Live at the Garden 4: Interview

In case you’re not in the know, Live at the Garden 4 is taking place today (8/1). We were able to snag Nathaniel Grosh a brief question session to get a little more insight into a fledgling festival that aims to bring local musicians to the forefront of a city’s musical mind.

TU: This is the 4th time out for the festival. How have things grown to make this go around different?
NG: Well I know that this is an event that Sandeep began on his own, for essentially the first and second one. Now there’s a team of about 20-30 people that are all contributing to making this event happen. It feels more communal, which you can see in the diversity that ends up on the bill.

TU: How long have you been working on putting the show together and how has the process gone overall?
NG: Live at the Garden 4 was pretty much being “worked on” right about the time Live at the Garden 3 was happening. Maybe the week before, so around February. We’ve had some twists and turns this time around but everyone has been really great to work with and it seems like people are pretty excited.

TU: What does the Garden Theater offer that might set it apart from other venues in the city?
NG: It’s such a nice space, Ethel’s (the bar) is one of my favorite places right now. What’s unique about the Garden is that it’s not just a rock bar, or a burlesque joint, or a theater stage. It’s all of those, and more than that, which is why it’s the perfect venue for an event like ours.

TU: There are a ton of great acts and artists spread across multiple stages. What advice would you give someone looking to get the most out of the day?
NG: Come early and get a good parking spot, for one. And two, stick around if you have the time and keep moving. There will be information available at check in with details on what is happening where, but something will be happening at all times in each of the 4 spaces in the venue. If you spend a little bit of time in each area, there will be new things happening about every 30-60 minutes, so there’s a lot to see and do.

TU: Not to play favorites but are there any performers or artists that you are especially looking forward to?
NG: I’ll be managing the Green Room and the lineup in there is ridiculously good, but there really is just so much going on it’s hard to single out any one performance. We have Chill the Genius back for this one and I’m pretty sure he has some new stuff he’s bringing that I’m looking forward to. Also I got a glimpse of the new(ish) Ghost Town Railroad recently and I’m pretty confident the whole band is going to blow some people away.

TU: It seems like there are a lot of partnerships in place for the festival including a portion of the proceeds going to Out of the Closet. How have your partners helped grow the experience as a whole?
NG: The event itself seems to keep getting bigger each time. LATG was always intended to be a reflection of the super diverse arts community here and the things they care about. It’s been really exciting watching everything evolve as we’ve reached out to more people.

TU: How does LatG4 fit into the growing Columbus music/art scene? What do you hope its impact will be?
NG: Live at the Garden started as basically a music festival event. There is a lot more than that happening this time around, but there will be live music to see throughout the entire show. For these reasons it’s a great networking opportunity for anyone who might not otherwise see many of the other musicians there. Also, there are just so many different kinds of music happening back to back to back. At LATG4 you will be able to find indie bands, hip hop emcees, bluegrass, loop artists and beatboxing, punk rock, folk singers & more.

TU: How do you see this event evolving moving into the future? Do you have any plans or ideas of what you would like it to become?
NG: I’d like to see it continue to grow and I think it has a lot of potential to. Without giving too much away, we actually have some things that we are planning to announce this Saturday at LATG4. Next week we will probably start working on the 2016 dates.

While our chat was brief, it’s easy to see how much passion and drive is being injected into this festival. If anything, this is what the Columbus music scene needs right now and will hopefully further advance an already vibrant community.

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