of punters watching an incredible heavy electronic artist or something similar. ThereÔÇÖs no specific stages, it’s all very mixed. So you might go to Fuel Bar, which is traditionally a heavy rock venue, but we might put a completely different artist there during the festival, which is really really cool. Also, one of the things that I really do like about S┼Án is that we donÔÇÖt have a Welsh language stage, because it’s something that always sort of eats at me as promoter, when you go to other festivals. I do think festivals are doing it less now, where they pigeonhole Welsh language as a genre, but it’s not: Welsh language is just a language, and lots of different genres live within that language, and I think thatÔÇÖs something thatÔÇÖs really cool about S┼Án. It’s a great place to discover new music, old favourites, and you just fall into different venues. Also just seeing the different venues, as well; you might discover a new favourite venue while youÔÇÖre here, which is always exciting.
Definitely. I think on the website you describe S┼Án as being a ÔÇ£homegrownÔÇØ festival, which I really like. Is that idea of locality a consideration for you guys as organisers?
Absolutely, yeah. Clwb Ifor Bach took over S┼Án Festival in 2018; John Rostron and Huw Stephens started the festival years ago, and we all as staff used to go to S┼Án growing up and as adults as well, always huge fans. What was great about it then, and what weÔÇÖve tried to carry on with as a sort of legacy, is that they always gave a platform and a stage to local Welsh artists, which I think is so, so important for any festival. What makes S┼Án S┼Án is where it is, as well – its an inner-city festival in Cardiff, and I think if we were to ignore the bands and what makes CardiffÔÇÖs music scene so special it would be awful. When all three of us – Adam, myself, and Will – come together to put the lineup together, itÔÇÖs something thatÔÇÖs always really, really important: asking who are those artists locally who are making waves at the moment, who are busy, who are enjoying performing, who we enjoy going to see? WhatÔÇÖs nice about S┼Án, now, as well, is that it’s a brand that you trust.
I guess that must make the curation process quite difficult though. CardiffÔÇÖs music scene is so rich, is it a challenge to decide who you want on the lineup?
ItÔÇÖs a great problem to have! ThatÔÇÖs a promoterÔÇÖs dream, really, that itÔÇÖs difficult to create a festival. WhatÔÇÖs good is that its a real team effort, weÔÇÖre quite a small team here but weÔÇÖre all avid gig-goers, we go to events all the time, listen to loads of different music, and weÔÇÖre all into different kinds of music as well, which is really important I think – you get that perfect storm of a mix and match of genres and different kinds of music coming together, and what ties it all together then is that it’s just really really good music. So yeah, it’s an incredible problem to have; you kind of do have your long list, your dream wish list of who you wanna work with for the year, then you obviously have to start to narrow it down a bit, and obviously with the different venues youÔÇÖre working with capacity – itÔÇÖs not like itÔÇÖs a big field that you can stuff as many people as you want in there, you have to curate it in a way that youÔÇÖre careful where youÔÇÖre putting people. ItÔÇÖs really exciting this year, though, weÔÇÖre using Tramshed on the Saturday which is cool, so that kind of widens the pool of what artists you can get. Because not only do we work with artists locally and in Wales, we also work with artists from around the world, who will stop off here at S┼Án for their tour.
I actually wanted to ask about the Tramshed stuff on Saturday – you have the Industry Sessions, which sound really exciting. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
So S┼Án Industry Sessions are completely for free, you donÔÇÖt need a S┼Án ticket, and theyÔÇÖre targeted to people who are interested in the music industry, who are intrigued by it, not necessarily who create music but might want a job behind the scenes in the music industry. It’s basically gonna be a series of talks, different panels, lots of different people involved, and its kind of gonna give you an all-rounded view of what the music industry is. Especially if youÔÇÖre an up-and-coming artist, or youÔÇÖre local and youÔÇÖve just started a band, or just started playing music, this is the perfect place to come to; weÔÇÖll have a networking room as well, and different organisations in Wales. Sort of like a fair, where you can go and chat to different people, talk ideas. I think it’s a really important part of the festival, weÔÇÖve done it previously at the Atrium, and weÔÇÖre working with the Atrium again this year on these sessions, and I think it’s just a really nice, chilled way; itÔÇÖs not like, stuffy, itÔÇÖs gonna be quite lowkey, and hopefully jam-packed with people in the industry here in Wales and in England, and beyond. ItÔÇÖs a really good way for people to have those conversations, to get some advice on what path to take in the industry if theyÔÇÖre interested.
Do you have any tips for who to see this year?
I think with S┼Án, you go with an open mind and open ears and just let your intrigue take over. You can go with your long list of who you really want to go and see, but what I would recommend is just adding in those names that youÔÇÖve never heard of before – take a risk, you might discover your new favourite artist. ThatÔÇÖs my tip. Also, what I love doing, and whatÔÇÖs really nice about S┼Án, is in the wristband exchange, weÔÇÖve got a wonderful team of volunteers who work with us – we would not be able to do the festival without them – and what I love about them
is that theyÔÇÖre so passionate about music, and so theyÔÇÖve got really good recommendations.
Are the volunteering applications still open?
Yes! They’re still open. WeÔÇÖre so grateful to everyone who volunteers with us and itÔÇÖs a really great way to get involved. In the application form, as well, you pick what field of the music industry youÔÇÖre interested in, and weÔÇÖll try to match them with the same field, as itÔÇÖs a great way to gain experience.
S┼Án Festival will take place in Cardiff from 20th-22nd October 2023. Tickets, lineup, and information about volunteering can be found on their website.
Interview by Polly Brewster
