Interview: FairPlay Entertainment and SotaSound Music Festival's Brandon Pulphus
Review by: Andy Ellis, Writer @andysmileyjay
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @PlaylistTC
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The Minneapolis music scene is slowly crawling it’s way back from the almost death-blow that was the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hip-Hop’s corner of that scene was no different with several of the venues that gave a platform to up-and-coming MCs to start paying their dues forced to close permanently as the shutdown dragged on. Brandon Pulphus, one of FairPlay Entertainment’s artists, plans to help the rebuilding with more than just his words.
This Saturday, July 23rd, he will help put on the inaugural SotaSound Music Festival in New Richmond, Wisconsin at Rivers Edge. The goal is to help put Minnesota back on the map when it comes to Hip-Hop, with performances by artists like Lewiee Blaze and Sei Young, and play some games while you’re at it.
I sat down with Pulphus to talk about the state of the local Hip-Hop scene and what concert goers can expect from this showcase of over 60 artists. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Andy Ellis: You, NUR-D, and your collective are really my first real dive into the local Hip-Hop scene in certain area. So could you talk a little bit about what the local and regional Hip-Hop scene is like?
Brandon Pulphus: Absolutely. So I would say, that's tough because before you could say that Rhymesayers (Entertainment) were the powerhouses here in Minnesota, but obviously things have happened where that dynamic has changed. And now there's this big vacuum that's taking place where there's not much of a huge scene anymore without Rhymesayers.
That being said, ever since NUR-D stepped on the scene he's been climbing the ranks, throwing these huge shows, working on his brand, putting out amazing projects and lo and behold it seems like he's damn near single-handedly reviving the scene. And now I would say it's evolved to an estimated about three or four different main groups.
So you've got your local artists who are kind of, you know, getting into it and don't really perform too much outside of open mics. Then you've got FairPlay Entertainment crew led by NUR-D. We've got DJ Hayes, and it’s Lt. Sunnie, Mickey Breeze, Mpls Drew, and Tuvok the Word. And we're basically doing what we can to not only make sure that there's some really dope entertainment in Minneapolis and in the cities, but also everybody can come and it's a safe space guaranteed by us personally.
Basically, other than that the scene is, it's tough to say the same because so many venues were taken out by the pandemic. So if you weren't already established, or in a spot where you were about to become established as an artist who can pretty much get booked whenever they want to, it was really hard for a lot of newer MCs or newer artists to break into the scene. So with that said, man, it's really tough to say. I mean do you even call it a scene anymore? There's no more Shut up and Rap (Go Radio MN), no more Fifth Element open mics, no more Honey, no more Can Can Wonderland. So, it's tough.
A.E.: Yeah, and so then the idea for this festival SotaSound, could you kind of talk about how this idea came about and how you got involved?
B.P.: So it was an opportunity given to me by my friend Joe Scarpellino.I know him through just doing shows around Minnesota, and he actually knew the venue owners at River's Edge and they were looking to use their space to throw several festivals. They just didn't really have experience doing it.
So they wanted to reach out to a few different pockets of musicians. My friend Joe does a lot of bluegrass, jam bands, and rock, but they wanted to tap into a different demographic. So Joe knew me and Fair Play Entertainment, and wanted to see if I could maybe either put something on with Fair Play as a centerpiece or at least throw a Hip-Hop festival.
So we have four months to do it. It was super last minute by the the owners, but they asked if we were willing to do it. And me, my partner, Tony Henderson, and John X (aka John Stiffin) sat down at his table one day and said, well, this is a pretty much once in a lifetime opportunity, especially in Minnesota. So we figured we should hop on it and try to put on as many local musicians as we could and bring them over to the River's Edge.
A.E.: And so with that, I was trying to slowly go through all the artists that are on the festival’s bill. Of course with any indie music scene there are a plethora of countless musicians. Did you jus reach out to everyone you know or how did you get that lineup?
B.P.: So it was a combination of a few things. The first thing was I wanted to make sure that, you know, some respected artists that I personally really love to rock with like Ghosts in the Green Room are some of my favorites out here. Sh0ck is another good one. Mpls Drew, of course.
Basically, I thought of a few names and was like okay, I don't know if these guys have had the chance to perform at a festival so I'd like to throw one towards them. Other than that, we actually just, we posted a couple of statuses to see who were interested in the scene. Naturally, we got a super warm reaction and we just kind of, siphoned through all of the different artists who inquired and took our pick.
A.E.: Yeah. And one things I did see, is that that you actually aren't performing, correct? Was that an on purpose choice?
B.P.: It was. So, originally I was planning on headlining the entire festival. I’m a pretty decent performer, I've been told and I think it'd be a great energy to do and all. But once I got into the meat and potatoes of the festival, seeing all the facilitation that needed to be done, reaching out to the vendors, getting permits, and licenses, etc., I figured it would make a lot more sense to just book other artists and you know, do my thing with all the management and leadership roles with my partners. So that's why we ended up going that route.
