Each year there is a growing sensation happening in Carnation, WA. The Timber! Outdoor Music Festival has come to be known around the state of Washington for showcasing talented up-and-comers in the PNW. The festival also brings in a few national acts.
Respect My Region had a chance to sit down with the founder and Co-Owner of Timber! Outdoor Music Festival, Kevin Sur. We talked about what’s new and exciting at this year’s event, how he discovers and uncovers artists for the Timber! lineup, and what it’s like to throw the biggest party in Carnation, WA, every year.
Kevin Sur Exclusive Interview
What is your role with Artist Home ?
I am the founder and co-owner of Artist Home.
What’s new at this year’s festival?
Every year we offer an array of outdoor adventures that everyone can take part in and each year we add new experiences so that those who come back always have the opportunity to do something they haven’t done before. These year our friends at REI who offer free kayaking and paddle boarding for guests during the day, have added some amazing nighttime kayaking and paddle board tours which will no doubt be magical.
What are you super-excited about at this year’s festival ?
On stage this year I’m excited that the legendary Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Mad Season, Queens of the Stone Age) will be performing in a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with Andrew Joslyn and the Passenger String Quartet. Fans of Mark Lanegan are in for a treat as having him perform with a string quartet is something that has never happened before and may very well never happen again.
Aside from that, this festival just feels more and more like a family reunion with each passing year and myself and my partners are really just looking forward to seeing a lot of faces that have become familiar to us over the years.
RMR readers always want to hear about exciting Dance/EDM/Hip-hop artists in festival lineups. Is there anyone this year at Timber! you’d recommend along those lines?
Absolutely! Chong the Nomad is one of the best dance/electronic artists to come out of the Northwest in some time. Her album last year made nearly ever top 10 list locally and she just knows how to throw a party. All-Star Opera are an incredible party hip-hop group that are playing our main stage and really should not be missed. Another band that I’m personally really excited for is Huey & the inFLOWentials who combine hip-hop, soul, jazz and elements of fusion that remind me a great deal of why I first fell in love with Digable Planets back in the day.
Check out Huey & the inFLOWentials
How do you—whether its for Timber! or not—most often find yourself discovering new music/new artists?
We pride ourselves in having an open submission process and I pour over thousands of submissions a year for our festivals (you can currently apply to perform at Timber 2020, BTW). Aside from that, we do a lot of scouting at shows and just being huge fans of independent music.
How do you source talent for Timber? What’s that look like?
It looks like a combination of me pouring through submissions that come from both artists and their agents. It involves me and my partners falling in love with an artist that we decide to try to book or just always having someone on our wish list and making it happen.
Once the festival gets going, are you able to enjoy parts of it as an audience member? Or are you wall-to-wall/on-call for anything and everything that comes up?
Pretty much wall-too-wall. However, once official programming shuts down I do get to sit back and enjoy secret shows that happen late at night. I do let myself tune out of work and just really enjoy those.
How important is social media content and engagement in the life of a Music Festival from your perspective? Do you focus on that at Timber!?
We do focus on social media quite a bit. What we do is different from most festivals, so much so that I wish we didn’t call it a music festival. Being able to convey what we’re doing, how it looks and feels on social is valuable for us to get that across.
Timber! is in its 7th year, and you’ve added a Winter/Timbrrr! event in Leavenworth. As the festival grows do you have any plans to expand, enlarge, or take Timber! to different, larger venues?
We like where it is currently and have only considered bringing it to a bigger venue if we were able to preserve the same level of comfort that guests currently have.
Lastly, does Timber! have an established policy for use of cannabis/vape products?
Yes, Timber is a venue with a liquor license. And like every other festival and bar in the state, can’t allow cannabis on site without putting that license and the existence of the entire festival at risk. Wish it was different but it is what it is.
The Timber! Outdoor Music Festival returns to Tolt-McDonald Park and Campground in Carnation, WA for its 7th offering July 11-13th.
The festival is billed as a “big neighborhood campout in the woods,” and features a wide array of local and national musical acts. Guests also have access to a variety of outdoor activities across the nearly 600-acre forested park during the day, including kayaking and swimming/floating on the Tolt River.
Day passes start at $45. Weekend passes are available $125 for all three days. Children 12 and under are FREE! www.timbermusicfest.com
