Theo's head of production, creation and artists of the organizer of electronic dance music festival, IDM-Events. Their first event in Indonesia, Dreamfields, held in Bali in 2014, and their music festival coming Become One will be held in Jakarta this March. Become A promises to be a 10 hour dance music festival with six world famous DJs. Theo talks about what it takes to create a successful music festival in Indonesia.
What are the event-IDM missions?
Our mission for 2015 is the creation of two major events with over 15,000 visitors, and two smaller events for about 5,000-8,000 people. We keep Dreamfields Bali, Jakarta Become One and two new events will be in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia -. More news about these events soon
How hands-on are you with each music festival?
Almost full on, as the organization of events is not a desk job 9 am-5pm. You can imagine that for an event about 15,000 visitors we need about six months of preparation with a full time team of 20 people from Holland and Indonesia. As a shareholder and workaholic, I have to be aware of what is happening at any time, so it takes a lot of energy. However, the D-Day when everything is going according to plan and it's time for a drink with the team, you know all the effort was worth all the blood, sweat and tears.
Anggun Dreamfields to Bali in 2014
The type of music in relation to other events is not very different. We do not know what kind of music is trendy and adjust our choice of DJ to please our customers to the maximum. In terms of events, I think we're different than others we seek to give more experience and a lot of interaction with our visitors. This will be done with great fireworks, LED larger screens, Co2 cannons, confetti, pyrotechnics scene parts, etc. But also the service is an important part of the experience; things like sufficient clean toilets, no queue at the bar and the entrance, appropriate cold beverages and high quality food. Besides this, we also put a lot of energy in health and safety, for example, we provide free drinking water for everyone!
EDM was valued at over US $ 4 billion in 2012, with the top DJ Tiesto providing US $ 22 million alone. What do you think contributed to this boom?
People seeking more unity and cohesion due to the unfortunate global trends of violence, wars and recession. We want to offer our visitors a sense of positivity and excitement, which remains in their minds as long as possible.
In this way, we hope they can stay positive about life. IDM-Events strives to build positive communities and Dreamfields Become One in which people can share thoughts through social media, we will always maintain even if the event is done. In addition to this, we recognize that people are increasingly looking to festivals instead of traditional bars or clubs in order to consume a drink or a dance.
And on this kind of music in Indonesia - how has it grown over the last decade and what do you foresee in this sector in the future
the EDM genre is growing daily, especially in Indonesia, where people are certainly aware of EDM, but does not yet have a repetitive festival format. There would be room for a massive festival each month, looking at the numbers. Our visibility study said that Indonesia has over 1.6 million EDM minded people and yet, this number increases every day.
How to choose and book acts do? There were acts particularly difficult to put in the country?
Indeed Avicii was a struggle to book, but we ended up getting him. IDM Events is also a booking office in the Netherlands and our booker Patrick is very experienced, professional and highly respected in this small world. We have the advantage that we are Dutch and know that many DJs personally. Just to tell you a funny story; we booked a DJ Hardwell-number in the world time-several in the past to only Rp.4,000,000. Now it takes about 1,000 times!
Who are your competitors?
Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) is a competitor but we are satisfied with their lives, as we believe it is good to have a competitor - they create and shape the market also good. We went to the DWP 2014 and we were very impressed with what they had withdrawn - they set a standard in Indonesia. If we turn to Asia there Ultra, ZoukOut, Future Music Festival and sun burn and even without these festivals, it would be harder for events IDM to enter the market.
What are the challenges you face as an entrepreneur in Indonesia?
I guess the thinking is completely different from the European way, but somehow I'm starting to do it, I hope! I was not used to the idea of corruption, but since President Jokowi was sworn in, I can see the changes coming in the future.
Indonesia recently announced that it is at war with drugs. Can you tell us how you fight against the drug problem in your festivals, light music and dance festivals are very often linked to drugs?
Although I am from the Netherlands, events IDM is 100% against any form of drug use. We also recognize that this is not an easy subject to talk about, but we do everything we can to avoid drugs in our events. Security will oversee this at the event and this is at the top of our priorities.
Can you share a funny or memorable story from your time here?
Where do I start? The most memorable was when Anggun came on the scene Dreamfields Bali and all the fireworks exploded. I looked around and I saw so many happy faces. I was with my partner and Henry David Matrixx - we looked at each other and thought,
Become One will take place on 14 "We pulled off!" March 2015. For more information, please visit www.idm-events.com .