Our second day of interviews continues with Crystal Tides and The People’s Lounge. It is so important to support local bands and musicians as it’s their grassroots that helps them to feel local support that then accelerates their music on a national and international level.
Crystal Tides are a four-piece Indie/Rock band from Portsmouth who draw influence from bands like Two Door Cinema Club, Foals, and The Wombats, to create a fusion that has yet to be heard. Their Summery vibes bring all the love. We asked them about Victorious and their memories.
Crystal Tides
3) What is your best Victorious memory?
I think for me it’s just the days spent watching other bands with friends and family when the weather is nice. Good music and good company! I have so many memories like that from victorious it would be impossible to tell you which is my favourite!
We caught up with The People’s Lounge to talk about what they do and their time at Victorious. TPL is a Pompey based Collective of Artists & Musicians creating festive spaces for collaboration, imagination, and improvisation.
The People’s Lounge
Festivals are a place for discovery, for stumbling upon that quirky little tent and immersing yourself in something completely new. If this is the experience you crave at festivals, then The People’s Lounge in the World Music Village is the spot you need to seek out at Victorious Festival. Into it 5th year at Victorious, TPL will fulfill all your Left Field, Bohemian and Creative desires.
This alternative enclave has displayed and celebrated the diverse talent of Portsmouth and beyond, featuring Live Music, Spoken Word, Workshops, Visual and Live Art. Always exploring the new, underground, alternative musical edges of Portsmouth, TPL has championed sounds and styles from across the spectrum; Jazz, Hip-Hop, Funk, World, Afro, Latin, Fusion, Folk, Electronic, Reggae, Indie, to name a few.
Highlights and regular sets that always go down a storm are the Hip-Hop night on Fridays, the Open Mic Jam with the House Band on Saturday night, The Southsea Groove Collectives improvised sets and ever-changing lineup of incredibly talented musicians, the regular Funky vibes with Slick Minded Individuals, Shakara Soul’s hip-shaking DJ sets, and the Spoken Word that kick starts each day. One epic memory that sticks out is from 2018. Pouring with rain and all the power cut off, we went renegade DIY style and put on the Turbans, an 8-piece World Folk Fusion band, through a battery-powered JBL speaker. It absolutely went off, in proper Pompey Pirate style!
TPL is proud to have partnered with many great local projects. TPL supported local music initiative Global Sounds Portsmouth to showcase the incredible diversity of world music in the Portsmouth community.
TPL also worked with Tongues and Grooves on their community poetry project, which gave refugees and asylum seekers the chance to write and perform their poetry at Victorious Festival. Other regular collaborators include The Front Room, BIMM, Goya Torres, Sahara Rock, Shakara Soul, Word of Mouth, Drum Nation, and Mask One among many others.
The People’s Lounge works in union with the Charity Arms Around the Child to curate the World Music Village. Together they aim to bring together the eclectic array of Portsmouth’s movements, sounds and people to create a festive fusion of art, beauty, and love that represents the global nature of our city.
If you’re looking for something different, a magical moment in a hidden corner with some exceptionally talented artists, and a festive spirit of collective joy and resistance, then seek out this little cosmos. Join The People’s Lounge on an experiential journey of learning and exploring, of collective discovery and subversive happiness.
By Louise O’Brien and Ella Ash
TPL photo by Tom Rapley and Krisjanis Birkmanis
