Geek Pop

Last updated

Geek Pop was an online music festival established in 2008 that featured artists inspired by science. [1] In the first festival, hosted by the website Null Hypothesis: The Journal of Unlikely Science, attendees could only download a podcast featuring songs about science as a radio-style festival report. [2] After 2009, the festival moved to its website where listeners could listen to music for free and download radio-style report podcasts called the "highlights podcast." The Geek Pop website also produces a monthly podcast, [3] and has hosted live events. As of June 2016, the festival and website are no longer active. [4]

Contents

Background

Online festivals first began in 2003 at the Exposure Festival. [5] Online festivals have a set launch time but don't happen in a fixed location, instead, they're available online after their launch date. [6]

Similar to festivals, online festivals had a set time and celebrated a particular aspect of a community, albeit an online community. The emergence of social media has enabled people to communicate with each other during online festivals. [7] At Geek Pop festivals, this communication was primarily achieved through an online "bar," which used Twitter on the website to show tweets about Geek Pop. [8]

There are environmental benefits to having an online festival as opposed to, or in conjunction with, a real festival. [9] Half of the acts that played in 2008 were from overseas, but no carbon was used to "bring" them to a primarily UK audience. There was no litter or waste generated by the festival and the majority of the marketing was done online, reducing the amount of paper used.

Geek Pop '08

Song List

Media recognition

Geek Pop '08 was mentioned during podcasts from the Guardian [11] and Nature, [12] receiving positive reviews from both – "There were many highlights, but [our] pick of the bunch [is] Dark Matter by science troubadour Johnny Berliner", said Nature. Laboratory Talk said that, "this virtual festival has much to commend it… My personal highpoint was the aching rendition of Hotel Mauna Kea by the Photomixers, demonstrating simultaneously pathos, humor, and even a little musical talent." [13] Since March 2008 it has also been featured on Australia's Diffusion Science Radio's 2008 Christmas Special [14] as well as the Mr. Science Show. [15]

Geek Pop '09

Geek Pop '09 was launched on March 6, 2009. Alongside the two virtual stages imagined in the podcast from the previous year, the reproductive stage and the Tesla Tent, the festival introduced a new main stage which will be called the Tetrahedron stage (in homage to Glastonbury's Pyramid stage). The major difference between the 2009 festival and the previous year was its relocation to a standalone website and the introduction of an interactive festival map that allowed listeners to choose songs to listen to. [16]

Geek Pop 2010

Geek Pop 2010 occurred on 12–21 March 2010 and featured a 5th virtual stage for science comedy, named the Comical Flask. [17] There were also two live performances, one in Bristol at the Cube Microplex, [18] and one in London at The Miller. [19]

Notable acts that contributed to the online festival and live events include Baba Brinkman, Dr Stuart Clark as Dr. Stu and the Neutron Stars, [20] Bert Miller & the Animal Folk, [21] Dr. Martin Austwick from Answer Me This! podcast as The Sound of the Ladies and Jonny Berliner. [22]

Baba Brinkman's "Rationalist Anthem" Off That appeared exclusively as part of Geek Pop 2010, featuring a video animated by Tommy Nagle. [23]

Geek Pop 2011

The launch of Geek Pop 2011 coincided again with The British Science Association National Science and Engineering Week. The online festival went live March 11, 2011 and a live launch gig occurred at Wilton's Music Hall in London on March 10, 2011. [24] The festival featured music from Jeffrey Lewis, Amateur Transplants, Dr. Martin Austwick, Helen Arney and Jonny Berliner. The Amateur Transplants, Martin Austwick and Helen Arney all performed live at the Wilton's Music Hall launch gig.

