Promo Spotlight: On heels of Sound Haven’s full 2021 lineup announce, Sacred Hive founder discusses trials of festival life [Interview]
Given how music opens the connection to the soul, artists and their fanbases must represent the body. Promotional companies, then, are the heartbeat of the music industry. These are the local street teams, the social media hustlers, the business negotiators, the backstage bookers, and talent scouters — all working tirelessly at their tiers with management teams, venues, press, and so on to bring fans their favorite music. However, promotional companies often get overlooked by music goers, outshined by big names and line-ups. They don’t much care for the spotlight though, and they definitely don’t do it for the money. They do it all for the love of music.
That’s why CE is proud to present our Promo Spotlight series, where we scour the United States for local promotional companies to shine a light on the people working behind the scenes of music. They are, for all intents and purposes, music’s beating life force.
The wait for Sound Haven’s highly anticipated phase two lineup is over as the festival has finally rolled out the full cast— and it is stacked, to say the least. It was hard to imagine the roster getting any better after the phase one announcement, but the addition of The Widdler, kLL sMTH, Khiva, Somatoast, and more, the festival’s curators at Sacred Hive have raised expectations even higher. Less than two months away, fans have a lot to look forward to at the Southern Tennessee festival.
Sound Haven is an interesting festival in that it is relatively young for having as much success as they’ve enjoyed so far. As anyone in the festival industry will tell you, it is no easy feat throwing a multi-day curated event, no less a successful one. Especially after last year. Conscious Electronic had the chance to chat with the founder and CEO of Sound Haven, Jered Ardry, regarding the journey of the music festival and how it came to be.
CE: We are thrilled to see a lot of our homies and artists alike performing at Sound Haven. It proves there is a deep supportive community within the bass music circles. What was the inspiration behind Sacred Haven?
JA: Sound Haven was a culmination of attending events for several years and feeling the magic that they provided. After a spiritual experience at Okeechobee 2018, I felt that I was compelled to create something unique that would bring people together and provide an out-of-this-world encounter with some of the most talented and upcoming producers that I had been stumbling upon. The community that has flourished around this festival and Sacred Hive is truly amazing. It proves that when people come together to support each other’s projects and passions, we can all win and reach the top together.
CE: What was the greatest challenge in curating this event?
JA: When COVID-19 hit the United States at the beginning of our planning stages for the third year of Sound Haven, I was devastated. Most everyone knows that the third year of a festival will either make it or break it, and I was fully prepared to make an impact in 2020. We tried to figure out ways to hold the event safely for months, but felt that nothing we could come up with was completely foolproof from the virus. We ultimately had to scrap hours and hours of planning 3 separate times to finally land back on our original dates in July. That was definitely a grueling challenge that I will never forget.
CE: What are three things you are grateful for throughout your experience while curating this event?
JA: I am extremely thankful for the amount of support and love the Sacred Hive Community has continued to show me and this movement. There were days throughout 2020 when I considered throwing it all away and switching careers. Being stifled from working with your passions can be extremely exhausting to your soul. Thankfully, friends and family continuously had my back and helped lift me up in times where I was extremely depressed. In contrast, I’m also thankful for the growth that I experienced in those challenging times. They have provided me with the strength to push through almost anything. After throwing 6 consecutive drive-in concerts with a ton of extra rules and precautions, it has made throwing a normal event seem a lot less daunting.
With everything they have in store for the late July event, Sound Haven is sure to be one of the go-to events of the year. You can find tickets for the event here and keep up with updates in the links below.
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Attempting to identify and understand the sonic and cosmic creations that weave their way in and out of our lives. And maybe share a few laughs along the way.
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