Q&A with Steven Matrick, co-founder of the New Colossus Festival, taking place this week at East Village and Lower East Side music venues

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy 

Longtime Lower East Side resident Steven Matrick arrives at Pianos (158 Ludlow St.) excited to talk about music and bands — and I am excited to let him, as he details some acts he's especially keen on seeing (and hearing) at this year's New Colossus Festival.

Since he's the co-founder of the nearly weeklong event, which is rapidly approaching (today through Sunday), we take some photos at one of the fest's 11 venues and chat about the NYC music scene, what it takes to run a festival, and his favorite moments from previous ones.

What inspired you to start The New Colossus Festival, and how has it evolved since its inception? 

I was on a series of panels with the other bookers on the Lower East Side, and we kept talking about how much we all missed CMJ. This was in 2018. Festival Co-Founder Mike Bell approached me about the New Colossus Festival as the booker of Pianos, and then his partner quit, so we teamed up. He rightly pointed out the scattershot nature of bands coming to NYC on their way to SXSW and how we should centralize it in the neighborhood we love. We chose Lio Kanine from Kanine Records to help us with booking, as he always threw amazing parties at CMJ. 

We did a test run in 2018 on both floors at Pianos the week before SXSW, and it went extremely well, so we went full throttle in 2019. The festival lineup has gotten bigger (more bands) and better (more amazing bands) with each year. We’ve been able to rely on locals less and less with each edition, and our mission is to welcome international bands to NYC, so we’re very happy about this. We also have done 22 weeks of shows (with 5 bands at each one) at 18th Ward Brewery the last three years, so we’ve at this point worked with about 300 local bands and are able to figure out which ones we want to showcase every year. 

The festival name is derived from Emma Lazarus's poem about the Statue of Liberty. How does that symbolism influence the Festival’s identity? 

NYC has been one of the epicenters of music for a very long time, and we want to welcome artists from all over the world to play their first shows in March. This was Mike's idea, and I'm a very sentimental person, so I was and always have been really into it. 

It is really beautiful, and there is a way in which musical artists wash up to NYC looking to play: 

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she 

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

How do you see The New Colossus Festival contributing to NYC's cultural and artistic landscape? 

Well, we're an indie rock festival. The indie rock music scene started in the East Village with CBGB and Max's Kansas City, moved to the Lower East Side in the early 2000s (Mercury Lounge, Luna Lounge, Pianos, Cake Shop, Don Hills, etc.), moved to Williamsburg in the early 2010s, and then eastward to Bushwick. Now, there are a ton of venues in Ridgewood and BedStuy.

The move eastward has to do with artists finding affordable places to live. It is extremely important to us that we have this Festival in the Lower East Side/East Village to bring these kids back to playing in these historic venues. 

We're also functioning as an entry point for what will be 800 bands by the end of the Festival, and most of them gain a footing so that their next show in NYC has the capacity to have a good-sized audience at it. It's a wonderful thing.

Many artists are performing in New York City — or even the U.S. — for the first time. How does the Festival support them in making that leap? 

Well, when you go to SXSW, you're technically only supposed to play one show and certainly not more than one at night during official festival hours. This year, we’ve given all international bands two to three shows and many locals two shows. It is so excellent to provide multiple showcases for them during their trip. 

In the past, at Pianos, a band from Norway would showcase at 7 p.m., and sometimes the rooms were empty because nobody knew who they were yet. This is a much better way to play your first NYC shows. 

Are there any artists or performances you’re particularly excited about this year? 

Yes! I'm a punk rock guy and am throwing two label parties. All of the bands on those parties are amazing: Test Plan, Prostitute, Public Circuit, Peer Pleasure and Bucket (two bands I saw at Ireland Music Week), Joe & the Shitboys from the Faroe Islands, who are opening three shows for Iggy Pop soon, and some really excellent weird bands from Ohio: Big Fat Head, People in the Daytime and Touchdown Jesus, that Pons, who are on our label, sent over to me.

On the nonpunk front, I can't wait to see Prism Shores, You Said Strange, Delivery, Hachiku, Cusp, World News, Dictator, Dutch Mustard, Snoozer (Alex G's band), Wax Jaw, Bleary Eyed … and I can go on and on and on! 

Looking back, what are the festival moments that stand out for you?

1. Lowly (Denmark) at Pianos in 2019 completely blew our minds. Think Stereolab. 

2. Paul Jacobs (Montreal) blew us away at Pianos in 2022. 

3. GIFT (Brooklyn) played Berlin in 2022 and were so great I wound up managing them.

4. Ducks Ltd. (Toronto) blessed us with three shows last year. Their album Harm's Way was the theme album for the Festival, so I enjoyed every moment of all three shows—as did everyone else who was there! 

5. Roost.World (Vermont) closed out the Festival last year at Baker Falls on Saturday Night, and it was a full-on amazing dance party. 

What are your long-term goals for The New Colossus Festival, and are there any new elements or expansions you’re considering for future editions? 

We'd like to continue holding it in small venues to keep it manageable for everyone and evolve the number of people who come out for the week. This year, we did six shows with Super Bock, three shows with Groover, and, again, 22 weeks of shows at 18th Ward Brewery, so the Festival has become more of a year-round thing. 

We'd like to continue expanding who we partner with for shows and throw great shows throughout the year.

Find the entire schedule and band info at this link.