FWB FEST music is curated by FEST Director & co-founder, legend Paul Tao. Here’s what he had to say on this year’s music line-up, debuting IRL August 1-4 in Idyllwild, CA. Buy FEST tickets today. Listen to our FEST24 playlist on Spotify.

We talk about FEST being a “portal of portals”, with varied experiences happening across discreet locations on campus. We see this within the music spread – the experience is different from the Ampitheator to Envelop to Rush to Floating. Can you talk about the various kinds of sounds and music people will experience at FEST?

The Idyllwild Arts campus that we’re honored to call our home reflects the spirit of FWB and FWB Fest so well - it’s vast, diverse and has surprises in every corner. Considering all of that, I’ve been working to make sure that the range of music represented at FEST reflects this, with artists representing genres from ambient to pop to R&B, dance and more and artists of all sizes and points in their career - some artists are brand new, some are a couple albums in, and one released his first album before I was even born.

Let’s zoom in on the Amphitheater, tell us about this line-up.

We’ve got so many acts playing the amphitheater, it’s hard to boil it down. Friday, we’ve got folks like Nala Sinephro, who is one of my favorite new artists and plays experimental jazz with a harp, as well as Arushi Jain who is a modular synthesist, plus web3 community favorites Iman Europe and Vérité, capped with Perfume Genius who is one of my favorite artists of the last decade. Saturday, we’ve got Harmony who used to be in this band Girlpool, she just put out her debut releases, plus one of the godfathers of ambient music Laraaji, and two other favorite electronic-based musicians Jessy Lanza and Tirzah. Headlining we have A. G. Cook performing his new Britpop roadshow live set, which I’m very excited for - he came to the first FEST in 2022 just as an attendee, then came back last year and DJed with Charli XCX at Rush, so now it seems fitting for him to perform his brand new live show as a headliner.

What’s special about the Envelop stage and the programming they’ll run throughout the weekend?

The Envelop stage has always been a collaboration between the Envelop crew (Christopher Willits and co.) and FWB. Envelop are really exploring the full spectrum of creativity within their community. In Christopher’s words, their programming runs “from deep immersive listening, and sound baths, to full-on dance parties”. Layered on top of their curation are a handful of incredible artists we selected. On Friday, Jacques Greene will be returning for his third year in a row, practically the resident FEST DJ at this point, playing his third stage in as many years, plus Boreta who is a bigtime friend of FWB. On Saturday, we have the inimitable Zack Fox DJing and community favorite Latasha playing before him.

What is Floating? Where can people find that experience throughout the weekend?

Floating is a music collective based out of LA that’s been at FEST every year since we started. They curate incredible musicians from their orbit to play at out-of-the-box locations and that’s what we love that they do at FEST. Their sunset set overlooking the mountains each day is probably the worst kept IYKYK secret onsite but is always one of the most special. They’re collaborating with FEST favorite Toby Shorin as well as PlantWave, creating a plant-powered soundscape that will catch people by surprise. If you don’t know where the sunset sets take place, just ask around when you’re on-site and you’ll find it quickly.

We must talk about Rush. Who’s playing after hours in 2024?

Rush was co-curated with the wonderful folks at Refraction, so I’ll let them talk about it! “For this years Rush at FEST, we wanted to both curate and create a really fun space with the FEST team that speaks to the type of experiences that Refraction is known for.  With an updated sound system, lighting and space design, we’re excited to have Rush feel akin to a small club or warehouse for this year’s iteration. On Friday we’re excited to bring in Kim Ann Foxman to play in conversation with SoFTT, who will continue the yearly fest tradition of Trevor performing, which is a really beautiful sort of thing with Trevor founding FWB and all else.  For Saturday,  DJ Python will play open to close.  Python’s sets have become something of legend, and we're excited for him to go throughout the whole night.” - Malcolm Levy, Refraction

What are some music highlights from 2022 and 2023?

Oneohtrix Point Never’s set in 2022, his first live set in I think 5 or 6 years, was absolutely unbelievable, and Mary Lattimore’s set last year was I think a massive sleeper hit for the crowd and myself. I had never seen her before, and seeing her play in a space as unique as the amphitheater really created a vibe I didn’t know I needed but now always want more of.

So many FWB members and our surrounding community are DJs, musicians, artists, and producers. What do you think attracts them to FWB and FEST?

Musicians and creatives have always had a strong tie to technology, so it’s not surprising to me that so many musicians and other similar folks are attracted to a community that focuses on how to utilize and adopt technology to push culture forward. FWB’s motto is “culture drives adoption of emerging tech” but I also feel strongly that the reverse is true and that technology can not just promote but change culture at large. It’s always really special to find like minded people, especially when there are often such large anti-technology narratives in music & art, so I think that the folks who embrace technology love that they can join FWB or attend FEST and not be the only ones. We’re a community/festival of black sheeps who found each other online.

About Paul

What are you reading right now?

“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu, who is an author I absolutely love who writes science fiction through an East Asian lens, and he was the translator for The Three-Body Problem.

What are your top 5 albums or artists of the last year?

Ethel Cain, Fever Ray, HEALTH (new album is absolutely incredible), Olivia Rodrigo (I am an admitted Livie) and I really got back into Les Savy Fav last year after seeing them play for the first time in like 15 years.

What are you listening to?

New Justice album, a lot.

Snacks. Tell us about your favorite snack.

I’m honestly not a big snacker. I didn’t really grow up in a snack household, or rather the snacks my family ate weren’t what I like, so I never really learned to eat them a lot. I guess I eat a lot of dried mango and string cheese (not together), if I had to choose.

Last question: What are you obsessing over/can’t stop thinking about lately?

Trying to get my Oura ring sleep score past 95

We’re thrilled to welcome our ongoing programming and festival partners in our quest for validation. If this excites you, give us a shout at partnerships@fwb.help to join the momentum of FEST24.