For the first time, some of the music was available for purchase only, on a mini album called Geek Like Me. [25]

Geek Like Me - Track Listing

  1. "Animals" by Helen Arney with Mr Simmonds featuring Professor Elemental  – 4:01
  2. "An Element Sends a Postcard Home" by Spirit of Play – 3:08
  3. "The Day of the Snail" by The Sound of the Ladies – 4:12
  4. "Radio Gagarin" by Karmadillo – 4:23
  5. "DNA (The Genetics Calypso)" by Jonny Berliner – 2:49
  6. Brokeback Workbench" by MJ Hibbett and Vom Vorton – 2:47

Geek Pop 2012

There was no Geek Pop festival in 2012 due to other commitments from the organizers, Jim Bell and Hayley Birch. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CBC Radio 3</span> Canadian digital radio station

CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicia Day</span> American actress (born 1979)

Kathryn Felicia Day is an American actress, singer, writer, and web series creator. She is the creator and star of the web series The Guild (2007–2013), a show loosely based on her life as a gamer. She also wrote and starred in the Dragon Age web series Dragon Age: Redemption (2011). She is a founder of the online media company Geek & Sundry, best known for hosting the show Critical Role between 2015 and 2019. Day was a member of the board of directors of the International Academy of Web Television from December 2009 until August 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Mac</span> Irish presenter and DJ

Annie Macmanus, known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and Future Sounds. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP Lost and Found venues in places like Ibiza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Gunn</span> American musician and podcaster

Marc Andrew Gunn is an American musician and podcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josie Long</span> English comedian (born 1982)

Josie Isabel Long is an English comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Hazlewood</span> British conductor (born 1959)

Charles Matthew Egerton Hazlewood is a British conductor. After winning the European Broadcasting Union conducting competition in 1995 whilst still in his twenties, Hazlewood has had a career as an international conductor, music director of film and theatre, composer and a curator of music on British radio and television, Motivational Speaker and founder of Paraorchestra – the world's first integrated ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians. He was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in May 2019 and became Sky Arts' Ambassador for Music in January 2021. In 2023 Hazlewood was recognised for his 'outstanding contribution to the musical life of the UK' when awarded the Sir Charles Groves Prize by music charity Making Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhett & Link</span> YouTube comedy duo

Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers", they are known for creating and hosting the YouTube series Good Mythical Morning. Their other notable projects include comedic songs and sketches, their IFC series Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings, their YouTube Premium series Rhett & Link's Buddy System, their podcast Ear Biscuits, their YouTube series Wonderhole, and their novel The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek.

<i>Answer Me This!</i> Comedy podcast

Answer Me This! was a comedy podcast by Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann made between 2007 and 2023, in which they answered questions submitted by the general public. It was one of the first independent British podcasts to gain success, and led to both Zaltzman and Mann establishing careers as professional podcasters. Initially produced weekly, the podcast became fortnightly in January 2014 and then monthly in December 2016. The series originally ended with its 400th episode on 5 August 2021, but returned for one further episode in 2023.

Jonathan Tudor Owen is a Welsh producer, actor and writer who has appeared in TV shows including Shameless, Murphy's Law and My Family. Owen won a Welsh BAFTA in 2007 for the documentary The Aberfan Disaster, which he co-produced with Judith Davies.

Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People is a Christmas stage show celebrating a view of science. It was first run in 2008 at the Bloomsbury Theatre and re-run as The Return of Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People in 2009, then televised on BBC Four as Nerdstock: 9 Lessons and Carols for Godless People.

Maximum Fun is an independent, worker-owned cooperative podcast and radio show production organization founded by Jesse Thorn. The organization originated with Thorn's college radio show The Sound of Young America which continued in an adapted format and with a new name, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn. Maximum Fun has since grown to include several other programs. Shows on the network cover a wide variety of topics.

iHeartRadio is an American freemium broadcast, podcast, radio streaming and Music Streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008 and iHeartRadio serves as the national umbrella brand for iHeartMedia's radio network, the largest radio broadcaster in the United States with 128 million registered users as of 2019 and its other consumer-facing brands. Its main radio competitors are Audacy, TuneIn and Sirius XM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baba Brinkman</span> Canadian rapper and playwright

Dirk Murray Brinkman is a Canadian rapper and playwright best known for recordings and performances that combine hip hop music with literature, theatre, and science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Sagers</span> American journalist

Aaron Sagers is an American television presenter, journalist — including a self-described "paranormal journalist" — podcast host, and expert of geek culture and paranormal media. He is also an author, social media micro-influencer, and founder of ParanormalPopCulture.com, a website which covers paranormal topics in popular culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Zaltzman</span> English podcaster, broadcaster and writer

