Hyperion Homegrown Music and Arts Festival August 13-15, 2015 Review

Hyperion Homegrown Music and Arts Festival August 13-15, 2015 Review

By Amanda Dibiaso

As a first time attendee of Hyperion Music and Arts Festival, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect as I pulled into Stable Studios in Spencer, Ind. I had a feeling I was in for an unforgettable experience, and Hyperion certainly did not disappoint.

I’d heard my friends talk about the incredible experiences they’d had at Hyperion in 2012 and 2013.

From what I’d experienced of his work in the past, I figured festival Co-Founder/Creative Director Alex “Herm” Schneider, a very skilled lighting designer, would take the sensory experiences to a new level.

I’d heard how this year’s event had come to be. How after taking a year off in 2014,  the festival’s organizers received an overwhelming amount of requests to bring Hyperion back, prompting the birth of Hyperion HomeGrown – a festival that was basically for the people, by the people.

Through an IndieGoGo campaign festival organizers started earlier this year, Hyperion supporters stepped up and donated more than $14,000 to make the event happen – exceeding the $10,000 goal.

The HomeGrown aspect of the festival was evident, even to me, someone who hadn’t been to Hyperion in the past or been part of making this year’s event happen. The sense of community, of family, was felt throughout the weekend. It was easy to see that this event truly meant something to everyone there – from the staff and artists to the volunteers and attendees.

I unfortunately was not able to make it for the Thursday pre-party, which included sets by Turkuaz, Shy Guy Says, Hyryder and Nashawtl. But the fact that I didn’t arrive until Friday makes the magnitude of my Hyperion experience even more impressive. In just 2 short days I got to see several amazing bands and DJs perform, watch as so much beautiful art was created, make many new friends, and more.

While I could go on for pages about the festival…the people, the music, the art…everything that made Hyperion the exceptionally awesome time it was…I decided to condense my experience into the following list of my top 10 favorite things about Hyperion HomeGrown (in no particular order):

1. The property: The very first thing I noticed when I arrived at Hyperion was the incredible venue. Between the pond, the property’s gorgeous wooded paths and the impressive barn stage, Stable Studios is by far one of my favorite festivals venues to date. The natural beauty of the property, combined with the visual aesthetics added by the staff and artists, made for an awe-inspiring, one-of-a-kind festival experience.

2. The Helious (inflatable clam) Stage: You read that right… inflatable clam. Over the years I’ve seen stages of all shapes and sizes, but Hyperion is the first place I’ve ever seen anything like the giant inflatable clam that made up the Helious stage. While it was quite a site all by itself, at night it truly came alive with some seriously high-quality lighting. On Saturday Projectionist Dustin Klein (owner of VIDEOmetry) had more than 20 of the festival’s artists participate in a coloring book project where they created pieces of art on outlines of the clam that he then projected onto the stage with the help of Jeff Lowes Liquid Lights. I’d never seen anything like it before, it was truly an amazing visual experience!

3. Getting funky with Bernie Worrell: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bernie Worrell, a legendary keyboardist who was a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and has played with bands like the Talking Heads, took the stage with the ever-evolving Joe Marcinek Band Friday, putting on an epic performance that included a cover of the Talking Heads song “Burning Down the House.”

4. That Hoosier hospitality: I’d heard the term “Hoosier hospitality” before, but I can’t say that I’ve ever had a chance to experience exactly how welcoming Indiana can be. Throughout the weekend, everyone from the staff to the local attendees themselves showed nothing but respect, care and love for everyone there. In terms of the festival as whole, I was very impressed by how well organizers treated staff, visual artists, media, etc. and the respect and appreciation that was shown to everyone involved.

