#HGCREATORS

Living In Bedouin Debauchery: Why You Need To Be At Magnetic Fields 2013

Homegrown Staff

Hollow your flesh and fill up with feathers; sequin your skin and let the paint streak bright.

Carve out your costumes and scrape on your leather; the war cry's been sounded for decadence by night. 

"I'm basically going to be out there in the palace with the Bedouins, trying to collaborate some nice jam sessions, keeping the good vibes going. Should be some good fun in the desert. The nice part about all of it is that it's a community, an intimate space.

We want to make it special for everybody who attends and we want it to be a unique experience too. I think one of the most important things about it is that we're giving attendees the opportunities to bring their own instruments and we'll have a whole free bunch of nights to play with. Basically, there's never going to be a dull moment here."

II. Raxit Tewari [Your Chin/ Sky Rabbit]

"You're going to see me partying at 2 a.m. at one of the secret party pop-ups around the festival. I'm seriously kicked."

III. Sanaya Ardeshir [Sandunes

"I'm particularly keen on this festival because I believe that the approach with which it has been organised has been a very coherent kind of stylistic sensibility in that music is going to be at the forefront of this festival.

They have gone with the attitude of not over cluttering or crowding and choosing to keep it simple, honest & organic. That way a smaller number of people can attend in a complete sense and experience everything it has to offer, take back their experiences and help it grow over the next two years in a really organic sense." 

On the immersive nature of Magnetic fields...

"The idea of an immersive festival definitely implies that there's more than one art form being showcased and more than one art form being used to reach out to people on several different levels. That’s actually very important because at a festival you want to be able to immerse yourself in the spirit of what it’s all about and magnetic festival is the place where that’s going to happen. Besides, the fact that their set up is in a 17th century palace is a bit mind blowing. It's going to be crazy."

III. Imaad Shah [Madboy/Mink]

"The industry is kind of brimming with festivals, especially at this time of the year and in some way Magnetic Fields really stands out for me because in terms of the love and the organisers, they attention to every minute detail is really quite different from the lass scale kind of festivals where you tend to just show up, do your job, play your set and leave rather than get really interested in it. I feel like this will be a coming together from both sides of both musicians and audiences."

Aditya Ashok [OX7GEN / Shaa'ir + Func]

"I'm most looking forward to the palace, the paradise hall and the general manor of the palace. These are the key places that I really want to sit in and experience the rest of the festival.

It's an extremely psychedelic palace from what I can tell. All the rooms and corridors, the colours, i've never been in a palace before so the pictures have really been exciting me. I mean this location is going to mean everything. A nice, open field is cool but there's only that much context that environment gives you."

V. Monica Dogra [Shaa'ir + Func]

On how its inspired their own act…

"We're actually coming in early just to help build the festival up and we've rested a whole new set of non stop music that's specifically inspired by the fact that we are closing day 1 of the festival, something we feel so lucky to be able to do! So we're coming up with a bunch of visual ideas as well." 

On musical gentrification and the need of the hour within the independent music industry...

"The thing that's moved me the most throughout this process, or what i'm really looking forward to through this is the resurgence of faith and a feeling of community in India right now.

Because the Indian independent scene has entered into a space where the underground has sort of become over ground. A lot of people haven't been treated the way they wanted to be and they see a scene built off of their own blood and tears and it's like a musical gentrification has happened in the industry right now.

I've always been a person who likes to keep things on the streets with the people, keep the soul intact and i'm looking forward to spending 3 days with my people. Musicians, videographers, journalists, writers, dancers, fire dancers, fashion designers, foodies. All these people who I consider a part of my movement with no egos, weird costumes, dancing through the night, yoga in the morning, eating together, completely dazed and it's a small festival. Just 500 of us so I know it's going to happen." 

VI. Kunal Lodhia [WeThePpl]

On the festival's aesthetic sensibilities...

"I can't speak too much about it but the truth is we don't have to try too hard because of this amazing backdrop that it's set against but I will say we have some pretty great stage ideas and they're going to blow people's minds. If you stand in front of the stage, you'll feel like you are a part of it. They are, quite literally going to come alive." 

On dungeon parties and treasure hunts…

"They're not exactly dungeon parties though the palace does have a dungeon which is off limits for now. The secret parties will be spread across the location and the beauty is you have to find them. Over the three days, we've conceptualised this whole treasure hunt and we have some pretty sweet treasure you can look for too. If you want to take part in it, the course ends up taking you through secret locations, find clues and fill it all in." 

On food..
“All the food, all the ingredients are fresh and locally sourced. It’s being developed by a friend of ours from 11/11 Cell Design, Smita. It’s going to be set up in a food market kind of vice and rather than keeping it all densely packed, there’ll be food carts and stalls, so you’ll feel more like you’re in a village square market. There will be fresh juices, shakes and great coffee plus you can chill out on the grass and enjoy your meal.”
On their goal…
"Besides showcasing that independency, we're trying to expand this family, this community of ours and this seems to be an amazing way to do it. I'm looking forward to being a part of this vision because it's exactly what is needed in India right now because something needs to be done just for love." 
VII. Sarah Elizabeth Chawla [ Co-Founder Wild City]
On the message she'd like to exude through this festival…
"I guess we want to MF to really demonstrate the vibrancy of contemporary Indian culture, not just in music but in food as well. We're using very traditional food and we're making it contemporary, we're working on presenting it in a very exciting way. We're also working with local designers to create things that are very traditional and at the same time very contemporary. The most beautiful part is that there will be so many things going on simultaneously at Magnetic Fields that there is quite literally an opportunity for so many things to happen." 
On what's truly special about this festival to them on a personal level…
"The festival is incredibly personal. It's something that 5 partners are financing independently. This isn't something we would do to make a quick buck. This is something we would do to help create that essential platform to showcase India. I don't know exactly how to put this but I feel that contemporary music is necessarily amplified internationally as it should be and that doesn't have to be on a large scale as this is a tiny festival and it's really important to us. We feel that for us to start smooth we need to start small, really tiny. We need magnetic fields to spread by word of mouth, organically."
This is what the set-up of the Festival Site looks like:

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