In conversation with Brad McInerney, founder of Guelph’s Kazoo! Fest
This year, Guelph’s Kazoo! Fest is taking place from April 8 to 12, and Guelphites can expect a wide variety of events from music to visual arts.
Founded in 2006, Kazoo! Fest has been an ongoing Guelph tradition that celebrates Canadian independent musicians and artists. Not just a festival, Kazoo! also puts on year-round shows for the Guelph community.
The Ontarion had the chance to chat with Brad McInerney, one of the original founders of Kazoo! Fest. Brad chatted about Kazoo!’s values, his personal involvement, and how Kazoo! Fest has changed since it first started.
Danielle Subject: What can fans expect of this year’s Kazoo! Fest?
Brad McInerney: It’s quite a lot larger than in previous years, and one of the things that we kind of focused on this year was really geographically and culturally and genre-wise it’s really, really diverse. There will be people coming in from all across the United States, from all across Canada, and genre-wise there’s a bit for everyone. And that’s one of the best things about the lineup, every time I talk to someone they say “oh I’m really excited for this” and then someone else is completely excited for something else.
D.S.: Why do you continue to be involved with Kazoo!?
B.M.: Really it’s about what it does for Guelph’s independent music community and arts community. It’s kind of a chance to bring everyone together and have some fun and experience some amazing bands and art. Everybody who works on Kazoo! is a volunteer, so everyone that’s doing this is really in just for the love of it.
D.S.: How has Kazoo! progressed over the years? How has it changed since it first started?
B.M.: Every year we build a little bit. We get a little bit larger and are able to do more exciting things. Every year there’s more and more interest in the festival, and I think that gives us a certain amount of freedom to do more of what we want to do without having to worry about the financial decay of that – we can take more risks, because audiences are willing to trust that when they go to Kazoo! Fest or when they go to a Kazoo! show, that we’ve really thought about what we’re presenting and that we think it’s something really worthwhile to showcase, so that’s something that I think has gradually progressed. Every year we see a lot more opportunity for unique collaborations. The Short and Sweet performance is a great example of that kind of collaboration.
D.S.: Do you see a lot of students coming out to Kazoo! events?
B.M.: It’s a great mix of people. Every year, we try to get more students involved and engaged in Kazoo! shows year-round, but also during the festival, but we’ve been finding a lot more people know about it, which is great. We do have a lot of interest from people outside of the city. This year we’ve seen a lot more people purchasing tickets in advanced outside of Guelph, so we’re thinking this year is probably going to be our biggest year in terms of reaching audiences.
D.S.: How do you think it benefits the festival to incorporate an all-ages aspect?
B.M.: We think it’s so important. It’s been one of our core mandates since we founded Kazoo!. I remember when I was a teenager, I was always upset that I couldn’t get into shows and bands that I wanted to see because they were in bars. I think it’s so important that people under 19-years-of-age can get into shows. It just makes everything more accessible, and really it’s an important part of independent music to be open and accessible to everyone. We’ve also made sure that financial accessibility is a really important thing, so a lot of our shows are, we think, really affordable. There’s a lot of free or pay-what-you-can events, so if people are tight on cash, there’s ways to experience Kazoo! Fest without spending a lot of money.