Helen Zaltzman is an English podcaster, broadcaster and writer. She produces the linguistics podcast The Allusionist, the entertainment podcast Answer Me This!, and the Veronica Mars recap podcast Veronica Mars Investigations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brady Haran</span> Australian-British YouTuber and journalist (born 1976)

Brady John Haran is an Australian-British independent filmmaker and video journalist who produces educational videos and documentary films for his YouTube channels, the most notable being Computerphile and Numberphile. Haran is also the co-host of the Hello Internet podcast along with fellow educational YouTuber CGP Grey. On 22 August 2017, Haran launched his second podcast, called The Unmade Podcast, and on 11 November 2018, he launched his third podcast, The Numberphile Podcast, based on his mathematics-centered channel of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Scrimshaw</span> American screenwriter

Joseph Scrimshaw is an American comedian and writer for radio, television and theater, whom City Pages, a Twin Cities newspaper, describes as having an "irreverent and insightful wit." He is the author of a book of comic essays called Comedy of Doom and hosts a monthly podcast called Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw, where he and his guests discuss their obsessions. He performs across the country in a variety of venues, including comedy festivals like San Francisco's SketchFest and science fiction conventions such as Dragon Con and CONvergence, and his plays have been performed internationally. He has collaborated with performer Bill Corbett on a number of plays and written for RiffTrax, Corbett's joint comedy venture with Kevin Murphy and Michael J. Nelson. Scrimshaw has toured with musicians Molly Lewis and the Doubleclicks, and performed live for musician Jonathan Coulton's JoCo Cruise and the geek vaudeville w00tstock. Scrimshaw has been involved with writing and performing for American Public Media's radio variety show Wits, writing sketches and appearing as the character Theater Ghost. He has also written for the national sketch comedy television show M@dAbout.

Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium content YouTube channel, a news division, and a television version of the original podcast produced by and aired on BBC America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EQ Music</span> British website and music blog

EQ Music or EQ Music Blog is an independent British music website and blog founded by American digital and music enthusiast Raj Rudolph. Alternative names include EQ and EQ Music; the site supports new electronic pop artists alongside its music reviews, features, interviews and video previews. In 2007, with the addition of New Artists Editor Mandy Rogers, the site developed into a multi-author blog; in 2013, pop blogger Luis Gonzalez joined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Arney</span> British presenter, stand-up comedian and musician

Helen Arney is a British presenter, stand-up comedian and musician. She has toured with the Uncaged Monkeys alongside comedian Robin Ince and Professor Brian Cox.

References

  1. ↑ "Geek Pop". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  2. ↑ "Geek Pop 08". Null Hypothesis. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  3. ↑ "Geek Pop Podcast". Geek Pop. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ↑ "Geek Pop". Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 2022-04-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ "Exposure Festival Set Times". trance.nu. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Geek Pop Festival". Geek Pop. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "How Tribeca is changing the way we think about online film festivals". Mashable.com. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Geek Pop Festival". We Love Festivals. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Geek Pop '09". geekpop.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved 2023-01-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ↑ "Geek Pop '08". geekpop.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved 2023-01-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ↑ "Science Weekly: The Placebo Effect". the Guardian. 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  12. ↑ Nature Podcast, 6 March 2008, http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/v452/n7183/nature-2008-03-06.html
  13. ↑ Laboratory Talk, 25 November 2008, "Laboratorytalk newsletter issue 368". Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  14. ↑ "Diffusion Science radio: Christmas 2008 special". www.diffusionradio.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  15. ↑ Unknown. "Ep 94: The Geek Pop Virtual Music Festival" . Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  16. ↑ "Geek Pop". Geek Pop. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  17. ↑ "Comical Flask". Geek Pop. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  18. ↑ "Geek Pop Live Launch Listings". Skiddle.com. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  19. ↑ "Songs of the Square". Lablit.com. 22 March 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  20. ↑ "Interview with Stuart Clark". easternblot.net. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  21. ↑ "Geek Pop Live 2010: Bert Miller & the animal folk PART 1". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  22. ↑ "Geek Pop Live 2010: Jonny Berliner". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  23. ↑ "Off That (Rationalist Anthem)". Baba Brinkman. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Geek Pop 2011 @ Wilton's Music Hall". Londonist. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  25. ↑ "Geek Like Me". Bandcamp. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  26. ↑ "festival at geek pop". Geek Pop. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.