Check Out the Junkyard Music and Arts Festival by Coat Check

On Friday, May 5, Coat Check hosted the highly anticipated Junkyard Music and Arts Festival, an open-air electronic music event showcasing the artistic community’s creativity from Colorado and throughout the United States. The festival provided a platform for artists to express themselves through sound and rhythm, art installations and fashion.

 

Coat Check, a music collective founded by Hugo Francisco Aviles II and co-founded by Will Levy, has its origins in both Colorado and LA. Their team consists of Nathan Dahl, Cole Trejo and Nate DeGroff. Coat Check’s establishment aims to provide a new community for individuals in Colorado to experience authentic electronic music and dance freely. “Coat Check is my personal mission to invite as many people around the globe into this community of true authentic dance culture,” Aviles II said. “All I want to do and continue to do is to create beautiful and memorable experiences for people to come together and be free.”

Coat Check veers away from popular electronic music and believes it is vital for people to understand the roots of dance music and its origin from the underground scene in the late 80s. Their goal is to introduce curious minds to the authentic underground dance culture. “It always fascinated me how house and techno originated in the United States in abandoned warehouses and underground clubs,” Levy said. “Yet this authentic dance scene slowly vanished with the rise of capitalism and the monetization of mainstream electronic music.” Through a fusion of distinct sounds and rhythms inspired by artists from around the globe, Coat Check strives to create an immersive experience that fosters genuine connections.

The festival was held in a spacious junkyard, which provided a unique and eclectic backdrop for the event. The junkyard was transformed into a vibrant and colorful oasis, with various installations and murals adorning the space. “The vision is to ultimately showcase local talent through their unique artistic expressions, and to continue to build a community around music, art, and love,” said Trejo and DeGroff.

The festival was a feast for the eyes and ears, with each corner of the junkyard offering something new and exciting to discover. “We want Junkyard Music and Arts Festival to be an inclusive space for anyone to come and enjoy the music, art, food and drinks, with an emphasis on great music and creating a space where attendees feel comfortable to dance freely from start to finish,” Dahl said. The festival truly had something for everyone and was a sensory playground that left a lasting impression.

The music lineup featured some of the most exciting and innovative names in the electronic music scene, with acts ranging from techno and house to experimental and ambient. These artists included: Grant Sabadash, Kenny The Barnacle, Blaise Bracic, Thomas Towey, Naught, Bathroom Break, Levvyl and Hugo Francisco. The sound was expertly curated to suit the unique environment of the junkyard, with each artist bringing their own interpretation of the space to their performance. The music was unforgettable, with the crowd’s energy reaching a fever pitch as the sun set over the junkyard.

In addition to the music, the festival also showcased a variety of art installations and fashion displays. Tanner Clark and Simon Wiviott created unique pieces that reflected the festival’s theme of creativity, music, art and fashion. The installations were spread throughout the junkyard, providing a visual feast for festival-goers as they explored the space. The pop-up shop by Friday Crap was equally impressive, selling one-of-a-kind handmade clothing items and accessories.

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The Junkyard Music and Arts Festival was a huge success, drawing hundreds of people from across Colorado to celebrate the creativity and innovation of the surrounding community. The festival demonstrated the incredible power of music, art, and community to bring people together and ignite inspiration. It served as a reminder that creativity can thrive in even the most unexpected of places.

All photography by Anthony Andre.