EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 50th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 18-21, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. The curtain raiser highlights the history of the Festival which is marking its golden anniversary. BANDALOOP, among the most prominent pioneers of vertical dance, returns to UAF for the fourth time, having appeared in 2005. 2013 and 2018. Once again, the Oakland-based arts company will perform on the 240-foot-high curving glass façade of the City Library, as part of a June tour in four cities featuring a work with ecological roots that will resonate with collective concerns about the Great Salt Lake’s ecological crisis, as the dance artists perform FLOCK while integrating company repertoire pieces including Downstream and its new creation, life || lines, all with an original score featuring music by four composers. Salt Lake Acting Company will appear for the second time at the festival, offering a sample from its upcoming summer show, The Gaslight Zone. Make-and-take opportunities will be among the most extensive in history, with Make Salt Lake as well as Secondhand Salamander which is bringing back the classic Mad Hatter project, and, of course, the Kids’ Art Yard. Urban Arts is offering its largest live graffiti mural installation featuring eight artists in four Festival campus locations, while a row of several other artists will be demonstrating their creative process in real time. Holdman Studios, based in Lehi with an international portfolio of commissions to create stained glass in religious and civic buildings, including a recent update to the Utah State Capitol rotunda, is offering an unprecedented series of free workshops for participants to create their own stained glass artwork. The City Library auditorium will be the home to the 23rd edition of the international Fear No Film program, with 84 short films on a slate of 15 programs, the second largest in the event’s history. Of course, dance, who wears the empress jewels in performing arts, will be represented by Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Sock Opera Dance, and, of course, the ever-popular 1520 Arts, which will feature Trash Panda Drum Group and competitions featuring Sol Tribe as part of the Salt Open Styles Battle along with the Red Bull Dance Your Style battle and a collaboration with Utah Valley University’s ESPRIT in Rep Your Set Choreo Competition, with choreographers who specialize variously in hip hop, contemporary, salsa, reggaeton, afro, popping. Headliners this year include Digable Planets, well known among jazz musicians as well as hip hop artists (June 18); Yola, six-time Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter, and actor (June 19); Austin-based musician Alejandro Rose-Garcia, better known as Shakey Graves, who has been cited for creating new musical experiences tailored to each fan, ranging from Bandcamp-exclusive releases to hosting interactive scavenger hunts while on tour (June 20) and Rubblebucket, a band well known for its hybrid genre blend of psychedelia and electronic dance music (June 21). For tickets and more information, see the Utah Arts Festival website.
MERAKI AND THE CURIOSITY COLLECTIVE (GARDEN STAGE, JUNE 19, 2:30 p.m.)
An experimental indie-folk trio based in Salt Lake City, Meraki and The Curiosity Collective curates a catalog transcribed from the Merakirozes solo discography.
Meraki Padgen graciously responded to some questions from The Utah Review:
TUR: Would like a brief account of how your group started, was formed and decided to set out on its performing and writing music platforms.
MP: My name is Meraki. Frontman of the Avant-garde musical project The Curiosity Collective! Our trio is made up of myself on vocals and rhythm guitar, Gavin on lead guitar and atmosphere, and Ginger on drums. I’m an artist, producer, and storyteller of all different mediums—and have been creating music under the name “Merakirozes” since 2020. I have known Gavin and Ginger since 2021 and over the last five years they have grown to be my most beloved musical family. I was (and am) a huge fan of their previous bands and current projects; (Mildred Mildew and the Leftovers, Eyes Buggy.) And have done video and audio mixing, photos, promotion art, and was even momentarily in the band haha. I have admired their work ethic and dedication for a long time. They’ve showed a mutual amount of deep interest, endless support, and thoughtful feedback towards my own art. Since then we have collaborated and grown as friends in a variety of ways. In 2024, we began exploring a new live performance identity with the backbone of our music being the concepts from my Merakirozes discography. With Gavin and Ginger’s musical knowledge and creative energy, it has since expanded into something grander than myself. Our image and sound are a Collection of Curiosities!
TUR: What is your musical training and background coming in as a performer and as a group?
MP: I am very keen on embracing DIY and using the most accessible equipment. When I started making music it was because I needed a different medium besides painting to capture my concepts. I took two guitar lessons when I was fourteen and then got stubborn and wanted to do it my way. This stubbornness also made me want to do everything else my way. So now I am a multi-instrumentalist. I started experimenting with a DAW and audio engineering tech when I was fifteen so I could do that myself too. I love sound production and audio mixing. I love textures in my ears. My musical experience and concept albums are vulnerable reflections of my interests and exploration of the world. I make them because it’s vital to me and the energy needs somewhere to go. I am meticulous about my production because I hear it in my head.
Live performance was always daunting to me because it felt impossible to exactly translate the recordings. And truthfully, it kind of is. But that’s okay! Being in music spaces, having supportive mentors and friends, and being open minded to all kinds of inspiration and challenges have helped my live performance endevours feel less severe than my production process. Both Gavin and Ginger have extensive backgrounds in live performance and have been collaborating since 2018! Ginger learned drums from Cathy Foy and takes inspiration from rhythm all around the world. And Gavin, after having spent years self taught—took six months to learn and memorize music theory. Both of them span genres from punk rock to blues. They’ve played all the best hole-in-the-wall venues in salt lake, festival stages, and bars. As The Curiosity Collective, we have adapted the original sound of my production and turned it into something presentable for the live setting. I would consider it to be quite lively and powerful, but still intimate. Like the audience gets to be part of the sound!
TUR: Who do you consider as role models, inspirations and influences in your music and performing?
MP: Oh the delight of sound and feeling! I love the stage presence insanity of Animal Collective, the expansiveness of Dead Can Dance, the soul and power from Sixteen Horsepower and O’death.
The honesty and emotion of Phil Elverums “Mount Eerie” and Greg Jamies (O’death) Solo work. I love the instrumental conversations between iconic jazz trios and the wild rhythms of folk music from all over the world. The band and I also have special places in our hearts for various local artists and their vibrant performances, such as Seeking the Sun, The Drought, and Ezra Bell. Anywhere there is live music, I will be watching and taking notes and loving it. As for myself, the goal is to let the spirit of the music through.
TUR: If you were to encapsulate your musical style into a simple phrase or tag, what would it be?
MP: A Collective of Curiosities!
TUR: What do you consider the most essential elements of writing or performing a song for your group that not only resonates with your group but also with the audiences who have been coming to your shows?
MP: Focus, detail, cooperation, openness, and collaboration of ideas. When we are working together none of us try to “be in control” I might establish the original concepts, but when it’s live—it’s ours. It wouldn’t be what it is without the three of us and the heart we put into it. And going forward, I can’t wait for that to be reflected in my once, very isolated production process. I think what I want everyone in the audience to know, is that performance can be whatever you want it to be. Your art can be whatever you want it to be. There are no rules to your own personal process of creation. We hope you consider coming to see us on the Garden Stage at 2:30-3:00 on the 19th! We want you to feel the same passion and synergy we feel when performing!