Stone Free Music Festival Is On Its Way to Become Thailand's Most Exciting Local Indie Music Festival





images courtesy of myself

STONE FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL is an unique laid-back festival mix of art, nature, and music aimed to reproduce enthusiasm and love for underground local musical growth, giving the local music industry the place it deserves in local society. The festival's debuted in December 2011, in collaborations of Panda Records, a non-profit label responsible for a long list of independent Thai bands and The World May Never Know, a project that brings together local DIY artists with experimental outdoor live music.

The festival is inspire by an imaginative concept to blend the music with the nature, taking advantage of the sedate idyllic open surroundings mixing the Experimental, Noise, and Post-Rock artists along with art installations of the granite cliffs that amplify the music through the wall of stone and open grass field of the site it is held in instead of using the conventional sound system off the machine.
The atmosphere offers an intimate musical experience between the artist and the audience as the acts are playing at the same ground level with the crowd with no stages or no VIP backstage barrier, providing the audience access to off-duty musicians adding it to the vibe. Set amongst the backdrop of an abandoned quarry in Soi Wat Nhongkrin in Saraburi Province of Thailand, the site looks like something out of a fantasy weekend escape. Nature as background noise, sun-kissed hills in a distance, open grass field surroundings completed with the chilly winds makes it a perfect combination. The landscape is beautiful, it wasn't uncommon to see people sometimes would wondering around the site taking in the scenery. 

19 rising underground local bands participates, performing around the clock from day to dawn. Lineup kicked off with Chladni Chandi, a three-piece band that are known in local scene for their Psychedelic 60's music style influenced by traditional Indian spirituality as well as Buddhist beliefs. Followed up by Stylish Nonsense, a Bangkok-based electronic music duo, who are also the master mind behind the very own Stone Free Music Festival aswell as the head of independent label, Panda Records. And from then on the fun just didn't stop. The highlight of the festival came on almost dawn time when Desktop Error, a Shoegaze local band who already making its name in local undergound scene performed and quickly gathered audience attention's.

The lineup keeping the audience up until well past dawn, the reason why the festival's allow those who wish to camp-in at the festival's site with a tent or just a place to pitch. 

For a small festival in only its first year, it's hard to set expectations for attendance too high, but despite all expectations, from a fan perspective, I believe the debut was a success. The weather was perfect, the whole set-up was audience friendly, the landscapes was superb, and most importantly the barn was bumpin.

After the success of the festival's debut, Stone Free Music Festival is now in its second edition of the acts that is set to be an even bigger 2-day-2-night event on 2012. And it is now on its way to become Thailand's most exciting music festival.



image courtesy of SFMF official Facebook page

Keep an eye of the festival's page here, to be sure you do not miss out next year!





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