However, Rebelskamp is far from what one might think of as a traditional jam band. Rather than noodling endlessly in the genre’s traditional style, they try to construct concise, structured 3-5 minute songs—“real songs,” if you will. And they sound totally different depending on where they’re playing at the time—a loud street at Subzero, a quiet coffeehouse at Caffé Frascatti (where they play the first Saturday of every month), or their recent gigs at Myth.
“We stay so fluid and liquid that no matter where we play, we’re confident we can fill the room with an appropriate sound,” Gilardoni says.
All of this raw, freeform creativity is exactly what San Jose’s Kyle Patrick pictured when he started the Freq Out! events. He was inspired by the festivals he was going to, like Symbiosis and Emissions.
“What I wanted to create was what I was seeing out in the middle of the woods,” says Patrick, “I wanted to bring that energy indoors.”
Patrick, who was classically trained beginning at age nine, is in several bands and calls himself “an upright bass player at heart,” brings his own spontaneous creativity to Freq Out!, performing as UpSwell. Though his sets are laptop-based, he tries to get off what he calls “the MIDI clock” by incorporating live elements like looping and a fretless bass guitar.
“I found myself calling myself a DJ for lack of a better word,” he says.
Patrick says one of his main goals with the music at Freq Out!—which started out as purely dubstep, glitch-hop and other electro, but has broadened considerably as the event has grown—is to book artists that he believes people don’t know, but should. This edition will feature, besides Rebelskamp, San Francisco electronic artist Bogl, as well as Likquid Project, Dirtybeats and Codeword. There will also be a secret guest headliner.
Many of the artists involved with Freq Out! praise its vibe of respect toward art and music. But Patrick believes it has gotten as successful as it has so far because it’s also a place for creative people to let loose, as well.
“It’s an art thing,” he says, “but it’s a great party, too.”
FREQ OUT! will be held Friday, June 29 at South First Billiards in San Jose, 9pm; free.
.Live Art, Instant Music and Strange Happenings At Freq Out!
