Decibel Music Festival 2012: an Interview with the Festival's Kristyn Brown

The following is an interview with Kristyn Brown of Decibel Music Festival, one of the world's premier electronic music festivals. Kristin is a networker, project manager, reader, dog mom and dance floor addict who's been with the festival since last July.

Here is Kristyn with the inside scoop on one of the year's most exciting festivals.

In a nutshell, what is Decibel?

Our name really says it all - Decibel International Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Visual Art and New Media. We're focused on live performance, interactive multimedia art, state-of-the-art sound and technology based education, which has allowed us to solidify ourselves as one of the premier electronic music festivals in the world.

What are some of the acts that have been getting the most buzz?

We have such a great line up this year. I'd say our best to date. Our headliners, Orbital, The Cannabinodis featuring Erykah Badu, DJ Shadow, and Kimbra are all creating a lot of buzz. I'm personally excited to see Carl Craig's Live 69 set, John Talbot, Max Cooper, Dixon, Anomie Belle, I should stop here before I name three quarters of the line up. Still hoping to have myself cloned before the festival, I've got some tough decisions to make.

How did it get started? We bet it's a cool story. :)

How Decibel got started is a great story. Sean Horton, who is originally from Detroit, ended up in Seattle and after he attended a music festival in Montreal, was inspired to start his own festival. He reached out to people in the electronic music community in the city and thing have progressed from there.

What's your personal story as far as how you came to be involved with Decibel?

The way I got involved with Decibel always reminds me of the time I carried a watermelon line from Dirty Dancing. I randomly ended up driving Kevin Saunderson out to another festival in Washington and while I was arranging logistics with Sean Horton, I mentioned that I had a skill set that I thought the festival could use. Turns out Sean agreed and I've been with the festival since last July.

How has the festival evolved over the years?

We're incredibly lucky to have such a vibrant music scene here in Seattle and Sean's amazing curation. This has allowed the festival to go from the very small first edition with around 3,500 attendees to last year's festival which drew over 22,000.

Any exciting predictions as far as next year?

2013 is our 10th edition and we're already brainstorming ideas and planning. It all needs to stay under wraps for the moment. Suffice to say it's going to be big.

Thank you Kristyn for giving us the inside scoop!

If you are attending Decibel 2012 and want to find an awesome place to stay in Seattle, click here.

Interview by Anis Salvesen