A.E.: Is this your first involvement in a festival in terms of actually being in the background and putting together?
B.P.: Absolutely. Very first one.
A.E.: So during the process, which I'm sure it has had its ups and downs like everything else, especially this week, what have you learned from it?
B.P.: Oh, man! (Laughs) There’s so many answers to that question. I guess I would say the biggest thing I learned is to, if there is something that is very important or crucial to the success of the festival, that needs to come in writing. One hundred percent.
I feel like most people would assume that the case, but there are like so many little things that you don't even realize until you're dealing with an issue that you have to look at. So I would say getting every spec and detail you need in writing. I would say making sure you don't book 70 artists on your first festival.
Also having a means of communication established beforehand. We did a lot of emails, and then Instagram, and then text messages, and phone calls. And after you do that with 65, 70 people, some things get lost in translation. Sometimes you don't remember what system you worked with. So I would say just streamlining the whole communication process with everybody involved.
That and I would also say choosing roles as early as possible, instead of going with the whole floater route, and everybody kind of just tries to plug in holes in the ship as they come up.
A.E.: I want to talk a little more about the festival itself. Is it one stage, two stages? How many how many, how many stages are there?
B.P.: For this year we’re going with two stages.
A.E.: I’m also seeing there's actually going to be camping and a lot of actually, you know, non-music activities. Was that always part of the plan or how did that part came about?
B.P.: So we lucked out with the venue, because I mean, we did plan on having yard games along with the music, maybe some other activities. But the site that we used actually already had the tubing, water slide, and pool set up, as well as the mini golf. So we figured, if we can somehow get access to that and the camping, we can throw something that I would hope, I mean nobody out here has really thrown a festival like that before.
Even with Soundset (Music Festival) you had to leave when it was done, and it was just the music and vendors. But we wanted to do something different, separate ourselves from Soundset and, you know, make it an event where you didn't necessarily have to be a music fan to go to and enjoy it.
A.E.: Are there any non-music activities you’re looking forward to doing yourself or how it will turnout from an audience standpoint?
B.P.: Absolutely. So I would say personally, the things I’m are looking forward to the most would be hammerschlagen, and Giant Jenga. And my last but certainly not least, I would say, I'm looking forward to taking out all my stress and everybody on the beer pong table. Because it's going to be a long day, and it's going to be even longer for anybody on the wrong side of the table. Let me just say that.
A.E.: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All those missed emails just right into that cup, right?
B.P.: (laughs) Exactly! Exactly! Hahahahaha! Exactly!
A.E.: I'm sure the day of the festival you're probably still going to be running around like a crazy person anyway, because it’s the first Festival. Are you going to have any time to actually watch the music? Is there anyone you’re looking forward to seeing at all?
B.P.: I am anticipating that I won't get a chance until later in the night once the smoke starts to die down, but if I can I'd love to. But I’ll also be doing some of the hosting and some of the stage management, so I'm sure I'll be able to catch you know, a stray metaphorical bullet from somebody performing on stage. That's the plan, anyway.
A.E.: Yeah and I just got a few more questions here. What do you want, the people who are coming to this festival, what do you want them to get out of it?
B.P.: Honestly, I just want to get everybody there familiar with Minnesota's Hip-Hop scene. I know that the location of the festival is on the border of Wisconsin, but there's so many talented artists here in the cities that don't get to see a big stage, and don't get access to a huge crowd. And there's so much good stuff out here that I feel like people are missing out on, just because, I don't know. I guess nobody did the work to put them on a platform where they could see it.
So I want everybody to get familiar with the artists that we've got in the Twin Cities. That's what I want the most. As well as, of course, creating a memorable experience that we can do once a year, every year, for as long as we can. We want to put the Midwest on the map.
A.E.: And then looking forward to, say, the next 5-10 years. I'm sure you have your ideas and everything. What would you like to ultimately see happen with this festival?
B.P.: When it's all said and done, in five to ten years, I want to I want to have a festival big enough for people from out-of-state, are flying into Minnesota to get some good Hip-Hop. I want to be on the same level of Lollapalooza, Rolling Loud. I want us to be huge.
So, that's my goal. I really want to just be a household name, at least in the Midwest.
A.E.: Before I let you go. Is there anything else you want to add at all?
B.P.: I will say if we still want to get as many people as possible, we just started a flash sale yesterday where tickets are going for $40 a piece. So we want to get everybody taking advantage of that sweet deal. And that's mainly just us saying ‘Thank You’ to everybody who supported and bought tickets so far.
The pre-sale tickets are looking great, but we wanted to just show some love, man. So I guess the last thing I want to say is I want to make something that Minnesota can be proud of, and I think that's pretty much it.
Click here for SotaSound Music Festival tickets and information.
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