Carly Rickards
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Musicians from all over the country will pour into San Luis Obispo this weekend for the third annual Fall Flood Festival.
The music festival, put on by Cal Poly alumnus Carver Cordes in association with KCPR, is “a music festival for people who are losers,” KCPR Promotions Director Biba Pickles said, “and I mean that in the best possible way.”
Cordes originally came up with the idea for Fall Flood Festival at a KCPR alumni reunion in 2011. He and two former disc jockeys considered hosting a barbecue at a park, but that didn’t feel quite right, he said.
“We all love music,” Cordes said. “Even if we haven’t all met each other, that’s what we share.”
So he put a lineup together — which included hip-hop group Zion I — and paid all the costs out of pocket. He lost money that year, but still considered it an overall success.
“I celebrated the station and made it to where everybody had a great party,” he said.
For Pickles, it’s also a celebration of unheard voices.
“There has to be a voice for everyday people that make music and have made that their life’s blood,” she said. “So this is what this festival is about. KCPR is about giving other people a chance.”
This year, Cordes cut back on costs by making deals with businesses. A donated pair of Beats by Dre headphones will be raffled off at the festival, along with other prizes, and the local venues are contributing stipends or portions of drink sales.
All of the money raised will first be used to cover the costs of artists, even if that just means filling up their gas tank. The rest of the money will be split up and donated to three nonprofits of Cordes’ choosing: Oceano Community Farmers’ Market, an up-and-coming, all-ages venue called Frankie Teardrops and, of course, KCPR.
“I might suggest a donation, but if somebody wants to contribute to me being able to pay all the artists and also all these fundraisers … they can buy raffle tickets or they can buy some merch,” Cordes said. “That will go into that pot.”
As far as what to expect at the event, Pickles said attendees should be prepared for the unexpected.
“Not anything crazy; there’s not gonna be like, patches of hair and bloody eyeballs flying from the sky or a guy in a bear suit trying to attack you and scratch your face off — nothing like that,” she said. “When I say unexpected, I mean the group of people and the atmosphere and the genres, because it’s a giant culture clash.”
The festival will be held at multiple venues in San Luis Obispo on Oct. 25, 26 and 27. The schedule is as follows:
Friday, Oct. 25
Venue: SLO Brewing Co.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Musicians: Próxima Parada, The Monroe, Pat Bang and Daniel Coxon of The Riot Professor
Tickets: $10 in advance at Boo Boo Records or $12 at the door
Other info: All ages
Venue: The Compound at 757 Buckley Rd.
Time: 8 p.m.
Musicians: Troller, Ssleeperhold, .paperman, Some Ember
Other info: All ages
Saturday, Oct. 26
Venue: The Biba Pickles Variety Hour on 91.3 KCPR or kcpr.org
Musicians: Little Wings
Time: 4 p.m.
Venue: Kreuzberg, CA
Musicians: Little Wings, Quinn DeVeaux, The Black Shirts, Lady Lazarus
Time: 6 p.m.
Other info: All ages
Sunday, Oct. 27
Venue: Frog & Peach Pub
Musicians: Quinn DeVeaux & the Blue Beat Revue, American Dirt, The Booker Tease, The Dead Volts, Galixy Rays, King Walrus, Dani & The Scarlet Fevers, St. Vincent Folk, Five Minus Two, Swim Lessons, Abstract Butta Fingas, Dedications, Sea Birds, Zach Ledbetter with Chase Hall
Time: Noon to close
Other info: 21+