Introducing: Sound on Sound Fest

Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham – in a rare shirted picture – aids crowd surfers at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2015 (Photo by John Anderson)

When Fun Fun Fun Fest founder Graham Williams separated from Transmission Events last month, he made clear his intentions to start a new music festival. Ever since, he’s been constantly bombarded with two questions: “Is it happening and if so, when?”

Today, Williams’ new booking outfit, Margin Walker, answers those questions with a preliminary announcement about the event: Sound on Sound Fest takes place Nov. 4-6. The location and lineup drop follows 10am Tuesday, June 28, at which point tickets go on sale.

“I’m really happy about all the bands and how it came together,” Williams offered via phone Wednesday night. “It’s gonna be very similar to stuff I did before as far as booking a festival of this caliber. Same formula: an even balance of heavier stuff – punk and metal – with upbeat, dancey stuff – electronic, hip-hop, DJs – and indie rock.

“That’s just something I believe in,” he continues. “All these genres are part of the same scene, even if they aren’t. Even back in the Emo’s days, I felt that it doesn’t matter if everyone listens to the same bands, because those bands usually listen to each other.

“They cross over. They’re part of the same fabric. So I always want to house it under one roof.

“That’s still the same mindset of the festival.”

Other hallmarks of FFF Fest, which Williams co-founded in 2006 with Mohawk owner James Moody and ceded the brand rights to in May when their partnership with primary investor Stratus Properties ended, will ground Sound on Sound Fest, including action sports and comedy.

“The plan is to do a lot of that same stuff – comedy, BMX, skate – that we feel is a part of the scene just as much as the bands,” says Williams. “There are so many great progressive comics. There are so many great skate and BMX people who come from that same world that we’re all from. Over the years, we kind of stepped outside of just comedy and did a lot of spoken word, panels, and interviews. That’s stuff we plan to elaborate on moving forward.”

Today’s news amounts to a “save the date,” in this case, the first weekend of November – the same time frame FFF Fest has been held traditionally. Williams declined to answer whether or not Sound on Sound’s location was in Travis County proper, but said he did walk-throughs of several properties recently, which would indicate his endeavor won’t be on FFF’s home turf of Auditorium Shores.

Meanwhile, Transmission Events – now an event production-focused entity owned by Stratus – hasn’t declared whether Fun Fun Fun Fest will happen this year or continue on in the future.