As adventurous Texans, we’ve been Marfa fans for some time, from personal vacations to clear our cluttered minds and experience one of modern art’s precious treasures to valuing the town’s burgeoning contributions to music. In a little over a week, a new festival will descend on the small West Texas town; Marfa Myths, sponsored by Mexican Summer and local art gallery Ballroom Marfa, aims to incorporate music residencies, visual art, and live performances in a rebirth of what began as Mexican Summer Festival last year. The newly branded Marfa Myths plans for an annual recurrence. We highly recommend attending for both the excellent programming, which features Iceage, Grouper, Dev Hynes, and more, as well as the spacious and transcendent physical terrain. Buy your tickets (for only $15!) here! We corresponded via email with Nicki Ittner, an assistant curator at Ballroom Marfa, and Kieth Abrahamsson, co-founder of Mexican Summer to get more insight on the festival.
Pop Press INTL: How do you think the West Texas landscape interacts with creativity and artistic creation?
Marfa Myths: Well, the light is beautiful here. Plus, the space of Marfa — the actual physical space — offers room for artists to really…expand. If you have the dedicated time, it gives you the mental room to work and think and open up.
PPI: What benefits and drawbacks do you feel with organizing a festival pretty far from large populations?
MM: Benefits: Obviously being isolated from a big city makes the festival more intimate and thoughtful. People who are coming — both the audience and musicians — are coming because they want to be here. When both the audience and performers have that intention, it affects the vibe in the room.
Drawbacks: Production can be challenging, since we have limited options. You can’t just run down to a speciality store and buy something, or call a rental company and get a piece of equipment. You have to plan thoroughly to make it all work. We like to work within these limitations, since we’re not trying to recreate Los Angeles or New York out here…part of being here is being HERE. But still…if something breaks, you have to think fast. Or ad lib. Or just roll with it.
PPI: The festival includes international artists from Mexican Summer (Connan Mockasin) but also international artists from other labels (Iceage, Dev Hynes). We’re excited! Why so many international entities?
MM: There was no particular intention to focus on int’l vs. domestic acts – it’s just how it played out because we’re fans and/or work together.
PPI: Marfa has been increasingly recognized for its contribution to the arts over the past couple of decades. How do you see Marfa interacting with and contributing to music at large now and how do you see that developing in the future?
MM: Ballroom Marfa has had a music program since we opened in 2003. Chinati was always doing special shows for their Open House weekend, and El Cosmico has been doing Trans Pecos Festival for eight years, but as far as regular concerts…that was mostly Ballroom (directed by Vance Knowles, our founding music director). The shows Vance did — Animal Collective, Jeff Tweedy, Boris, Magnolia Electric Company, Grizzly Bear, Jenny Lewis, Robert Earl Keen, Japanather — are inspiring (especially when you consider they happened in a town of 1900). But as more people have come to town, music has grown, in a really amazing way: Marfa Book Company, El Cosmico, Padre’s, and Lost Horse all put on shows now. Plus CineMarfa and Marfa Film Festival add to the pot. With that proliferation, Ballroom is trying to refine our program a bit, and expand more into programs like Marfa Myths, which combines art, music and film; as well as offer more music residencies; more commissioned works; more performances interacting directly with the landscape. And of course the occasional slamdunk radass concert (dream: ZZ Top playing the entirety of Tejas).
PPI: What should first time visitors know about Marfa?
Marfa is a tiny town (population about 1900). It doesn’t have the conveniences of a large town (no pharmacy; food places have weird hours; lunch can be challenging to find; etc.), so it’s good if you’re aware of these quirks, have patience, and can see them as part of the charm.
