Interview with Hangout Festival Organizer Shaul Zislan

Shaul Zislan and Alabama Governor Bob Riley,  Photo by Dave Vann

The Hangout Music Festival Interviews

Part 2

Shaul Zislan

 By Rusty Odom

rusty@blanknews.com

One year later, are you glad that you pulled the trigger on The Hangout Festival

Shaul: Absolutely. We are very very thrilled about the prospect of this for years to come. From the beginning, this is something we planned on building over a number of years. We have a big responsibility to build it very carefully to make sure everybody has a great time. And it only becomes harder to maintain that great experience, it does not become easier. There are so many good ambassadors that are coming back this year and bringing their friends, so there's going to be so many more people there. We've got to make sure that folks still get that great experience they got in year one.

Attendance

Shaul: For where I want the Hangout to be positioned in the festival world, we are going to cap it. There are a number of major festivals out there and each one is the best at what it does. And I want to be the best at what we do, and that is to deliver an experience that features a more intimate and different lifestyle in terms of the condo's and the beach and the very laid back atmosphere. We want to be the best festival if that's what you're looking for. We just want to capitalize on the assets of the venue. If you're looking to be in a great camping environment with 60,000 other campers, there's better options for that, no doubt. We want to keep it a more intimate experience so we are going to cap it and I think we will be very successful with that plan.

New Goals

Shaul: As beautiful and intimate as it is, to support a lineup like this you need to sell out the festival. As far as this lineup goes, I think we are competing with anybody else out there. An I believe that we have maintained a ticket price that is very reasonable. I am very optimistic that we will sell out and if that happens we will not be selling day tickets. At the end of the day, it's about having people commit to it and having a nice weekend on the beach.

The Response from the city of Gulf Shores

Shaul: Both the city's elected officials and the wonderful community of citizens of Gulf Shores have been absolutely phenomenal. And I'm not saying this to score political points, I’m not running for office (laughs). The amount of cooperation we are getting from them and the partnership from local businesses...we could not pull this off without their remarkable support.

Do you think that local folks appreciate what you are doing for the Alabama Coast during what used to be its dead season?

Shaul: Actions speak louder than words. I'm not looking for praise, I'm looking for support, in terms of being able to enhance the experience as years go by. We need to make it more and more intertwined with the community and find new ways to upgrade the fan experience.

New to 2011

Shaul: One of the major differences will be the fact that we are limiting the amount of vending on site. And that's for the sake of ease and flow of traffic. My feeling towards that is that the festival shouldn't be a shopping experience. There are plenty of places in the community where you can go shopping if you want. We're working with a very finite space and you've got to pick and choose, so we reduced the vending scene.

We are also going to be announcing some special activities in the next few weeks. We upgraded some amenities on the VIP side of things as well. One of the biggest complaints we had last year was from people wanting to know why they couldn't get in the water. It would be impossible for us logistically to handle 30,000 people coming in and out of the water, and also I don't want to be a Shepard of human life, so this year we're going to bring the water into the site.

Last year we had four stages. This year we are adding a dance tent just east of The Hangout restaurant where the production compound was last year. We're putting a massive amount of production into the new tent as far as lights and things like that. We are going to have some really big late night parties in the new tent.  Also, we are going to devote the stage that is inside The Hangout (restaurant) almost entirely to special programming treats.  There will be smaller, different type of vibe shows inside the restaurant like last year. For those who want to go all night, there will be opportunities. We're even coordinating with some other venues outside of the festival grounds to help them book some additional entertainment that would fit the festival crowd. If "Bar X" generally does karaoke, they may be doing something else while the festival is going on. We're working closely with the surrounding places to work these things out.

Kids & The Family Atmosphere

Shaul: One of our mission statements for this year was to allow an environment where people could be totally comfortable bringing their family. There's not really one major festival that caters to that in the way that we want to. The closest thing to what we wanted to do is Kidsapalooza and we actually hired the person who creates that each year to help us. Our vision is for this to be a family vacation that involves the music experience on the beach.

For me the perfect Hangout day would be the family coming down, renting a condo, waking up on Friday morning and splashing around in the waves a little bit with the kids, then going to the festival and letting the kids have as much fun as the adults. It was very important for us to add that component to the festival.

The Oil Spill One year Later

Shaul: As a business owner, nothing's changed. You face adversity all the time. And you've just gotta keep marching along and figuring out ways to make it happen. You can't just lay back and put out your hand and say, hey government help me, you just gotta go out there are create opportunities to succeed.

