This year marks the 26th year that the Noise Pop Festival debuted at The Kennel Club (now The Independent). Since then, it’s grown to become one of the primary tastemaking music festivals in the world! Past performers that have broken shortly after their Noise Pop debut have included The White Stripes, Death Cab for Cutie, Tash Sultana, Vince Staples, and many, many more. Spinning Platters recently got to speak to Niki Bodemann, one of the bookers of the festival to talk about what it takes to make a week of music that even frustrates the most decisive music fan.
Festival badges, single show tickets, and a full schedule can be found here!
Spinning Platters: How long have you been booking for Noise Pop?
Niki Bodemann: So, I have been a full-time talent buyer at Noise Pop for like a year and three months now. Then before that, I was an assistant talent buyer. So, I would like help with the support bookings like all the openers on our shows and stuff um, but like booking actual headliners and stuff. Uh, it’s been a little over a year, yeah.
SP: How do you determine a solid opener for a show?
NB: This year, our junior talent buyer James, he did most of the–the, um, support bookings for the festival um, but there’s a lot of factors that sort of go into booking and over, obviously the music has to match with the headliners it doesn’t have to be the same genre but it sort of has to be the same um, crowd who would go to see it I guess.
Then also if they’re going to have like any new music out or um, anything out that would uh, get people to come that’s– that’s a great ah, indicator um, and then also like previous shows that they’ve played or even if they’ve headlined the show that’s still um, great for an opener. Um, yeah, and we sort of find them through a lot of different ways. Um, James and I Ihink are, are sort of involved in the local music community and sort of know, um, you know new acts um, yeah.
SP: Have you ever like, took, took somebody that didn’t initially seem right that felt right to you and like succeeded in making a weird pairing that worked?
NB: Yeah, yeah, um, we’ve definitely done that and I think we want to do that more um, like on this actually uh, was sort of the bands request, but we have a show during Noise Pop festival and the headliner is Crumb. And they’re sort of like Indie Pop bedroom, pop um, and they requested that the other acts that are opening for them not have a similar sound to them. Like they wanted a Hip Hop artist, they wanted possibly like an electronic artist um, and– so, yeah, we booked openers that sort of um, fit their um, request and the show’s like about to sell out um, and I think, yeah that’s like a mix of, of the sort of diverse openers that we have and just you know Crumb, um, Crumb being the headliners as well. Um, but yeah, there’s, there’s definitely been times where we sort of like to mix genres up ’cause um, yeah I think it’s boring if, if, if all the bands on the bill sort of sound the same.
SP: Have you ever had an impossible band to pair?
NB: We have Charlotte Lawrence headlining Swedish American Hall during the festival. She’s an up and coming artist in the pop/electronic world, so not a traditional Noise Pop artist. We initially didn’t know who to book as support for her since this show was a little left-field for us.
However, Australian pop singer-songwriter Meg Mac was looking for dates during the festival, and we thought it was a great match so we booked her as main support. We also had a local DJ reach out to us to ask if he could DJ the show since he was a fan of Charlotte’s, so he’s on the show as the opener.
Luckily, this isn’t an obstacle we run into often since we have a great pool of eclectic local acts in the Bay Area to choose from.
SP: Um, so, so this year it seems like there’s been a very conscious decision to have like a balance of like the classic Noise Pop with like, the more with modern kind of younger sounds.
NB: Yes.
SP: Um, yeah, have– I guess so, yeah, well there’s a question there that’s like right at the tip of my brain.
NB: Yes.
SP: How did you decide like which of the, the older Noise Pop acts to kind of bring through?
NB: So, um, the talent buying team is me and Kevin (Arnold), who is the founder of Noise Pop. And then there is James who you know is the junior talne buyer who’s a little bit younger than me and then um, Diane who’s been in the industry for a long time, she actually works from New York, but Kevin and Diane definitely move towards the more classic Noise Pop, well um, James and I are definitely booking the new acts. I think it’s it’s a combination of just like our music space, um that sort of got us to where we at. Like, I really love Indie Rock but I also love, Pop music and electronic, and Hip Hop. So, that’s why you’ll see like Princess Nokia on the lineup next to, you know Teenage Fanclub.
SP: Yeah, um, have you ever gotten, have you gotten pushed back for the per booking bands that don’t actually sound like Noisy Pop music.
NB: Yes, definitely, uh, I think people have noticed like you were saying over the past couple of years that we’ve, um, dealt more you know stray farther away from like Indie Rock even though that’s still, still like the basis of what we book.
SP: Mm-hmm.
NB: I don’t think people are expecting that we specifically book like Noise Pop the genre. Um, but yeah, I think I think people have noticed that we’ve, we’ve strained a little from what we normally book but I don’t think it’s been a bad thing. I think people have generally been um, it’s been a positive sort of um, reception.
SP: So, has anybody been confused by the fact that you booked a different band called Crumb in 1999?
NB: [laughter] Yes, actually, no– no one that has like bought a ticket or anything but, uh, uh, Jordan Kurland who’s a partner at Noise Pop he also runs Brillant Corners Management and they manage like Death Cab for Cutie and like Bob Mould and stuff who’s also on the lineup. Um, he actually managed Crumb in the 90s and he was like “Wait, what, Crumb is on the lineup?”
SP: Yes [laughs].
NB: And we had to let him know that it was not the 90s emo Crumb, but the new bedroom pop Crumb [laughs].
