Metaverse festival, a four-day celebration of music, culture and creativity is kicking off tomorrow and will feature one of our home-grown Australian artists, Bel.
The unique festival was created by Decentraland, a futuristic and decentralised 3D virtual reality virtual-world platform that is solely owned by its users.
Metaverse is far from a usual music festival – it’s a culmination of live performance, fashion, digital garments, AR and avatars.
Melbourne experimental pop artist Bel – whose real name is Isabelle Rich – joins some other huge names on the bill, including Paris Hilton, Alison Wonderland, Crooked Colours and Nina Nesbitt. She is one of the few Australian acts on the lineup.
“I’m one of few Australian acts to be on the line-up for a huge music festival in The Metaverse. Many of the artists are queer and gender diverse. The festival will go live in Decentraland, a ‘Coachella’ type experience with different stages made by incredible AR designers such as i-D International emerging designer of the year Oscar Keene.
“It will be an amalgamation of live performance, fashion, digital garments, AR and avatars. Outside of my musical project, I have been working in this space for a while. It’s opening doors for musicians of all genres who aim to defy the norms and expand their art. More so, perform during a global pandemic, doing justice to their overall creative visions as a performer,” she told us ahead of her upcoming gig.
Along with being a successful musician, Bel also works as a stylist and as a visual artist. Her work in these areas will be incorporated into her performance at the festival. “It’s truly a first of its kind for musicians/visual artists,” she said.
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It’s recently been reported that Paris Hilton will actually be performing at the futuristic music festival as an avatar. She will apparently appear as a Genies avatar, which is an animated cartoon character that can move and speak in Paris’s voice.
“Paris kickstarting her Genies journey with a virtual performance in Decentraland is quintessential Paris Hilton. She’s a queen amongst culture, blockchain and now the metaverse. She will continue to blaze new trails for Web 3.0 with her official virtual identity and through Avatar Wearables,” said Jake Becker, head of talent relations at Genies, in a statement. “Our community couldn’t be more thrilled to have her a part of the Genies family.”
Bel is also the founder/moderator of the ‘Aus Women & GNC folx in Music’ Facebook group; a collective of over 1300+ active members from the Australian Music Industry; a support group, a place to ask questions, raise concerns, set up collaborations and more. Creating a safe space for women and LGBTQIA+ folx is at the forefront of her ethos as a queer woman in the industry.
Bel’s performance at Decentraland will be live-streamed on her YouTube channel.
For more on this topic, follow the Live Music Observer.
Watch ‘Spectre’ by Bel:
