the best new fest you've never heard about

While most of the country's music lovers (including NYLON TV) were attending Austin City Limits music festival the first weekend of this month, I was on a plane to Sacramento. Yes, Sacramento. If you're anything like me, you had no clue there was a music scene there--let alone an actual festival (and one with Blondie as a headliner).

So when I showed up to TBD Fest, located at River Walk in West Sacramento, I was really shocked to find everything from seriously cool glamping tents, to awesome art installations, a giant swing ride, indie vendors, a huge bar, and yes, even yoga.

With local artists on the lineup, a Sacramento chef's food cook-off, fashion and jewelry designers from all over the state, and a beauty bar featuring local salon Deeda, it's safe to say that this fest definitely supports its own. The venue itself is the perfect size, large enough so you can't hear multiple bands playing at once, but small enough to be able to see every artist you want to (with palm readings, tacos, and vintage boots to distract you along the way).

photo by jackie yaeger

This year's lineup, curated by Jake Bernstein, featured bands like Drowners, Skaters, Blondie, Craft Spells, Beach Fossils, and La Sera--all of whom I have either seen a million times because I'm obsessed, or who I've been dying to see forever (complete with a festival It Girl appearance by the one-and-only Sky Ferreira).

If you're looking for a music festival with totally affordable tickets, that's far enough away for a mini-vacation, with a rad lineup, that's still unknown enough for you to watch via front row, then TBD Fest is for you.

AWESOME BANDS

Drowners

photo by jackie yaeger

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Jack: I already had a blog and it was called “I Heart Babes.” But that was in my younger, dumber years. It was good, but I’ve moved on. I got my shit together. My new one would probably be like, puppies and babies sleeping.
Matt: I’m going to refine that and say “Babes on Bikes.” I like Tumblr for things like, when I want to look at Beatles photos when they were in Hamburg. You can find really good photo collections.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Matt: I’d take Elvis to In-N-Out Burger.
Erik: I’d pick Young Nico. I’d want to go to, like, a weird Eastern opium den.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever gotten from a fan?
Matt: You know those religious candles? I got one of Mary and baby Jesus but somebody had cut out photos of my face for the baby Jesus and Justin from The Vaccines was Mary.

Ghost Beach

photo via @ghostbeach on instagram

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Josh: I started a Tumblr of great live music videos by bands, but I only uploaded like three of them. It was my intention to find really obscure performances of The Hives, in like a club, in Europe, like playing a cover of The Rolling Stones. I had an early Red Hot Chili Peppers video in there. I wanted to curate cool, old performances.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Eric: I would go on a bro hang with James Taylor to get tea in Nantucket.
Josh: I would take out Imogen Heap and we would go have acai bowls in Hawaii. Beat Café on the North Shore of Oahu.

Do you have any rituals or superstitions for before you go on stage?
Josh: I’m superstitious about shirts. If I have a bad show in a pair of pants or a shirt, I won’t wear it again.
Eric: There’s nothing that I do, but I should start.

La Sera

photo by jackie yaeger

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Katy: I know this is already a thing, but it would probably be unlikely friendships. Like, inter-species friendships. It’s not really, a novel idea, but I just love it.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Katy: We’d take Fleetwood Mac out on a date because we’d all get one. I’m a Jersey girl, so we’d go to the mall.

MNDR

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
MNDR: I actually have this secret one that I do—well I guess it’s not a secret anymore—where I outline the best off-brand shopping in every city.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever gotten from a fan?
MNDR: I got a huge octopus medallion that a girl made for me that I still have. That, and then just last weekend, this girl made a sign with lyrics, but she misheard the lyrics thinking it was something about a chode.

Paws

photo by martin barker

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Ryan: Mine would just be 404 pages.
Josh: My old flatmate had this one that he started, that was just Texts from Dealers. It was real texts and the funniest ones he could find. I thought they were going to be shit, but it’s the funniest thing.
Ryan: I have been thinking about documenting something that is really strange. Every day, not one day excluded, we’ve been here 34 days. Every day we’ve seen a paw. Some kind of symbol of a paw. Like on the back of a car, on a shop window, on a t-shirt, on a sticker, just something. Every single day there’s been a paw. You wouldn’t think of it if you had no reason to. We’ve had some shitty things happen on this tour and we’ve been feeling the strain of being out here, so far from home and stuff. In a strange way, seeing this paw everywhere seems like quite a good sign. Everywhere we go, it’s like we’re headed in the right direction.
Phil: Mine would probably be like, pictures of Katy Perry or something.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Josh: I’d like to go on a date with Connor Oberst. I’d go anywhere that sells booze. We’ll take him out to get smashed at his bar. Pageturners in Omaha.

