Due to the celebration of the 8th Fiesta del Metal next week in Priego de Córdoba, Akiesú Qué Escándalo contacted Jesús Povedano, main promotor of this project.
Hi Jesús, thanks for your attention and now, straight to the point: How's it going with the 8th edition of Fiesta del Metal?
Hi! This edition looks quite good, despite all the new obstacles brought up mainly by the town council. From the organization we notice people are receiving the info about the festival quite well, it seems it will be a good party, and we expect to double the audience we had in the last years.
Ten bands form the line-up this year. Except Astarté, from Cádiz, the rest of them are from the scene in Córdoba. It's clear you don't need to go out to find bands with good quality, do you?
It's very clear. In the years I've been working with the festival, concerts, events and all sort of similar activities related to music, I've met a lot of incredible bands, and not only in Córdoba. It is said that this music is 'a bit dead' over here, and you have to go up north to find good metal and rock. From my point of view it's not like that, the only thing you have to do if you like this kind of music is supporting bands from here, not only go to festivals like Fiesta del Metal, SuaveRock, Choryfest... and other festivals of this kind, but going to any concert in your city or close to it, and supporting our bands, because it's the only way for them to get bigger. It's proven that a public initiative, or a private one from some firm, won't make rock raise, however fans and those of us who enjoy this music can prove there is a lot of quality and many bands here. It is only about being keen to get to know them, and not reject a line-up because "I don't know any of the bands" or "I don't know their songs". In my opinion, where metal is most enjoyed is not in big stages, listening to records or watching videos -it's in these small stages where you enjoy metal, the show, and afterwards you have some beers with the musicians, buy them their records or demos, and finally they'll have the same quality or, in some cases, better than those big bands.
What innovations, comparing to previous years, will we find in this edition?
This edition is very similar to the last year's one: 4€ ticket with a beer, red wine or soft drink, free food for all the people who come to the event and, in the evening, no reason to get out of there: there will be free camp area. All this apart from what Fiesta del Metal has had for years: good bands, music of good quality, incomparable atmosphere between bands and audience and low prices (we all go to enjoy, not to spend our salary).
The date is in the recinto ferial in Priego de Córdoba. We know things are complicated now, but have you received any help from institutions or, on the contrary, have you had to pay the costs?
In previous years we received help to rent the sound gear, publicity and few details about organization. This year they haven't only declined all help (despite not having paid yet part of what they promised last year), but they've even hindered the organization of the event. Youth town councilor, trying to make a good impression, made the organization lose a month's time, when finally decided to not give any support to Fiesta del Metal, which has been celebrated in Priego since 2006, in many occasions without any support. On his own words: "The town council couldn't give anything this year", after long time trying to receive a minimum, and reduce the budget several times. From reliable sources, I know that, despite not being able to give any money, the town council is spending the sum of money destinated to youth summer activities on a pop rock concert -that says everything: the new government doesn't like heavies. As for the rest, this year the organization will try to finance itself with the bar, that will be built by the asociation itself. We have the support from the bands and from Juan Antonio Cuevas from Zero DBS, who is very involved in it and supports Fiesta del Metal since 3 years ago. Now we only need the support from the people who like this, that they come to the event, and that way help pay everything so that Fiesta del Metal remains as it's always been.
As we've said, there are ten bands. There must be a good coordination to make everything work. What time does the festival start? And, do all the bands have the same time on stage?
It's well coordinated, we just hope there won't be many unforseen events and everything turns out the way we expect. Our intention is to open the doors at 13.30, delivery the food after a while and have the first band starting at 14.30. Each band will play an average of 45-50 minutes, having 10 minutes to change between each performance, so that all the shows will last approximately 10-11 hours, and offering food again in the evening so that no one feels hungry when they want to see the rest of the bands.
Tell us a bit about the bands. Do they play a common music genre or have you looked for style variety?
In the last edition there were some bands who were quite more different from others, they were more rock than metal. But this year all the bands play metal, though there's a variety of styles in metal. This year it will be heavier.
Do you have a website for more info about the festival and bands?
Before we had a website, but this year, due to financial problems, we've left the site aside and for the promotion we've created a blog: http://www.fiestadelmetal.blogspot.com/. You can find us on Facebook too, in the page of the association http://www.facebook.com/ElTelonDeAcero, where we constantly update all the info about Fiesta del Metal, as well as other related events.
Thank you for your time, Jesús. From Akiesú, we wish you a big success. Now, feel free if you want to add something else.
We thank Akiesú Qué Escándalo and its people for your support. Remember you're all invited to the festival, and that one of the biggest parts of any concert is the audience, and it's what we need for this edition, get the place crowded, enjoy the bands' music and company, have all of us a great time and bath in beer. Cheers and metal!!! \m/
Interview by Ernesto Hernández