We set up those summer concerts to bring people down here so they will go back home and be ambassadors of good will and let their friends know that the beaches are okay.

Orange Beach

Shaul: I'm working very closely with the lodging partners in the area and from what I understand almost all the stuff really close to the festival is already gone. And that's great, but what's even better is that between Gulf Shores and Orange beach, the area has close to 15,000 condominiums, and those vary from one bedroom to eight bedrooms, so there's still a lot of lodging opportunities available. You may just have to look a little harder to find it at this stage and it may be a little further from the festival but we are committed to a great shuttle service. And we will have plenty of parking opportunities north of the festival. We are planning on tripling the shuttle presence from last year. So people should not be hesitant to rent a condo even if it's a few miles down the road.

Credit

Shaul: As artistic director, Lilly Zislan comes up with the feel and vibe of the festival so she is in charge of what the people at the festival feel, from the fans to the artists. That was one of our great achievements last year. The artists loved it. And all that goes to Lilly and her attention to detail.

To purchase tickets visit www.hangoutmusicfest.com

For more information on the Hangout Festival visit www.worketrade.com

For Blank's homepage visit www.blanknews.com

What questions would you have asked? Did we miss anything?

Interview with Hangout Festival organizer AJ Niland

Photo by Dave Vann

The Hangout Music Festival Interviews

Part One

Huka Entertainment's AJ Niland

Huka Entertainment's AJ Niland grew up in a household filled with sports. In fact, Niland comes from a long lineage of collegiate basketball coaches. 

But even as a child, he followed music closely. 

He even predicted the idea of something like the Hangout Festival as a youngster.

AJ: I can recall going to shows and festivals when I was very young. I definitely got the bug very early on. My parents tell me that when I was watching Woodstock in the early nineties that I mentioned I was going to produce a festival. I don't recall that, but I definitely got into this business because of my young musical influences. I am very grateful to my parents for being cool enough to let me go around and experience music in a live setting. The live show experience to me was always more exciting than buying a record. That's not to say I wouldn't get excited about a new record, but the anticipation of the spring and summer tour definitely got my juices flowing more than the new release. Those three to four hours of a live show are just heaven on earth.

Long Term Goals of the Hangout

AJ: When we made the decision to do this, we also decided that this was a long term plan. We hope to be here 20 years from now. That's how we plan, that's how we budget and spend.

On the city of Gulf Shores

AJ: They deserve a giant token of credit. The Mayor Robert Craft and Grant Brown, the police chief, the fire chief, they have all been incredible. This will be our fifth event since the oil spill. We produced a series of economic development concerts here on the beach as a way to spur some economic growth because of so much negative press from the oil spill. This is a tourist based economy and we were able to spread some good will together to this area on behalf of the city's involvement.

From the moment we brought the idea of The Hangout (Festival) to the city, we have had a tremendous relationship. I have to tip my hat to these people and will wave the flag of Gulf Shores proudly. The officials take a strong stance for the citizens. The people there have had the foresight and bravery to take a chance and partner with us and allow us to do it. There is a huge responsibility on our end to protect this city because they allow us to put on this festival.

The Process of a Full Scale Festival

AJ: It's an everyday thing. We're constantly working on something with this festival. For the first year, you'd like to start out with 18 months to plan. We had the luxury of six months before last year, and this year we had 12. At this point, we've managed to take the extra time and fill it with new stuff, so it doesn't feel like we've had any extra time actually.

In terms of booking, its a year-round process as well. You're relying on the information about who's touring and who dug the festival last year and how much they talked about it. It's a constant dialogue, almost 24/7.

How Many People are Involved with The Hangout Festival?

It's upwards of 1,000 people who are involved in this festival. One of the biggest challenges of producing an event like this is keeping all the parts informed and moving forward. There is a structure that keeps it moving but it's a constantly evolving process and there are a lot of moving parts.

Lineup

AJ: We are stoked. From year one we set out to be as diverse as we possibly could. And this year we were able to pull that off in a big way. We want to bring in bigger acts every year. And from year one to year two, I think we took an extra step that I didn't know we would and as music fans, we are definitely excited.

Niland added a bit about how Huka was able to nab such a talented roster for year two. “The attention that was brought to the oil spill was a big factor. The biggest thing was that the artists that played here last year really loved it. We would run into artists six-months down the road and they would tell us how much they enjoyed playing on the beach. That's when we knew we had something cool going on. The artists that we bring in tour almost constantly and I don't know how much vacation time they get. So for them to be able to spend three days or so on the beach, I can see why they would enjoy it. I think that word of mouth inside the music community played a big part in the growth from the first year to this one."

