The third annual Austin Instrumental Music Festival will be held at Empire Control Room & Garage on February 25th, 2017. Just as the years before, the festival will showcase some of the most talented groups encompassed within the niche music that is without lyrics or vocal harmonies. As it is described on the newly launched website, “AIMFest brings music enthusiasts together to celebrate and experience instrumental music from around the world. We combine jazz and orchestral artists with post-rock, electronic, and ‘instru-metal bands’ to create a panoptic but exclusive festival experience.”
Early Bird tickets can be purchased below and on Eventbrite, a minimum of two can be bought at a time, and they are $15 each, so bring a friend:
Headlining this year will be popular Southern California post-rock duo, El Ten Eleven, who are widely known for being featured in the soundtracks of Gary Hustwit’s design documentaries Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized. They also were ranked #4 on The Seven Best Instrumental Bands of the Last 20 Years by The Dallas Observer in 2014.
“Typically, instrumental rock has the tendency to be maudlin (Godspeed You!, Black Emperor), sprawling (Explosions in the Sky), or experimental (Tortoise),” said SPIN Magazine in their Spotlight feature of the band. “However, such is not the case with Los Angeles, CA, duo El Ten Eleven, who compose tightly wound tunes with plenty of punch. While bassist/composer Kristian Dunn and drummer Tim Fogarty displayed a knack for tedious nuance on 2004’s self-titled debut, their third record, These Promises Are Being Videotaped, is packed full of danceable melodies that put Ratatat to shame. Their sound is just as ideal for basement dance parties and Sega Genesis video game soundtracks alike.”
Check out El Ten Eleven’s music video for “Point Breeze” below:
Also included in the line-up so far are Timewheel jazz outfit [Q], (pronounced “Expansions of Q”) and math rock trio Verisimilitude, the bassist of which, Dakota Appelbaum, is the creative director of AIMFest who is also organizing the event. “We want to create a unique experience for instrumental enthusiast and Austin is full of them!” Appelbaum said about his end goal for this year’s festival. Both music groups are characterized by high levels of musical proficiency and sporadic changes in time signature, but draw their influence from different places.
Verisimilitude poses in front of a loving audience at Ventura in San Antonio, Texas after finishing up their Ten Year Anniversary Show.
Check out some of the music from other amazing artists who will be performing!
Rattletree (Austin, TX)
Verisimilitude (San Antonio, TX)
Legendary Skies {Austin, TX)
Seven Circles (Austin, TX)
Dolphin Dilemma (San Antonio, TX)
Fermata Playa (Austin, TX)
Be sure to follow AIMFest on social media for updates and more announcements:
Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter | Instagram
For more information and tickets, visit:
AIMFest | EmpireATX | EventBrite
About the Author
Alex Barclay is a freelance music journalist and label representative at TIMEWHEEL. A long time listener of progressive music, Alex has been an active member in the San Antonio independent music scene for years.
