Wilco excited to host their own festival in Massachusetts

Over the past few summers, Chicago-based rockers Wilco have put on some great shows at unique Massachusetts venues including LeLacheur Park in Lowell and Tanglewood in Lenox. This weekend, they’ll raise the bar by hosting their very own three-day festival on the grounds of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams.

Dubbed the “Solid Sound Festival”, the event will feature a range of Wilco-related acts: from bands they just like or have worked with to each of the members’ side projects and of course a headlining set of their own on Saturday night. However, there is much more than music for festival attendees to find this weekend at MoCA with Solid Sound also boasting a wide array of various art forms, exhibitions and demonstrations to see. Festival attendees will also have full access to the entire MASS MoCA campus, which incorporates 150,000 square feet of galleries.

With so much going on, we recently caught up with Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen (who will also perform with his band Pronto) to learn more about the Solid Sound Festival.

Boston Music Spotlight (BMS): How did the festival come about?

Mikael Jorgensen (MJ) : Last summer we played a slew of little league baseball fields on the east coast and, from my understanding, it was wildly popular with the fans. There were many ways to see the show: you could get right up to the front of the stage, sit on a blanket on the lawn, or grab some seats in the bleachers. It sounded great from nearly every vantage point, and it was small enough that there was still a connection between the band & the fans.

We brought out some friends out on these shows – Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band played a most of them and Yo La Tengo were with us in Brooklyn. With these great bands on the bill, it seemed like a micro-festival, so the idea to do a larger, stationary festival grew out of that experience.

Jeff proposed the idea to curate the festival with our favorite bands, comics, artists, & films and we all got to work sending emails, texts and making phone calls to see who was available. The result is this righteous hootenanny we have planned for folks this weekend.

BMS: I saw an interview with Spin where Jeff said he wasn’t a big fan of the big festivals like Coachella, Bonnaroo, etc. Was it a conscious decision to get behind something like this where you guys could control the terms and keep how you want it?

MJ : Absolutely. We’ve had some not-so-ideal festival experiences in the past, for example, having to play at the same time as a very-loud-rock-band on another stage 1000 yards away. It’s possible that some of our nuance might get lost in between the sludgy guitar pummel and the hollering of the very-loud-rock-band while the sunburnt and recently-bearded sway drunkenly in the thick haze of festival smog. I’ve seen giant pools of pee in a field after the port-o-lets finally succumb to the abuses and rigors of two weeks of relieving beer soaked bladders. I’ve seen an arm, thick with accumulated festival bracelets from wrist to elbow, achingly raised like Liberty in the famous Delacroix painting (minus the boobs).

With our own festival, we call the shots and make the schedules, and choose where to hold it. I thought that it would be great if there weren’t stinking pools of pee at our festival.

BMS: Can you explain the process of trying to find a venue and why the Mass MoCA in North Adams was ultimately selected?

MJ : I have to say that I am not 100% on how the selection process went down, but I am, however, 100% thrilled that it’s happening at Mass MoCA, but I haven’t been there yet. Based on the photos, it looks like the Willy-Wonka (the 1971 Mel Stuart version) factory of contemporary art, and this, is a very good thing: the blending of art, candy and rock & roll. It looks like the perfect setting for our fans to come get their faces melted – not in a Raiders Of The Lost Ark way, but more in an R. Crumb kind of way.

BMS: Was the added element of having a festival directly linked to an arts museum and the other arts related events (films, etc) an extra incentive?

MJ: Absolutely. Mass MoCA has a firm, respected, reputation in the contemporary art community and it’s an ideal spot to put on a festival like this. It’s got a theater for performance & film, multiple courtyards for stages, concession stands, etc.

BMS: The band has a great history in New England and has played a variety of unique shows in the region over the past few years from Tanglewood to LeLacheur Park, etc. What’s the band’s affection for playing these type of venues and how would you describe your fan base in New England?

MJ : They’re animals! I have hired three huge dudes to protect me from your wily peoples during the festival. It’s all I can do to keep from getting my clothes ripped from my body at the grocery store, or discover that locks of my hair are missing after going to see a movie… I’m just not safe in New England!

New Englanders are always a fantastic audience to play to. From Boston to Worcester to Tanglewood, the energy is always great, and so we’re counting on you all [this] weekend, don’t let us down!

BMS: Everyone in the band has something going on outside of Wilco this weekend. Is it neat taking stock of/and witnessing what the guys are doing outside of Wilco?

MJ : I’m really excited to hear what the other guys have been cooking up for the festival. It should prove to be a diverse collection of music to be sure.

I’ve been working hard rehearsing Pronto, here in Brooklyn in preparation for our show, which just so happens to be at 8:00pm at the (air conditioned, indoor) Hunter Theater on Friday the 13th. (Don’t be late or this dude in a hockey mask will emerge from the river with a gas powered chainsaw which is somehow already running, and… oh forget it…)

BMS: Can we expect any crossover from other Wilco members into each other’s project’s this weekend? Any guest performances or surprises planned?

MJ: I had planned for Ralf Hutter (Kraftwerk) to come sit in on the Pronto set, but I have yet to hear back from his people at KlingKlang. It’s looking like I’ll have to settle for uncomfortable silence with Todd Barry in the van on the way back to the hotel.

BMS: Why should fans attend Solid Sound and is there anything else you want to let fans know about this weekend?

MJ: First of all, it’s only $91 for three-days of music, comedy, & art, which works out to be exactly 3¢ per note  – that value speaks for itself. Mavis Staples? I’d pay $91 just to see Mavis Staples.

Secondly, Cassandra C. Jones is showing video. She collects photos from the internet and then animates them in the computer. It’s dazzling stuff and will be in the B8 gallery on the second floor. www.cassandrac.net (full disclosure – we are married, sorry ladies!)

Lastly, Glenn Kotche is constructing an interactive prepared drum-head installation, while Nels Cline is hooking up some interactive guitar pedal stations that will allow you to twizzle the knobs and make crazy sounds – all without a guitar!

Hope to see some of you out there [this] weekend.