NEPA SCENE PODCAST: Intelligent dance music and the inaugural Satellite Ranch Music & Arts Festival
Recorded and produced every week by Internet marketing company Coal Creative in their production studio in downtown Wilkes-Barre, the NEPA Scene Podcast presents honest, uncensored interviews and in-depth discussions about local arts, entertainment, and the issues that matter to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The live, multi-camera show streams in high definition on NEPA Scene’s Facebook page on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and is hosted by Rich Howells, editor and founder of NEPA Scene; Brittany Boote, owner of Boote Photography Studio in Forty Fort; and Johnny Popko, the senior marketing consultant at local radio stations Alt 92.1, Rock 107, and ESPN Radio. Viewers are encouraged to tune in during each hour-long episode and interact during the Facebook Live stream so that the hosts can address comments and answer questions as they come in.
After the live webcast, the show is available the following Friday as an audio podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher, while the video version can be seen on Facebook and YouTube.
The NEPA Scene Podcast is made possible by local sponsors Beer Boys, The Keys, and the F.M. Kirby Center, Coal Creative, and viewers who tune in every week.
In Episode 24, we sit down with Ted Wampole (Wilkes-Barre DJ Newpy Hundo), Nate Miller, and Richard Roani of Funkstronaut Productions, who are organizing the first-ever Satellite Ranch Music & Arts Festival at Mountain Sky in Jermyn on Friday, Sept. 1 and Saturday, Sept. 2 with intelligent dance music, house, techno, dub, disco, hip-hop, electronic fusion, and jamtronica, along with light and art installations, workshops, yoga, and silent disco.
Before and during the interview, we crack open some crowlers from Beer Boys in Wilkes-Barre. They support local just like we do with NEPA breweries on tap every day, so this week, we try Front Street Wheat by Berwick Brewing Company, Sippin’ Time by Benny Brewing in Wilkes-Barre, and Pimp My Rye by North Slope Brewing in Dallas – all great session beers packed with flavor that go down easy.
We talk about the origins of the inaugural festival, convincing Mountain Sky to host Satellite Ranch and how the location informed its name, what the different members of Funkstronaut Productions brought to the table and how their experiences and musical tastes helped shape the festival, the positive and negative effects that Camp Bisco in Scranton has had on the local perception of electronic music, defining “intelligent” dance music and how it stands out from typical EDM, the funny story behind the Newpy Hundo moniker, what a “silent disco” is, expanding musical horizons and creating good vibes, how they chose the artists in their diverse lineup, Lord RAJA and Adult Swim becoming an unexpected outlet for electronic artists, the future of Funkstronaut, and more.
We close out the show by pointing out some of the weird and funny names of the artists playing at Satellite Ranch, which leads to some interesting stories and highlights of the festival, including some notable local acts.
Watch the live video version on YouTube:
Listen to the audio version on iTunes.
Listen on SoundCloud:
Listen on Stitcher.
Watch the original Facebook Live stream:
