This year marked the fifth Savage Weekend, a two day noise festival hosted annually at the Nightlight in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Curated by Ryan Martin (AKA Ry Mar AKA Secret Boyfriend AKA the dude who does Hot Releases), Savage Weekend always offers a fun spirited and diverse plethora of projects. Whether you want harsh noise, hard techno or performance based weirdness, there is always a little something for everyone. Ry Mar has threatened that Savage Weekend 2014 may be the last, which would be a shame and a loss. No other noise fest of it’s kind offers such great vibes, good biscuits or general savagery. It has been a great delight to attend the past four years and watch some projects grow, watch some projects begin to bud.
I would not have started to play solo if it were not for Ry Mar’s encouragement. Three years ago, he asked me to play Savage Weekend. I told him I would DJ, as I did not have a project at the time. He told me there were no DJs, that he wanted me to play and that it didn’t matter that I didn’t have a project. My multimedia project The Waitress was born. I still carry the crumbled up dollar that I chased around on a stick while being dominated live in a waitress costume in my synth bag for good luck.
I recently resurrected an old project with Ciarra Black, Appetite. Before preparing for Savage Weekend 2014 we had only played one show three years ago- a Secret Boyfriend/ Lack show that I set up in Philly as my going away party before moving to New York. I am not so sure I would have if it were not for the push of performing at the fest this year. While trying to write new material for The Waitress, everything seemed to come up flat. I decided it was time to hang up the apron and explore new territory. I am grateful for the push every year. I really hope that this was not the last Savage Weekend, as every year has been as fun as it was inspiring but if it was- I will always have a lot of love for Ry Mar and for the fest and for everyone who participated in any capacity. These pictures are not even representative of all the awe inspiring things that I heard and saw, just the things I managed to get a decent snap of. Hope to see many of you next year.
JANE PAIN 