Scapescape 2013 was one of the first shows I went to when I moved to Baltimore. Trudging through the nauseating heat of late summer and the irritating travel detours (thanks Grand Prix), the festival was unlike anything else I’d ever seen. Stumbling over rocks in the Ynot Lot with a Natty Boh in hand, as Eze Jackson spun the truth, my decision to move to this city was solidified. The sense of community across this awesomely affordable DIY festival — from the venues to the artists — kicked ass. But kicking so much ass took its toll on the festival’s organizers. Despite being slammed with pre-festival mayhem, co-organizer Adam Smith took the time to divvy out some details on Scapescape’s hiatus and what we can expect this year.
“2013 was our biggest show, and we were all really invested in making it top our previous two events,” Adam Smith, co-organizer of Scapescape remembers. “I think we all pushed ourselves a little too hard and needed a break from the whole process.” As a few other festivals and events were popping up in 2014, the organizers took the opportunity for a much needed hiatus. “It was nice to not think about Scapescape every day for 8 months out of the year. Kevin (Blackistone, co-organizer) and Kris (Hanrahan, co-organizer) and I were able to pick it up this year with fresh eyes and ears.”
Scapescape 2013 – Photo by Nick Hughes
Scapescape returns today for its 4th incarnation — refreshed and just as inspired. Skimming a day off the docket, the festival’s lineup is overloaded with oldies and newbies alike, all the while reflecting the evolving music scene Baltimore has to offer. “Baltimore music has naturally changed and grown a bit and Scapescape IV is inherently different for it,” Smith contemplates.
Setting out on a quest to create yet another kickass Scapescape in some of Station North’s fav spaces provided a new slew of obstacles. “The biggest challenge has been wrangling our permits,” Smith explains. “The rules changed this year and instead of submitting an application, the city just makes you go on a scavenger hunt, where you’re running around retrieving wizard’s certifications and signatures from elusive administrative balrogs.”
Thankfully, the Scapescape crew managed to overcome those bureaucratic obstacles, and aims to continue bringing Baltimore music together. “Ideally, anyone can come to Scapescape and find something that resonates with them as distinctly Baltimore,” Smith promises. “The idea has always been to showcase, as well as we can, the music that’s happening in the city. [And to] have a place where everybody from all over town and beyond can come and relate to some familiar things — and discover a lot of new things.”
Scapescape 2013 – Photo by Nick Hughes
This emphasis on community is perhaps one of Scapescape’s most attractive qualities. “It’s always been about fostering connections and trying to eliminate the ‘disparate’ part [of the music scene] by acknowledging and nurturing the common energy that connects the music, all of the people who are moved by it, and those that create it.”
Scapescape IV sets itself apart from previous years, not just with new acts, but with the many emerging and influential artists that have popped up within the past year and a half. “The pro of having a year off is that there are a bunch of acts that weren’t around in 2013 that have emerged and in fact,” Smith reveals, “the majority of the lineup are Scapescape first-timers.”
Whether it’s first timers or familiar faces, this year’s lineup is beautiful. “We’re actually legitimately excited by every act that we booked. No apologies if that sounds overly diplomatic, it’s just the truth,” Smith says, and I wholeheartedly believe him. “It’s really an incredibly talented and diverse lineup and we think music fans will be happy wherever they end up throughout the show.”
Scapescape 2013 – Photo by Nick Hughes
As for those treacherous rocks in the Ynot Lot? Not a problem this year. “It’s just a much better set up now. We won’t have to be on that lot with a crew of volunteers tomorrow afternoon hucking rocks out of the way, so that’s a win.”
For more info about this year’s festival, click here.