SP: [laughs] Yeah, I– I– I– I– I was thrown off by that one. It’s like, “Oh, they got Crumb back together.”
NB: Oh yeah.
SP: Then I saw the picture and went, “Those people look a little young!”
NB: Yeah, they’re definitely like in college. Yeah, yeah.
SP: How much of a input do you have in Treasure Island?
NB: So, Noise Pop and Another Planet both co-present Treasure Island. We sort of split up the work that we do since we’ve both co-presented. We discuss the line-up, um and everything together and, like it’s not one person’s decision who’s the headliners or any of that it’s sort of a a team effort, yeah.
SP: Yeah, so when does the work start like are you booking Noise Pop and Treasure Island simultaneously or is there like a point where like your working at Noise Pop then you stop, then you transition to Treasure Island?
NB: No, it all blends in together which is really fun [laughs].
SP: Mm-hmm.
NB: And not, and just yeah, it’s a lot. Um, uh, Noise Pop Festival we probably started booking, it’s February, probably last summer. Yeah, that’s usually when we would start booking it is the summer before which is actually sometimes too late. Um, and yeah we sort of just book everything at– at once, um which can be uh, uh definitely overwhelming, but it’s the only way to sort of make it work with the time we have and all the things we have going on.
SP: How do you feel about the new venue now that you’ve been there for a year?
NB: Oh my God! Uh, Treasure Island?
SP: Yes.
NB: Oh, its amazing. Like, I– uh, were you there? Um.
SP: Yeah, some of the best pictures I’ve ever taken of a music festival.
NB: Oh my God! Yeah, yeah. I like just got some film pictures back, and I have one of like the sunset, and like the bay and the city and the bridge everything. That’s one of my favorite pictures ever. The location is is amazing, I think might like it better than the actual Treasure Island. Um, I just the weather is so much better, um, I think I– I like how we still you know, it still feels like a very intimate festival, it almost feels like you’re not at a festival.
SP: Excellent. Alright. Um, so what are you most excited about to jump back to Noise Pop about seeing this year?
NB: Okay. Um, there’s a lot. Um, Princess Nokia I think is going to be amazing, um really excited to see her ’cause I’ve surprisingly never seen her before. Illuminati Hotties and Club Night, uh co-headline show at Starline Social Club is gonna be really great. Club Night has an album coming out in April, going to play some new stuff from that. I think they’re one of the most exciting local bands right now, um and the Illuminati Hotties are also great. They came out with an, an album last year on Full Fans Around Tiny Engines which is a label that I love.
I’m really excited for Uffie at The Independent I think that one’s gonna be really fun, um just like a dance party. I think The Independents like the perfect place for it. She’s coming out with a new EP right before the festival, um, which is super exciting since she hasn’t released anything in like years besides like being on some features. Um, and who else? Oh, I’m excited for Vagabon at Swedish American Hall. We’ve had her a couple of times and shes just so great live like her voice is just so amazing. Um, one more, uh, I am, oh actually Crumb [laughs] really excited for Crumb at Starline, I’ve never seen them before either andthey’re great.
SP: Yeah. So, so I remember seeing Uffie at South by South West like ten years ago I think it was.
NB: Oh my gosh.
SP: And I thought it was one of the most fun sets and all of the friends that I was with were deeply, deeply offended by it.
NB: Well, that you loved it or that they didn’t like it?
SP: They seemed really bothered by her for some reason.
NB: Oh, interesting.
SP: Yeah, like I was surprised by how different our experience was standing right next to each other.
NB: Huh. Yeah, that’s weird. I mean she’s just really fun like– [laughs.]
SP: Yeah, like it’s– it’s a hard one to be like “I don’t know”, but yeah.
NB: Yeah, I– I find that some people are just like incredibly offended by pop music for some reason, that they just can’t like see the, the way in it, I don’t know. I’m not sure why.
SP: Yeah. There, there, there definitely is like a anti-pop sentiment.
NB: Yeah.
SP: Yeah. I mean, II’m so happy that you guys kind of helped elevate Carly Rae Jepsen a few years back.
NB: Oh my gosh. Yeah, that’s who I was just going to mention. She’s– she’s my fave [laughs].
SP: She, she–
NB: She’s everything.
SP: She’s pretty high up on my favorite list too.
NB: Same. I– I also saw at uh, at The Independent, the night before Outside Lands. That’s one of my favorite shows from last year, also just a huge dance party.
SP: Yeah, that was one of favorite shows from last year too!
NB: Oh, you were there?
SP: Yeah, a friend of mine went to both Carly Rae Jepsen and Beck the night before, and the Beck crowd was so dead. It was packed but packed with like people not really paying attention and kind of playing on their phone.
NB: Yes.
SP: And being like half interested and he told me like he was almost going to sell his Carly Rae Jepsen ticket ’cause he just assumed that that’s what Outside Lands likes after shows were like.
NB: Oh, yeah.
SP: And– and like I persuaded him to stay and he said, “Yeah, that was a that was a good move.” Like the difference between crowds were night and day.
NB: Yeah. Right, yeah definitely the genre of music I guess that sort of effects uh how the crowd is going to be, I can totally see that with Beck.
SP: Yeah, yeah so Beck is like something where people think they need to see him.
NB: Yeah [laughs].
SP: Where as with Carly Rae Jepsen, people pretty much only would go because they want to.
NB: Yes, because we’re like number one things yeah.