Skaters

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Joshua: Models on Razor scooters. You can walk three blocks and see her ten times, she’s so fast.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Joshua: ZZ Top, and I’d go out for sushi.
Michael: I’d take ZZ Top for gumbo and a Broadway show, and Taylor Swift would be there. I always thought Taylor Swift would have a good time hanging out with us, but she hasn’t gotten back to us yet.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever gotten from a fan?
Joshua: In Japan I got a cake in the shape of my face. That was pretty weird. I actually tried to save it and take it back to my mom. It got a bit squished.
Michael: Getting gifts from fans can be a little awkward, but I appreciate gifts.
Joshua: We got a picture of someone’s son in a card.

Little Daylight

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Eric: Mine would be dogs drinking coffee. Well, I have it already on Instagram. It’s @dogslovecoffee. Actually Nikki helped me with it.
Nikki: I actually thought of it.
Eric: I have to give you the password, by the way.
Nikki: If I could start a Tumblr it would be my friend’s, but it’s already started. It’s Tilda Stardust. It’s dedicated to the belief that David Bowie and Tilda Swinton are the same person. There’s photos of them side by side looking exactly the same. It was before they did that video, too for The Stars Are Out Tonight.
Matt: My Tumblr is easy because I’m going to actually start it. I’ve been keeping a tour diary of all the photos from everybody in the band including our TM and our drummer. I take a photo of all the normal things we do on the road, like arriving at the hotel, getting coffee, in the green rooms, right after we setup on stage. I’m going to have Tumblr where I put up one photo at a time.

Do you have any rituals or superstitions for before you go on stage?
Nikki: We aren’t a very superstitious band, although…
Matt: Nikki wears in-ears and we put a new battery in every time and I’ve never not said to her, “Do you have a new battery?” and I didn’t say it.
Nikki: Everything was fine.

Beach Fossils

photo by juliette henrioud

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Tommy: Calves—people that have very pronounced calves. I think it’s interesting. It’s like a unicorn in the wild.
Dustin: I’ll stick with calves. That sounds pretty nice. Let’s just fuckin’ start it, actually. I’m inspired.
Jack: I would continue my friend’s Tumblr—Krasdale My Krasdale [dot] tumblr [dot] com—just because it’s the lowest quality food in New York. Like, if you want to read the ingredients it takes 30 minutes.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and where would you go?
Tommy: Obviously, it would be fucking Mac. And I would take Pierce on a date or Joe, because I know he’s packing heat. Or this one might actually be logical: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and you go to a candy forsest—maybe Kids R Us or Toys R Us—and eat lollipops all day.
Dustin: Let’s take Justice on a date. They would smoke cigarettes and think they were coller than us. It’d be such a good date.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever received from a fan?
Dustin: I’ve had mail at my personal apartment before and that’s pretty fucking weird. Like, how did you get my address? That was really fuckin’ freaky.
Jack: Once when we played, people were jumping on and off the stage. This dude stomped on this girl’s head and part of her weave—her dread—fell out, so they threw it at us.
*interview by emily mcdermott

Craft Spells

photo by daniel dorsa

If you could have a Tumblr dedicated to anything that isn't your band, what would it be about?
Javier: I wanted to make a Tumblr that put current indie bands side-by-side with old emo bands. I shouldn’t mention names, but there are bands that remind me of early TRL. Like, Diive is The Used! We should be Brand New.
Justin: I read a book by that dude from Franz Ferdinand that’s just culinary reviews, so something similar to that. Maybe bathroom reviews? I’m drinking a mint julep right now, so I could do julep reviews.

If you could take another band out on a date, who would it be and what would you do?
Javier: Incubus. I feel like they have great hobbies, like they would want to go surfing with us or smoke weed and listen to them at band practice.
Justin: We’d hang out with them in their den—remember that MTC Cribs episode with Incubus? But really, The Beatles, honestly. I know it’s boring, but yeah, I would date The Beatles. We’d just jam.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever received from a fan?
Justin: It was in Hong Kong, where they bought us gifts. In an interview we said what our favorite drinks were—I said mojito—and they bought me some kind of minty juice drink.
Javier: There was this strange, long note someone gave me with a detailed picture drawn of my face. Also, chocolate milk in the middle of Hong Kong was pretty weird.
*interview by emily mcdermott

AWESOME VENDORS

High Standards Shorts at Stash City

photo by jackie yaeger

photo by jackie yaeger