Nearly 130 bands and solo artists from around the world performed last month in the desert at the all-ages Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio. The lineup included legends (Prince, Kraftwerk, Roger Waters) and hot young acts (M.I.A., Santogold, MGMT).
Today through Monday, nearly 35 bands and solo artists will perform in the desert at the all-ages TeleMagica Music & Arts Festival in Jacumba. While one of the bands (Suishou No Fine) is from Japan, and another (The Savalas) is from Italy, most are from California and nearby states. The lineup also includes an array of visual and performance artists, the 11-piece Mount Righteous Marching Band from Port Arthur, Texas, and such San Diego-based musicians as Toni Pope, Infinite Pink Razor, The Vaginals, Avitia, DJ David X, Tribe of Colors and DarZana.
In contrast with Coachella, none of the acts scheduled for this weekend's fifth annual edition of TeleMagica are legends or high-visibility buzz acts. And that, notes TeleMagica co-founder Kirk Roberts, is precisely the point.
“How do bands who don't play at Coachella get exposure?” he asked. “We provide them with a platform.”
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Fifth annual TeleMagica Music & Arts Festival
When: Today through Monday
Where: Railroad Street, off Old Highway 80, Jacumba
Tickets: $20 per day; $60 for 5-day pass
Phone: (619) 766-9227
Online: telemagica.com
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Martin Stamper, the singer and guitarist for New Mexico “sidewalk-rock” band Fast Heart Mart, agreed.
“This festival is like a pilgrimage for me,” said Stamper, 23, whose band has played at all four previous TeleMagica festivals and returns this weekend. It's the most intimate sort of festival you'll come across that hasn't been ruined yet. They haven't sold out to corporate sponsors.”
A labor of love, TeleMagica is also something – as Sly & The Family Stone might put it – a family affair.
Roberts, 58, credits his wife, Nurit, 47, for scheduling all the performance times at the mostly outdoor music and arts marathon. Their son, Graham, 21, is in charge of filming each year's festival (you can watch footage at myspace.com/telemagica).
Daughter Boe, 24, oversees the festival's Stellar Lounge, a railroad dining car that serves as one of the event's colorful “environments.” And son Luke, 18, is in charge of the “research vessel,” a railway caboose that hosts music and art. The festival is presented under the auspices of the Roberts' multi-genre Institute of Perception.
“One of my favorite things about TeleMagica is that we have so many unsigned bands performing so many styles of music,” said Graham, a film student in Pasadena. “Plus, you can relax in the open desert without worrying about anything and enjoy the setting and the nearby hot springs. It's really refreshing.”
The Roberts hope to attract 1,000 attendees this year, not counting the 400 or so performers.
Ticketholders can camp for free on an adjacent 20-acre site. The festival culminates Sunday night with “Breaking Through – the Mirror of Self-Reflection to Dream the New World,” an opera-cum-processional.
“We'll also have different workshops, including one for fire-dancing and one for dream-navigation,” said Nurit Roberts, who will perform with her husband as part of the neo-vaudeville duo All Orange. “Our goals are to help people get more in touch with nature and to provide a stage for bands that are fresh and out of the mainstream. We want to widen people's perceptual range.”
