Catch them while they are young

Minsan Fest to bring live OPM to students, young fans

ORIGINAL PILIPINO MUSIC (OPM) acts The Itchyworms, Mayonnaise, TONEEJAY, SUD, Ebe Dancel, The Ridleys, Zild, Autotelic, Reese Lansangan, Clara Benin, Minaw, and thesunmanager are the 12 headliners gracing the inaugural Minsan Fest stage this May.

Independent events production company Minsan Studio told ����ý in a Zoom interview that the festival is “a culmination of many pay-what-you-can shows and gigs over the past few years,” which targeted the younger crowd.

“We decided to scale up, so that’s why the venue is the Quezon Memorial Circle,” said Minsan Studio head Jason Conanan. “Most elder millennials have the buying power to go to a concert, but they’re not the ones actively posting or talking about the bands. It’s the youth, it’s the kids. This is our way of giving back.”

The summer outdoor festival is scheduled for May 17 from 3 p.m. onwards at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City. It aims to provide “an affordable and inclusive live music experience, designed specifically to be accessible for students and young fans.”

Tickets to the festival come in the form of the minsan pass, an eco-friendly scannable pass that can be either a lanyard or a bag tag, priced at P349 for attendees aged 24 and below and P699 for those aged 25 and above.

Mr. Conanan explained this pricing: “Once these young ones enter the workforce, they’ll continue to support their favorites throughout their careers. This event that allows them to experience a festival of this scale without having to ask their parents for extra money.”

The minsan pass will also serve as a digital contact card that will not only grant entry to the Minsan Fest, but also provide early access to information about the production outfit’s future events, ranging from gigs and podcasts to music training workshops.

Another thing that sets Minsan Fest apart from other music festivals is its egalitarian approach to artist billing. All 12 of the headliners are equals, “recognizing each artist’s unique fanbase and presence.”

Mr. Conanan, who has worked as a sound engineer and editor for various musicians, said that Minsan Studio’s gigs come from the income of their adjacent events production and documentation company, Livecatch.

“Using the resources from that, we buy our own cameras and lights. Then we’re able to do music-related projects like gigs,” he explained. “We can produce them at a low price point because we own a lot of the equipment, and every time we make money, we reinvest.

“We’re on track to make a Minsan Fest feasible, to repeat it year after year,” he added.

Their line of work in documentation also guarantees that performances are recorded in high quality, to be used as a valuable marketing tool for bands to expand their reach.

The Quezon City local government is a partner organizer of Minsan Fest, hence the venue and the eco-friendly passes. Festivalgoers can also expect to find food and beverage vendors at the Circle.

As a music fan himself, Mr. Conanan said that the long-term vision for Minsan Studio is to “start a movement of experience-building centered on the youth.”

“I think the future is bright. There are different festivals out there, but I know and understand the market that I want to give back to. It’s the kid who can’t afford a P3,000 or P5,000 music festival,” he said.

“We can give them an affordable lifelong experience and build up the local music fanbase. Hopefully more people will catch on.”

Tickets to Minsan Fest are available via minsan.studio/festival. — Brontë H. Lacsamana