Summit Indie Fest Featured Artist: Troll 2

Summit Indie Fest is an inaugural event happening at Book and Bar in Portsmouth, NH on Saturday, May 19th. The ideals behind the fest are two fold, to present great bands within the greater New England music community and also to foster a spirit of philanthropy and giving back.

The bill is a wide spanning cross section of what could be considered (on broader terms) “roots” music in and around the New England area. In the course of one evening you will get hot bluegrass licks and harmonies alongside punk infused folk. Soul and funk rhythms dovetailing with lyrically driven folk rock. We decided to catch up with the bands leading up to the event, one by one, to highlight their distinct sounds, what makes them excited for an evening that is focused on these themes and of course: just what they are up to in general.

First up is Troll 2. The best worst movie ever made, or a “Bluegrass Soul Punk” band playing “in basements and bars across Boston and beyond, enlightening people about important social and political issues like climate justice, addiction, carpet bombings, our breakups and alien abduction, while also inspiring mirth and dance”? Well, it is of course the latter as we are talking to musicians here, but I have to give props for the band name as a B-horror enthusiast. Head below to read up on the band and their involvement in the Summit Indie Fest event.

RLR: For those who have never heard your group before, how would you sum up your sound in a sentence long phrase?

“We’ve been called loudfolk, anti-americana, and folk punk, but we just call ourselves folk, because this is what folk sounds like now.” – Brian Fitzgerald, bassist

RLR: I think what is pretty cool about this particular event is that it is really highlighting how different folk or roots music really is and the sonic breadth that it spans from punk influenced folk to bluegrass and indie singer-songwriter vibes. I mean “Indie” really means independent at the core, but perhaps has come to represent a certain sound in modern times. What are you most excited about in regards to the Indie Music Fest?

“Honestly, the man himself, Joel Greer. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with him talking about community, activism, art, and philanthropy when we first connected about potentially doing this gig. Normally the booking process is all about not wasting each other’s time, and just asking for what you want and negotiating from there. With Joel, the process began with a statement of values, and it became clear to me super fast that his values are very much in line with ours, and the work he’s doing with kids in Lawrence is so what is needed in this world today. So yeah, I’ll play anytime Joel asks me to.” – Mark Files Schwaller, mandolinist

“You look at the full lineup, and it’s clear it was booking with values in mind first. Like, what’s a lyric-driven, acoustic folk band like us doing on a bill with a highly technical, electric soul band like Gretchen & The Pickpockets? The answer is we’re building community around something meaningful, which is why we play music.” -Brian Fitzgerald

RLR: Festival can have a certain connotation about “huge event”, outdoors, sun, so on. But this particular show is really focusing on the intimacy of catching a show in a great setting with highly curated and high quality music. In the life of your group do you find you can take a moment and appreciate that intimacy of a show where every one is zeroed in on the performance? Do you find you strive in that atmosphere?

“We’re all are very used to earning the ears of our audiences. Brian and Chris come from a culture of rowdy basements with no mic, where performing means out-yelling the noise. I grew up playing in bars where the music wasn’t the reason anyone came there, and Mark spent years leading songs at chaotic political actions. There’s something highly satisfying about knowing that every person who is listening to you is doing so because you worked hard for their attention. That said, intimacy is an important part of any healthy community, and community is fundamental to what we do, even more so than music. So that intimate listening room setting is important in our perpetually noisy world, because in order to build that community, we gotta stop and take time to listen as often as possible.” -Zoe Rose de Paz, fiddle

RLR: Two questions: the event is at the Book & Bar in Portsmouth. So, A) what are you reading right now? and B) What is your beverage of choice when on stage (or off)?

“For me, having ADD means I always have several books going at once. Right now, it’s Haruki Murakami’s “Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World”, Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,” Patricia C. Wrede’s “Dealing with Dragons” and Malcolm X’s autobiography. For drinks, I’ll take a whiskey on the rocks.” – Zoe Rose de Paz

“I’m reading “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base” by Annie Jacobsen. I’ve also been slogging through “Gargantua and Pantagruel” for about a year. I’m into ciders, or straight grenadine”. -Brian Fitzgerald

“Uhhhh, the last book I actually read all the way through was over 10 years ago. Am I still allowed to play this festival? Wait no, I got one. I recently found a transcript of Black Thought’s 10-minute freestyle he did on Hot 97 a few months back, and I’m studying it to learn how to tell your personal story with flow. Like, if you haven’t seen that yet, stop talking to us and google it right now. Holy shit. My favorite drink…probably some kinda IPA.” -Mark Files Schwaller

“I’m re-reading Lord of the Rings. Water.” -Chris O’Grady, guitar

RLR: The mission of the show is really to celebrate philanthropy and the spirit of community through music. Being a part of it, I would assume that is also important for you all. What does community support and that philanthropic ideal mean to you as artists?

“Real philanthropy is violent re-distribution.” – Chris O’Grady

“There’s an old model of philanthropy, and it’s unfortunately still popular, that resembles something closer to a rich dude bribing you to live your life the way he thinks you should. But festivals like this are turning that model on its head. Behind Summit Indie Fest is a group of people who’ve spent years living in, listening to, and serving the area, doing something that lifts up many people, including themselves, at once. It’s community controlled philanthropy, which is the only type I have any interest in.” -Mark Files Schwaller

RLR: Anything you really want to plug coming up?

“We’re recording a new EP that we’ll release June 1st at our CD Release Party at Thunder Road, in Somerville. It has no name, as of yet, but we wanted to respond to the reckoning happening in the entertainment industry right now. With the ‘Me Too’ movement and continuing exposure of sexual misconduct in our society, we thought we could contribute by encouraging people to dismember rapists and dump them in a canal” -Zoe Rose de Paz