E- Elissa

D- Dexter

Creators of Hi-Light Festival and PILLARS in the local music community!

1. What makes the HI-light Festival different from other music festivals in

Alberta?

E- Hi-Light is based on focusing inward on our own community and wanting to

help grow our music community. I really love that we have 1 show a day so that everyone moves together as a group but then it gives people 5 days to hang out and connect. We have seen

connections happen because of Hi-Light, in many different ways, and that

keeps us doing what we are doing.

D- I think that our festival is based around placing emphasis on bands who are really trying to help build up our local music community. The artists that we feature tend to be those who will leave the house to support other artists versus those who sit at home to attempt to grow their online presence. 

2. How do you choose which artists to book for the festival?

E- With lots of stress, guilt and panic hahaha. Dexter and I both take time with

the submissions separately and then bring our lists back to each other and

start building our shows. Over the years I have been building a bit of a system that I can personally

use to help me make decisions less emotionally. It changes a bit every year

but it helps me as I go through all the applications. We really want to reach as many genres as we can, so the more we grow and reach more people the more different genres we have been getting in

submissions and can choose from. We have been averaging taking about 10% of the submissions we have. This makes choosing extremely stressful on our end because there are so many

great musicians and bands, but it also makes it exciting because we see how

we can keep the festival going for years to come.

D- As I alluded to in the previous answer, our goal is to build this festival into a 5 day long summer camp for artists who truly embody our YEG music community. We aren't looking for buzz words in applications, extremely detailed resumes, or things of that nature. We want artists who know that local shows are only as good as the effort that we all put into them. So when we see artists out at other peoples shows, sharing clips of them, wearing other bands merch etc. that's the kind of thing that draws me in to a band.  

3. What is your favorite part of the festival besides the music?

E- I love watching the crowd during the festival. One of my favorite memories is

looking around the crowd and seeing people of all ages, from grandparents to

babies. Kids are dancing, people are singing along, grandparents are taking

videos and while everyone was enjoying the moment in their own way, it was

part of one moment in my memory.

D- I love seeing the group of people that year who go to almost every show and really go through it together! By the end of the week everybody is so much closer and that's really the whole purpose of what this is about. It's tougher and tougher to get people out of the house, and it's extremely rewarding when you can facilitate friendships and musical relationships being formed. 

4. What is the biggest challenge in putting on a festival like this?

E- Other than going through submissions and choosing bands...Dexter and I are lucky because we do this on a regular basis, so realistically putting on 6 shows together should be a piece of cake. I find the hardest part is getting it all to come together to look and feel cohesive as one event. It

means that there are extra pieces in the background that we need to do to

make sure that feel exists.

D- I think that Elissa and I are pretty well versed in what it takes to put on a show, so the day to day of putting it together isn't too crazy. The toughest part for me is probably cutting down a list of 300+ applicants into about 30 spots. Who do you choose? Every single year we could do 3 lineups worth of killer bands! 

5. How do you support and include local Edmonton artists?

E- That is what our festival is all about!

D- I mean, that's kind of the name of the game haha! There are a few ways in which we support local YEG artists I think! One is obviously picking them to play our festival! But we also allow all the bands playing to attend every show for free, and we have out of town bands on every single show! Our goal is to encourage locals to meet each other to strengthen the bonds within our scene, and to meet the out of towners to influence show trades down the line to integrate into other local markets!  

6. What are you doing to make the festival an inclusive place?

E- The Festival is about music and highlighting the greatness we have in our

community. Be a kind person and you are welcome and encouraged to join us!

D- We work with inclusive venues that already have policies in place to make sure they are kind and inclusive spaces that we host from, and we do our best to grab the best of the best in character and in talent :) 

7. Why did you decide to start a festival in Edmonton?

E- I saw how many great bands and artists we have right under our nose. And

how I wanted a place to give them a place to shine! Dexter and I talked about

it, while at another festival, and how we should try and put something

together. The rest is really history from there. The first year we pulled it

together very quickly and it ran better than we could have expected. Every

year we refine a little but the heart of the festival is always strong.

D- I think that we saw that the few music festivals currently operating in Edmonton really didn't choose many of the most talented bands who exist here! We have a unique opportunity of not having to justify or explain grant money and with that we can actually include some of the best and most fun and/or talented artists that we have here!  

8. How will you know if this year's festival was a success?

E- If someone finds a new band that they love. If bands that meet at the Festival put a show on together, If someone makes a new friend at the Festival. Yes, well attended shows are a nice thing and for people to come and watch these awesome musical acts! But at the end of the day, if I see our

community grow and connect a little bit more then I feel like I have done what

I wanted!

D- If I see bands watching each other's sets, going to shows that they aren't playing, swapping social media contacts, and moving through the week becoming closer... then I know it was a success.  

Catch Hi-Light this Spring April 8-12th across some of you favourite venues across the city. Super special thanks to Elissa and Dexter for the AWESOME interview and for highlighting some AMAZING local music. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!!!