Preview: Submerge Festival

Primed for immersion this month, Submerge is a brand new, hybrid arts and music festival bringing a mix of cutting-edge live performance, audiovisual art and electronic music to Bristol – and featuring local artists and musicians alongside international artists from all around the world. Here’s artistic director Mike Pony to tell us more.

What is Submerge?
Submerge spans eight events, each designed to give audiences a visceral and immersive art experience. The festival is the first of its kind in Bristol, with each event presenting a unique mix of musicians and artists who wouldn’t normally be shown together. It features everything from distorted electronica, experimental music, international performance, digital and audiovisual art to DJs playing underground dance music, woozy house and hypnotic techno. We also have a range of unusual venues, from an 18th-century church to a former Coroner’s Court and Mortuary, via the unexplored vaults beneath Colston Hall.

Submerge Festival 2016: Fathoms (Teaser) from Unstabled Live on Vimeo.

How did the festival come into being?
Submerge Festival was born from a desire to bring Bristol audiences exceptional international artists and musicians who aren’t often seen in the south-west. It’s also a development of ideas I have been experimenting with, around the merging of performance art and music. We want to create shared immersive experiences for diverse audiences.
I’ve been running mixed club and performance events for the past five years, but the idea for Submerge crystallised when I produced The Storm, a hybrid arts and music event for In Between Time Festival. This event brought together clubbing and performance art with a laser light show for 1,400 people. It seemed like a natural progression to aim higher and develop these ideas, so I set off on a mission to create a new hybrid festival for Bristol.

Pick out some highlights for us…
Dive is an immersive audiovisual performance of The Well (main pic) by Koreless (Young Turks) with laser mirrors, projection, strobe lights and smoke by artist Emmanuel Biard. In Ghosts, French performance artist Olivier de Sagazan builds layer upon layer of clay and paint onto his face and body to become “an animalistic human”. And for The Ascent, producers Rrose (EAUX) and Octo Octa (100% SILK / Running Back) deliver headline DJ sets of dark electronic dance music, hypnotic techno and woozy house.

Is there a common thread tying together Submerge’s events?
The whole festival and the events within it represent a journey. There’s a narrative that audiences can follow. On day one you Dive in and head Into The Deep; on Day Two you find yourself amongst Ghosts before finding The Lost City. At The Ascent you return to the surface (or perhaps ascend higher) to discover on Sunday that you still Exist – but at what cost? Audiences can dip their toes in at one of the events, or take the plunge and follow the whole journey. For those brave souls who do so, the experience should be nourishing and visceral.

What impact do you hope to have on Bristol’s cultural landscape?
We’re welcoming artists from France, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Congo and the USA to Bristol. The festival also has a strong contingent of amazing local and national talent. We have invited local live electronic music night Chk One to present a ‘best of the West’ lineup at our event Into The Deep at The Loco Klub. Our festival launch featured a performance by Bristol Syncro, the local synchronised swimming team, at Bristol South Swimming Pool – a really fun opportunity to engage with the local community. I hope that Submerge can integrate further into the fabric of the city and create even more opportunities to present local talent alongside international artists.

Which existing festivals/events have fed into Submerge’s DNA?
I’ve since been really inspired by international festivals like Dark Mofo and Unsound. Both present a hybrid mix of performance and music and are highly respected for their uncompromising vision. Local legends Simple Things and Mayfest have been really supportive – without their support and that of Watershed, Crack magazine, Colston Hall and Theatre Bristol, we wouldn’t exist.

How hopeful are you of reaching the right audiences here in Bristol?
I have an exceptional team helping me deliver Submerge, and we are also relying on friends and supporters to get the message out via Twitter (@submergefest) and Facebook. It’s important that the festival reaches people who wouldn’t normally experience the kind of arts we have programmed. Submerge Festival is for everyone, and that’s why it’s perfect for Bristol, a city which values art and culture.

Submerge Festival takes place at various venues from November 18-20. For more information, visit www.submergefestival.co.uk

Main photo by Aoife McGuinness

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