NEPA Scene Podcast Ep. 24 - Intelligent dance music and the Satellite Ranch Music & Arts Festival

NEPA Scene

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. The NEPA Scene Podcast covers arts, entertainment, and the issues that matter to Northeastern Pennsylvania. It airs as a live video stream every Wednesday at 7 p.m. on NEPA Scene’s Facebook page and is available afterward on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, YouTube, and nepascene.com. This episode and all previous episodes are available now on NEPA Scene, the award-winning independent arts and entertainment website that combines the accuracy and professionalism of a print magazine with the immediacy and convenience of a blog, offering a wide variety of content to readers in NEPA, Philadelphia, New York, and beyond. The show 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.