Moore: The third Momentous electronic music festival will be taking place next weekend at the Momentary in Bentonville. Laura Newell is the programmer of music at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary and the curator of Momentous. They visited Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani in the Harold and Blanche Caulk News Studio to discuss the new elements attendees can expect at this year's event.
Newell: We kind of had all of it indoors, and that was what made it unique because it was like a music festival, but in this contemporary art space. That’s kind of what brought that wow factor, I think. So, we had elements of performance art, and then we had culinary cuisine, because those are kind of the main three pillars that we focus on at the Momentary: music and art and food.
And so this year we’re expanding it to our outdoor stage while also keeping our indoor stage, RØDE House, as a main stage. And then we’re adding a community stage curated by Backroom Social and Art Club House Events, Buena Vibra Vibes, Creation Co., NuFi Sound. It really is like the whole community of electronic music coming together and putting forth artists or ideas, just like this cacophony of organic community that I’m really excited about.
Nourani: I love that word. You mentioned that the local aspect is kind of new. Can you explain to me why that’s important and the significance of that and why you picked those? I mean, we’re familiar with Backroom House Events, iconic folks, but maybe give us a little bit more about that.
Newell: Yeah, I think last year it was really popular, but we brought in all these national acts and all. I was experiencing Momentous with those people, and so I thought, well, we wouldn’t really have a scene here if it wasn’t for the work that the DIY or promoters are doing on the ground here to kind of uplift and curate the scene every day outside of just Momentous. So really, it’s them that’s creating this scene.
Momentous can be this platform to kind of uplift all of the work that they do. And it was an opportunity for everyone to come together because, maybe not working in silos, but they kind of have their own touch of electronic music or expertise. So it was nice to come in and hive-mind it for one event.
Nourani: What else can people expect to see this year that hasn’t been there in the past?
Newell: As far as the lineup goes, we expanded it genre-wise. On Friday, we’ll have dubstep icon Flux Pavilion back-to-back with Doctor P, which is this nice nod to nostalgic dubstep with Flux Pavilion. And then Doctor P brings in this new wave element. They’ve worked on an EP together they just dropped, so they’re kind of touring that. So Friday will be this high-energy, exciting night mixed with house or techno or whatever kind of vibe you’re going for electronic-wise, we’ll have it.
And then on Saturday, we’re having Tycho. His full band is playing as the headliner, which is really exciting because normally he just plays as a DJ, but this time he’s bringing his whole band. It’s a very visual set—lots of video walls, and just that counterpart to what Friday was.
But outside of music, we’ll have performance artists curated by Rin Peisert and Cynthia Post Hunt. They’ve curated eight to 10 performance artists that’ll be around the grounds reacting to the sounds that they hear or maybe the audience. So you can be walking from stage to stage and then stumble upon this performance artist that’s really deep in their work. And so it kind of makes you take a second to take that in.
Then additionally, we are bringing in from Amsterdam this incredible, gigantic, enormous piece called Firebird by Touki Delphine. They’re a collective, and they’ve recycled car headlights, and they’ve refurbished them and made it into this light show that’s an installation. So the audience will kind of be watching it, but then also be part of the performance. It’s a sound and light installation.
Lastly, we are bringing this element called the Night Market, curated by Robert Bishop and Sam Lott. It adds a touch of local in a different way outside of musicians. The goal of the Night Market is to be a bit overstimulating. It’s very sensory—what do I see, what do I smell, what do I hear? It’s kind of like a jam-packed Taiwanese-market feel where every tent is something different. So it could be a culinary experience, the next one is a fortune teller, the next one is something else, and they’re all local.
So that part we’re really excited about because we didn’t ever have vendors at Momentous before. And they just bring such a really unique element that is necessary in a festival context.
Nourani: Yeah, that sounds all super exciting. When is this going to be taking place?
Newell: So this is taking place Oct. 10 and 11. So next weekend. It’s coming up quickly. So you can get your tickets at the Momentary. And tell your friends.
Nourani: Is there anything else that you want to share about the festival, how it came together, anything you’re particularly excited to see?
Newell: I think how it came together—I really wanted to, when you look at the lineup, it’s really eccentric. It’s purposefully all over the board. So I think if you’re into one type of electronic music, you’ll be able to discover that you like another. So I like how genre diverse it is.
The artists are a bit more on the niche side. So it’s a bit more like, come discover who these artists are and then leave knowing that you have found this new love for this artist that is undiscovered. One of the artists, her name is Shima. She’s playing right before Tycho. She’s technically more of a smaller artist, but I just fell in love with her unique story and background and sound. And I really think that she’s going to blow up.I really wanted to put her at a spot right before the headliner so that she could get the most exposure.
So the placements of the artists are intentional for people to discover them. I think that just going through the festival thinking about this was put here very intentionally can give you a different perspective that I’m excited about. And I hope guests respond well.
Nourani: Of course. Thank you so much.
Newell: Thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure.
Moore: That was Laura Newell, the programmer of music at the Momentary and Crystal Bridges in Bentonville and the curator of Momentous, taking place next weekend. She spoke with Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani earlier this week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
