Are you looking to transport your mind, body and soul beyond the confines of the ordinary life style? The solution you seek lies within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Montains. Here you will discover a portal that leads you to West Virgina’s most premiere music & arts festival experience , Yonderville. After having a few past succesful runs of the festival project , the crew has united once again to showcase some of the scenes hottest and best electronic bass acts that will help further elevate the experience set forth from previous line ups.
“We deploy the worlds most advanced point source sound systems as well as the industries most efficient, deep, loud and impactful subwoofers to create an experience that is second to none.” -Yonderville
This years line up is every basshead’s wildest dream lined up perfectly into four days of absolute madness. Leading the charge as this years main headliner is WAKAAN‘s own founder , Liquid Stranger. Followed by the likes of other popular bass acts such as Truth , Yheti , Esseks , Wreckno , Of The Trees and more ! If you’re a big fan of the underground like us , there are PLENTY of those fast rising producers that you’re not gonna want to miss. Some honorable mentions we reccomend includes Kirby Bright , Kozmic ,Smokestax ,Ujuu, Engix, Humorme and more. Now it’s time to take a deeper dive into what makes this festival quite the dream experience for any event attendee by getting to know how it’s all done and coordinated thanks to the founder of Yonderville , Max Stone.
DIVING DEEP W/ MAX STONE
First off, hello and thanks for chatting with Headbang Society. First off, could you start by introducing yourself and your involvement with Yonderville?
Hello, and thank you for having me. My name is Max Stone, Yonderville’s Founder.
Where did the idea of Yonderville originate from? What’s the vision for this festival?
The name Yonderville originated while on the way home from an outdoor rave in Baltimore. My friends Taylor and Matt were headed back out to the countryside and thinking about throwing their own event. Matt said “it might be hard to get them to drive all the way down Yonder” and my other friend Taylor said “We’d call it Yonderville”.
Then, in 2017, I was given an opportunity to start a music festival after losing a close friend, Bobby Satre. Bobby and I connected through music and became close friends while playing shows and DJing. After Bobby passed, his mother started a non-profit called CAYA, Come As You Are. At one of CAYA’s 5k runs where I volunteered to play music, I was introduced to the venue’s Management and talks of a festival began.
I struggled to come up with a name for the festival and was considering “Camp Wilderness.” After speaking with his friend Taylor, who was also a friend of Bobby, about what he had come up with Taylor suggested “Yonderville.” I personally dedicate Yonderville to Bobby and credits him for inspiring and motivating It’s creation.
What kind of experience/background does the Yonderville team bring to the table / how is this team uniquely experienced to curate and produce this type of underground event?
Everyone involved with booking and curation has experience with this type of music. We work with many different people from within the industry which gives us lots of varying perspectives.
Austin Trout is our lead talent buyer this year and hosts events in NYC and beyond w/ Sermon. Wade Appleton and Hunter Guire are two of our support talent buyers who help us keep an eye on the hottest up and coming underground producers in the game. Wade has his Dice Man Project as well as Dub Day which is a national events brand. Hunter Guire curates and hosts events in the Morgantown / Pittsburgh regions with his Appalachian Sound Culture organization.
Yonderville also works with many different collectives and labels both regional and national. Artists from Aspire Higher and The Gradient Perspective for example are staples in Yonderville lineups. Ryan Karolyi being with AH and Jared Oppenhiem with TGP.
What stands out about the festivals venue, Marvin’s Mountaintop? Why was this chosen as the host site?
Marvin’s Mountaintop stands out because of It’s rich history as well as It’s incredible landscape. The Hilltop VIP Area and the Hilltop RV Camping are both amazing spots to chill out and experience live music. It really is an amazing vantage point. You can see the entire venue, distant mountains and the sun set perfectly behind them. We also like Marvin’s because It’s off the beaten path a bit. It takes a little effort to get there. It kinda makes you appreciate life a little more. If it was just another exit off of a major interstate then it wouldn’t feel like as much of a journey. After returning from 3-4 days onsite I feel like I’ve grown, learned something about myself and are more confident in my own skin.
Addressing the concerns about local authorities intruding on 2021’s Resonance festival, hosted at the same site, why will Yonderville 2022 be different and what has the team done to address these issues?
