FACE THE MUSIC

SIFF throws a rock party strangely absent of film

By Annette Boe

Viva Voce

On June 14, Neumos hosted a celebration of SIFF’s Face the Music program. Nancy Kennedy of SIFF and Rachel White of the Mayor’s Office of Film & Music introduced the show. They highlighted organizations supporting the intersection of film and music: RealNetworks with its subdivisions Film.com and Rhapsody.com; the Mayor’s Office of Film & Music through locating musical venues and offering filmmaking incentives; and Bumbershoot by hosting SIFF with its One Reel short films festival.

Seattle-based indie rock band, Siberian, kicked off the celebration with a few songs from their current EP Hey Celestial! and some new ones from their record coming out in September. They added an eclectic fifth member, Adam, on keyboard, tambourine, guitar, and shaker. Siberian sent us adrift to sea with their pounding, pulsating rhythms yet lulling vocals.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, also of Seattle fame, came on next. They recently returned from a three-and-a-half month tour for their latest record Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul. Many of their recent songs expand their soulful twang with newfound layers of ethereal vocals, psychedelic sounds, and driving beats.

Viva Voce, of Portland, finished off the night with a full set and two encores—many dark yet poppy songs from their latest album Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. Kevin and Anita rocked it out under a bright flashing double V helix, disco ball and clouds of dry ice. They’ll be recording a new album over the next month or so and will return for the Capitol Hill Block Party.

Peter Lucas, a programmer for SIFF, answered a few questions after the party:

What was the purpose of the event?
This is our annual party celebrating the Face The Music program and showcasing Northwest music. The festival includes many parties for films and special sections, with the purpose of giving people a chance to hang out, talk, connect, relax. This particular party is an especially exciting SIFF event because it brings together participating filmmakers, musicians and festival goers, and because it centers on the core of the Face The Music program—great music! It brings the film festival into a music club. When we started the program three years ago, it was really important to us to always include live music performance events alongside the music films and panel discussions.

How does SIFF see its role in the music scene?
In the past 5 years, the festival has been making strides to acknowledge and include Seattle’s music community more, and to bring together music and film folks. Obviously, the creation of the annual Face The Music program was a big step in that direction. Many musicians, composers and local music venues have really jumped at the chance to become involved. We’ve been commissioning musicians to score films, and putting national and local musicians and filmmakers together in projects and discussions. There’s a real magic that has been happening, and audiences seem to love these things. SIFF isn’t trying to become a music festival per se, but music is such a big part of film, and this town and the whole Pacific Northwest is full of great musicians and tons of music enthusiasts. We’re interested in exploring the various intersections of music and film, and the creative dialogue between the art forms and artists.

Any plans of SIFF evolving in incorporating film into music events?
We are working to expand the live music with film aspect of the program, but not necessarily with the party. This event is more about the reality—the people performing and attending.