We've covered a lot of festivals and we can't remember the artists having a better time on stage. Why do you think that was the case? 

OK GO from the 2010 Hangout Festival

AJ: It's the environment. It's the beach. It's not something that we could create. I can't even come close to taking the credit for that because it has nothing to do with us. I didn't get to see much last year, but there were a couple of moments where I was able to catch a set...During the Black Crowes, Gov't Mule and Rodrigo y Gabriela sets...these were some of the best sets I've ever seen these bands play. I was standing on the stage from their point of view and looking out over than crowd and the sand and the waves crashing. I really think there is this amazing spirit that injects itself into the experience.

Artists additions

AJ: It's gonna be as diverse as the first announce. There’s gonna be more indie acts, more rock acts, couple more hip-hop acts, more female soul acts and some more dubstep stuff as well. It'll be another diverse group of artists, probably 10-15 additional acts, maybe 20.

Tickets in the Mail

AJ: It's gonna be about 30-45 days before the festival. Unfortunately, one of the things you have to think about is scalpers. Tickets are safeguarded this way. It's one of those things that hurts the fans who want tickets so much.

Who designs the artwork and the atmosphere

AJ: Our lead designer is Lilly Zislan. She has never had any stake in the festival scene, but she stepped up to the plate and hit a home run last year. There will be more added to the festival this year.

Who are you looking forward to seeing most

AJ: Paul Simon. I just can't imagine how “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes” and “Call Me Al” is going to sound on the beach with that setting. I think it's going to be magical. I'm hoping to see a few more shows this year. I'm also looking forward to The Flaming Lips and their crazy show on the beach and The Black Keys, but being able to book Paul Simon this year was huge for me as much as it was for other fans.

The Schedule

AJ: The additions will be announced in the next week or two and the schedule will follow about two weeks after that. End of March, early April.

Day Passes?

AJ: The festival experience in general is supposed to be about the sum of the parts and the ability to catch a whole weekend of music. We need to sell out our weekend passes to catch back up and the first priority is going to be for those who are ready, willing and able to make the trip down for the entire weekend. And the response so far has been very good.

Crew's Festival Experience

AJ: Even in year one, our team had tremendous festival experience. Little touches make a huge difference. Some of the guys are in their 30^th or 40^th year producing these big events, so their help is tremendous.

Late night sets

AJ: Everything that is on the poster is included in the festival. When we make the next artist announce we are going to announce the late night headliners. Those will be ticketed events that will happen in and around the festival site. They will occur inside the Hangout restaurant and in the new tent. And it's the same size tent that you'd see at any of the other festivals. Tickets will be between $15-$35 at the most. When you're doing a camping festival and there are people on site 24/7, there's obviously a difference in the ticket price from what they are charging and what we are charging because all of that 24-hour-a-day stuff is included in the ticket.

Shuttles

AJ: Gulf Shores is now sold out but Orange Beach is essentially the same community (five miles away). We have shuttles for the majority of the day running east and west along the beach for about ten miles and all the way into Foley, AL. It's upgraded from last year and we were able to dial it in through the big shows we did for the coast restoration over the summer. It also runs to the State Park Camp Ground if folks want to get a ride to the festival from there. There will be a small fee and they can either do it per-ride or get a weekend wristband. It will run from before the festival starts well into the night each day.

Credit

AJ: There are a lot of unsung heroes on this task. Everybody from the top to the bottom has had a big part in making this happen. Chris Sorely handles production and makes sure all the lighting and miscellaneous things are in place and Dave Reese is responsible for setting up the festival itself. Everything from fence lines to where the port-a-johns are and how close they are to the bars. Everybody brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and respect for the fans.

New to Hangout Fest 2011

AJ: There's gonna be a lagoon, Hammock Beach, some new trees. We may be able to add a pool. Ferris wheel is coming back.  There's also a sky-bar, which will be 30 feet in the air where people can enjoy a nice panoramic view of their surroundings. We've added a fifth stage which will be inside an air-conditioned dance tent for late night sets. So there will be more DJ, hip-hop and dance acts there along with phenomenal production (lights, etc.).

There are tons of small things too, but with the hope of increased attendance, we've redone our lay out a bit without losing what made it special last year. There will be more space to move around also, and there are going to be some nice surprises that people are really going to enjoy. 

By Rusty Odom
What d'ya think?

 Interview courtesy of BLANK Newspaper in Knoxville, TN.  www.blanknews.com