- "What's up this weekend? How about taking a break in Graz?" If you've never pondered such a question, it's hard to blame you. Thanks to the hard work of promoters Stefan Auer and Tim Ertl, however, the Austrian city is starting to creep into the international consciousness of festivalgoers. Since its debut in 2001 Springfestival has swelled from a "local bash" to attracting around 20,000 people to Graz for the annual arts and music event, taking place across a number of intriguing venues.
The core of the festival's band-based program this year was shared between the Helmut List Halle and the Stadthalle, two grandiose concert venues constructed in 2003 following the financial injection the city received when it was named Europe's Capital of Culture. Both were located at either end of the city—far from the festival's central nexus—and offered its strangest cacophony of artists. (Berlin hardcore veterans Atari Teenage Riot, pensive bass duo Mount Kimbie and disco pop outfit Hercules & Love Affair all featured.) Yet while the List Halle appeared to hold its own, the 11,000-capacity Stadthalle buckled under its own cavernousness despite using just a third of the space.
Photo credit: Sebastian Boettcher
The Dom in Berg is probably Spring's most renowned venue, situated in the Schlossberg, a tree-clad mountain marking the epicentre of Graz. Once used as air-raid shelters, the tunnels weaving through the rocky landmark were also refashioned in 2003 into a trio of ultra-modern music halls. Again the daily lineups were miscellaneous. But being nowhere near the size of either Halles, they retained an atmosphere and certain level of "critical mass"—to quote Jared Ficklin, who had presented hisVisions from the Man Cave, Five Influences for Digital Partying at one of the Springsessions—that generally disguised the tumult of tempos. Parisian electro-drunk duo Noze were the climax here, drumming up the party with their sozzled folk-spiked house, typified by the anthemic "You Have to Dance."
As more traditional "club" venues, the Postgarage and PPC hosted the majority of Spring's DJs. Postgarage was the staple house and techno haunt throughout the weekend. Friday's Flex Records event showcased Michael Mayer and Steve Bug, however I was far more enamoured by the Italian Nano Rec party happening next door. Resident train-bomber turned graphic artist Cento Canesio supplemented the upbeat pretenseless house coming from Glitch and Nano founder Spiller with a live mural of quirky graphics perfectly in tune with the whole fairly tongue-in-cheek affair.
Photo credit: Turnmaster Tim
Representing the other side of the clubbing spectrum, PPC leaned towards more Brit-bass penchants with showcases curated by Mums of Death, Red Bull Music Academy and Hospital Records. But, if anything, they highlighted the distinct lack of British and/or bass music fans at the festival. Night Slugs members Egyptrixx and L-Vis 1990 were received by just a handful of respiting Austrians in the venue's upper bar floor, while the Hospitality crush consisted of a predominantly local student crowd.
The scene at PPC was a stark reminder that Spring is first and foremost an Austrian festival, largely unheralded outside the country despite being one of its most established contemporary events. Compared to other European city-based festivals such as MUV in Florence, Dissonanze in Rome or Barcelona's Sonar, Springfestival isn't based in the sort of city that would pull in revellers—whatever the lineup. Even though Graz does have tourist appeal, backed by various awards for its infrastructure—a surprising mixture of classical meets contemporary—it's to Vienna the majority of Austria-curious travellers will go. And while the city is nice, clean and quiet, these are hardly qualities one seeks from a festival host.
Photo credit: Sebastian Boettcher
"What you will hear from other festivals is that we have the soberest crowd," commented Tim Ertl. "They are coming to enjoy the music and then everybody goes home. There's no damage or yelling in the street."Coupled with a deliberately unidentifiable music program that not only varied from venue-to-venue but day-to-day via a fluctuating curatorship, Spring didn't seem to have a common thread or sense of identity binding everything together. That's just how Ertl likes it."We start from scratch every year," he continues."But this is the electronic culture, it changes all the time. You have to be really open and listen to the grass growing and know what's going on."
The grass grows a little differently in Graz, but Ertl is certainly listening. Spring provides an important platform to experience electronic culture that radio stations like Vienna's FM4 and local Ampatar have been feeding its student populous over the last five or six years. But whether Spring will reach international acclaim is doubtful. Graz couldn't support much more of an expansion, and Spring already seems in conflict with some factions anyway. "The festival doesn't fit into [Graz's] perception of culture. Culture worth being funded or supported. It's the basic problem with electronic music, electronic art is not high culture…," explains Ertl. "We are well supported from the tourism and economic boards in Graz, but not from the cultural office. They don't like us too much. And the city itself, we pay them much more money back in rents and fees than they give us. So, actually, we are supporting them." Ever the optimist, though, Ertl confirms that plans for Springfestival 2012 are already underway—music to the ears, no doubt, of local Graz electronic fans.