Journey to Quest: 5 Artists Not To Be Missed

There are many ways to approach a festival line up. One is to just show and “let the music guide you.” This method involves no preparation. You simply let your ear be your guide. Another is to only attend those artists that you know and spend the rest of the time exploring the festival. Some people like to spend countless hours researching artists and gathering suggestions from a friend in order to decide who to see.

When attending an international festival where you and all of your musically inclined friends do not recognize a single artist, it’s a little hard to decided what method to follow for musical selection. While I am a huge fan of following my ear, my excitement for the upcoming Quest Festival led me to dive a little deeper into the lineup before the festival in November. One afternoon spent randomly YouTubeing the various international artists on the line up has now gotten me especially interested in five musical acts.

Inspired by fairy-tales, circuses, and more familiar sounds, here are five artists from Quest Festival that I cannot wait to see live.

Slamboree Soundsystem

The show put on by Slamboree Soundsystem is unlike any other festival set out there. The group is the DJ incarnation of the Pyro-Circus Dub Rave Massive, Slamboree. Imagine if the circus and heavy bass had a baby. Now imagine if that baby loved to rave and was trained to dance at the Moulin Rouge. Take that, add a little extra punk, and you get the Slamboree Soundsystem. At the core of the group are two English musicians, DJ Freear from Lancaster and lead vocalist Kathika Rabbit from Ulverston. Their full-throttle performance is one that is not to be missed.

Ohene Cornelius

Ohene Cornelius is not one to sit still. You may have seen him in the movie Kick-Ass or modeling for Kanye West’s Yeezy Season 3. His most recent endeavor is his clothing and lifestyle brand “Harlem River Yacht Club.”  While he is a man of many skills, it’s his musical talent that brings him to Quest Festival. He self-describes his sound as  “Afro-pop” due to its rhythmic and drum-heavy sound.

Samraz

Samraz is formed from the duo Samuel Caballero (Sam) and Raz Carmel (Raz). The two met in 2015 when Sam was visiting Raz’s home country, Isreal. Feeding off an instant connection while jamming, they decided to perform around the country as much as possible before Sam had to leave. Sam returned to his house Colombia but the pair did not stay separated for long. Now the duo is bringing their Latin-inspired sound all around the world.

Stars and Rabbit

The whimsical duo from Yogyakarta, Indonesia is sure to deliver an enchanting performance. The group, consisting of singer-songwriter Elda Suryani and arranger Adi Widodo, call their music “imaginary pop.” Heavily influenced by folk-tales and children story books, their sound transcends simple folk-pop. Simple compositions, imaginative lyrics, and absolutely magical lyrics are what makes this pair truly stand out.

Vurro

You may have seen a mouse playing techno or a marshmallow playing electronic but I can guarantee you that you have never seen a cow skull playing the piano. Vurro is a shirtless, one man band who wears a cow skull on his head. A madman on the piano, he adds to his sound by banging his cow skull on the cymbals and kicking the drums with his feet. He never stops moving and neither will you.

In addition to these imaginative musical acts there are several others from other over the globe on the line up. There are also performers, workshops, and art installations. Get your tickets to Quest here.

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