Basilica Soundscape 2015 Preview: What to Look Forward to at Upstate New York’s Premiere Music Festival
Photo by Matt Charland.
This weekend, a disproportionate number of hip Brooklynites fleeing the last, gross days of city summer will land in Hudson, NY, a handsome riverfront hamlet with a regular population under 7,000. Since 2011, Basilica Soundscape, a boutique music and arts festival, has been the strong magnet pulling them two hours north. Held in a converted 19th century glue factory turned local culture hub, Soundscape has drawn wild acclaim for its dramatic setting and carefully cultivated lineups. This year’s bill is another dark, adventurous mix of rising stars and unknown pleasures. The punishingly loud electronics of The Haxan Cloak and the elegantly wounded glam-pop of Perfume Genius headline a uniformly exciting lineup of musicians, authors, and visual artists scheduled to appear.
We talked to Basilica’s rock star owner Melissa auf der Maur, along with the festival’s booking team, performing musicians, and participating artists, to give you everything you need to know about the anti-festival that’s become the favorite grown-up summer camp of New York City’s creative community.