Yonderville is a boutique festival experience with quality over quantity in mind. By keeping attendance to a more manageable size, we avoid a lot of the problems and headaches festivals experience when growing beyond 5k-10k. Being boutique means we make less of an impact on the local community, use fewer limited resources and put less pressure on the local government to perform. We’ve also spent the last 2 years at Marvin’s showing the local community we’re here for the long haul and really do care what sort of impact we make. This has been achieved through transparency and straightforwardness in regards to attendance figures and long term goals. In 2022 we’re also working with more WV local businesses, vendors and artists than all previous years combined. We believe whenever possible you should support local and nurture those relationships.
2022 marks the 5th festival in Yonderville’s history. How does this year’s lineup and production celebrate those milestones?
In 2020 we planned to expand the experience but because of Covid, those plans had to be put on hold. 2021 was about bringing the team back together after an extended period of absence so this year we’re taking Yonderville to a whole new level. This will be our biggest production to date and will feature more of our favorite artists than ever before.
We’ve elevated “the Monolith” Mainstage production to include incredible Danley Sound from The Sound Live LLC. This will feature the extremely rare Danley Sound Labs BC218s which defy all logic. These subwoofers are directional without the need for a cardioid configuration or the use of an additional speaker. When deployed each pair of BC218s is 10’ long and 5’ tall and resemble a cat eye. These have significant response all the way down to 22hz and sound amazing. “The Monolith” Mainstage will also feature stunning visuals courtesy of Guerrilla Productions. We’ve worked closely with their team and have a deployment that will surely impress even the most seasoned live music fan. Lights, lasers, video wall and stage decor will culminate into an incredible experience you won’t soon forget.
Rumor has it the 2022 event will feature a never before used sound setup. What can you tell us about that?
That’s right. The Sound Live LLC recently acquired the countries largest touring Danley Sound Labs inventory including 8 of the Monstrous BC218s. Like we described earlier, these are some of the rarest touring subwoofers on the market and are designed to be directional. Danley refers to this as their “Boundary Coupled” or BC Series Design. This helps keep unwanted energy off the back of the cabinet and more where you need it – out front. They have significant output down to 22hz and produce an insane amount of energy per cabinet. For example 8 BC218s are equal to approximately 32+ single 18” folded horn cabinets. With tremendous output and no need for a cardioid deployment these make for a relatively quick and easy setup for massive crowds. These are especially good for venues with neighbors close by, when directivity really counts. One of the best attributes about the BCs are the drivers. They use 18s so the kicks are real punchy. The massive cabinet volume and proprietary design help with low end extension. Essentially you have the best of both worlds.
What is Yonderville most excited for about its 2022 lineup?
Thats a tough question, It’s all fire. The DDD Showcase on Sunday w/ the likes of Isded, Coltcuts, Mesck, Hypho, Distinct Motive & Truth leading into a set by Liquid Stranger cannot be ignored.
Friday and Saturday have incredible blocks of sound including sets from Lab Group, Of The Trees, Yheti, Esseks, kLL sMTH and Wreckno. We’re particularly excited for the legend that is Joe Nice to close out the Temple Stage on the last night. Joe closed the festival out in our inaugural year 2017 so we’re coming full circle with this one.
Abelation, Black Carl!, Bricksquash, Jason Leech, OAKK, ONHell, Secret Recipe, Templo, Tsimba, Canvas, Chmura and UJUU all have debut sets this year so we’re pumped for those. Seeing Tiedye Ky return along w/ a set from 5AM + Trio always makes us happy. The Thursday preparty w/ the Undergrowth feat: Kirby Bright, Zeplinn, Cutrugs and Makak is definitely worth checking out as well.
What our Yonderville’s goals for 2022 and beyond?
This year the goal is to scale the festival and provide an incredible experience. We have lots of ideas and things we’d love to accomplish with the festival so growing the attendance is an important part. It’s always been our mission to inspire and make a positive impact beyond a great experience so starting initiatives like the one Excision recently launched is on our list of things to do. Non-profits such as Hungry for Live music, which helps to put musical instruments in the hands of underprivileged children, also inspire us to one day be able to give the gift of music.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE YONDERVILLE INFO & TICKETS
Recent Comments