5. Octopus Island: One of my favorite features of the property had to be the gorgeous pond near the barn stage. In particular, the little island in the center of the pond, which came to be known as “Octopus Island” due to the giant octopus sculpture that Cincinnati/NKY artists Vince Dibiaso and Logan Walden built on the 10 foot piece of land. I was told that the sculpture on the island, pretty much the centerpiece of the festival, has changed each year of the festival. This year’s sculpture was certainly impressive, and it’s exciting to imagine what kind of incredible pieces of art that island will feature in the future.

6. The visuals: As I mentioned earlier, I expected the visual aspect of Hyperion to be top-notch, but the near sensory overload I experienced was something I couldn’t have imagined prior to seeing it. From the lights highlighting the pond/Octopus Island and LED pieces by Hoops of Creation lighting up the woods to the lights, projection mapping, etc. at each of the stages, there was no shortage of breath-taking visual displays throughout the weekend.

7. The best fireworks display I’ve seen all summer: One of the biggest surprises of the weekend was a last minute fireworks display that was added to the festivities Saturday night. For what had to be close to 30 minutes, festival-goers gathered around the pond to watch quite an impressive show provided by Shaun Perrill and the Stable Studios family. The fireworks reflecting in the pond below, combined with the pleasant surprise of Jaik Willis putting on a one-man-band show from Octopus Island, made it by far the best fireworks display I’ve seen all summer. Even though it was added last minute, I think the fireworks display ended up being the cherry on top of an already incredible weekend.

8. 2 sets of UV Hippo: Probably one of the festival’s biggest draws musically was the two full sets played by Ultraviolet Hippopotamus. UV Hippo hadn’t played together since late last year and Hyperion was their only show in 2015, making it a very big deal for fans of the Michigan-based 5 piece band. And needless to say they did not disappoint. On Friday they played two sets (totaling 3 hours) on the Apollo stage and kept the crowd moving the entire time playing old favorites and two new originals they’d never played out before. And UV Hippo wasn’t the only reunited band that took the stage at Hyperion. On Saturday, Indiana-based Catch Curtis played a reunion show featuring Adam Hoffman of Eumatik and Benchwood Wyse on drums.

9. A morning with Kaleidoscope Jukebox: Kaleidoscope Jukebox, playing an awe-inspiring set of his personal old school vinyl as the sun rose Saturday morning…do I even need to say any more than that?

10. Late night dance parties: Both Friday and Saturday night the Hyperion stage was transformed into one hell of a dance party with Michal Menert and Digital Tape Machine throwing down on Friday and Turbo Suit and TAUK keeping it going on Saturday. The phenomenal performances put on by all the musicians involved, combined with first-rate lighting that really brought the barn to life, made for one hell of a party.

These highlights, combined with countless other amazing moments, made for quite an unforgettable weekend, and not just for me. Everyone I talked to while packing up to leave on Sunday, and everything I’ve seen and heard about Hyperion since, has been nothing but positive.

After the festival came to a close I had the opportunity to talk to Herm, who co-founded Hyperion with partners Sara Elifritz and Brent Nixon, about how well the event went.

“This festival, our “HomeGrown” festival, was a success because of each and every person that made it a point to get involved and make this thing happen,” Herm said. “From our amazing office staff, production crew, Stable Studios staff and family, sponsors, bands, installation artists, graphic artists, painters, photographers, videographers, green team, kitchen staff, volunteers and vendors to the fans themselves, we were truly able to create a beautiful event filled with unforgettable moments.”

Unforgettable it was. For the weekend, I and hundreds of others found a home away from home at Stable Studios. For the weekend, we were a family, there to share in an experience unlike any other.

I was sad to see the weekend come to an end (though I must say,  dancing with friends to some amazing bluegrass music by the New Old Cavalry was the perfect music to close out the fest) but after talking to Herm I’m happy to say that the future of Hyperion seems bright.

“At this point we have talked it out a little bit and are hoping for a Hyperion 2016,” Herm said. “That being said, we might even host another one or two more events next year.”

Personally, I will definitely be on lookout for those events, and can’t wait to see some friendly faces there!