Melbourne indie boutique festival Sugar Mountain has confirmed the first act for their 2015 lineup and return, following taking a year off for a break and announcing a new partnership with Mushroom Group.
The inaugural Sugar Mountain first took place in April 2011, and has continued to bring an impressive list of indie artists – including Deerhoof, tUnE-yArDs, Shabazz Palaces, Thee Oh Sees, and Julianna Barwick – alongside a strong emphasis on visual arts; including contributions from the likes of Misha Hollenbach, Maya Hayuk, Dylan Martorell, Vincent Moon and Beci Orpin.
For 2015, the first act to be confirmed is none other than Ariel Pink and his seven-piece band, with the remainder of the lineup to be revealed next Tuesday 14th October.
So what should we expect from the rest of the lineup? Festival director Ti g Huggins revealed earlier this that organisers will “continue to be focussed on new works, collaboration across different creative disciplines, one-off experiences and, most importantly, curating line-ups that are fun and exciting for a discerning music festival-goer,” he says.
Sugar Mountain took 2014 off, following a huge 2013 edition featuring the likes of Dirty Projectors, Action Bronson, ESG, Boomgates, HTRK, and Kirin J Callinan. Festival organisers To and Fro – Tig Huggins, Pete Keen, Brett Louis, and Nicci Reid – confirmed the forthcoming edition of the boutique event will be presented in a new partnership with Frontier Touring promoter and booking agent Gerard Schlaghecke and Mushroom Group’s Matt Gudinski.
The Mushroom Executive Director, along with his legendary promoter father Michael Gudinski, make Sugar Mountain the latest addition to their new festival folio – following on from their joint venture with Future to present Good Life and the titular Future Music Festival, as former companies tied with the annual events entered liquidation.
The festival will also move from its original home at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre to an as-of-yet undisclosed location. “We love The Forum,” said Huggins of the site that’s hosted Sugar Mountain since its inception in April 2011, “but it felt like the right time to move.”
“We’re obviously going to be keeping an open mind about any opportunities that arise,” he says, “[but] we’re very conscious of building a strong and sustainable festival that focuses on the experience for the ticket-holder.”
“We’ll just keep assessing it each year. We’ve always been very keen about taking the festival into Asia, and building a really strong collaborative relationship with artists from our region. That’s something we’d love to look at in the future.”
Sugar Mountain 2015 Lineup
Ariel Pink
with more to be announced
Sugar Mountain 2015 Dates
Sat 24 Jan 2015, Melbourne
