AFM: So are you trying to experiment with the brand and see kind of where it works?
Steve: I don’t think experiment is the right word. People love the brand, the brand is great. The brand has brought in some of the biggest DJs in the world, so why not continue to use the brand? In the meanwhile, yea, we’ll start some other brand too. But throwing a street block party festival is nothing new to me. I’ve been throwing street festivals here that have averaged over 5,000 people for a long time. I created Ghost Ball with Axis-Radius 12 or 11 years ago. That thing has grown an upward of 5,000 – 6,000 people. We threw street parties for the Super Bowl that had an upwards of 9,000 – 10,000 people, with Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg and P Diddy. Then, we threw a big block party for the NBA all-star game and got 40,000 people in over a weekend. So it’s not experimenting, it’s just instead of us not using the brand, it was just changing it up a little bit, and because we’re connected to the pools, we thought it was perfect to continue with the name Sound Wave. People know it, they know what they’re getting – a state of the art sound system, stage. Sound Wave is not this kidie festival. I think last year 30% were 18 – 20 year-olds and over 70% were 21 plus. So it definitely skews older.
AFM: Ok, so I know you said the water theme will stay alive through the pools at Maya and the W, are there other ways you are keeping that alive? Will there be any other water attractions?
Steve: Our space is limited, so I can’t bring any humongous water features out there. But we do have some water features that we are going to have as surprises throughout the event. We have some crazy ideas.
We met with the city, everyone is behind us. It’s funny because years ago you would say the name Tiesto, I knew who he was, but most people didn’t. You have city officials now saying “oh yea, we know who that is,” it’s pretty funny because it’s so mainstream now. Also, because of the crowd we expect, we have to be very careful with certain types of water features and certain types of things.
With Axis-Radius being under construction and becoming two new venues, that also takes from it. But we can still do 6,000 people on the street, but we want to make sure – it’s going to be a little smaller than last time. I mean we’re probably looking at a capacity of 8,000 on this one.
We’re looking to sell it out and provide a great party for the Scottsdale Entertainment District.
AFM: Awesome. So I know Tiesto ranks as one of the highest paid DJs in the world, is this the most expensive Sound Wave you guys have thrown? Or does changing locations help with that at all?
Steve: I think it’s right in line with the other ones. I mean, we are definitely spending money to make this, ya know, how can I say this? To throw a good party, you have to be creative, and of course you want to be frugal with the money you spend, but you don’t want to cut corners to give the electronic experience, and the dance music experience. So we want to make sure that we aren’t cutting corners so you have something fun to attend, enjoy and take photos of and share. There’s gotta be something to talk about, and unfortunately it’s much more expensive now, even more than it was last year.
AFM: So I know that some people are kind of bummed out that it’s not at the water park, so what would you say to people who have their own opinions about it if you could talk to them directly?
Steve: It’s just another event that we’re bringing to the festival lovers, the music lovers and to people who love to go out. We’re not stopping here. They can come to my office and see the next 100 events we have planned. We’re going to have some festivals that are smaller and five-times larger. That’s all I could say. I love music, I love entertainment, I love the experience and we’re not going to stop. But we had an opportunity to bring — ya know I could have brought Tiesto into Maya for a limited amount of people, or I can do it outside, continue with the brand. Just don’t get hung up on the fact that it’s not at a water park. We’ll think of something bigger and better I promise.
Sound Wave is Saturday, September 21, for tickets and information visit slentertainment.com.
Follow Amanda on Twitter @Amanda_Savage
