Decibel Festival was an annual music and digital arts festival in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, launched in 2004 by Sean Horton and a team of volunteer staff. The Decibel Festival was dedicated to live

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

performance, visual arts, and new media.

History

The festival consisted of concerts, performances, commissioned work, film screenings, and exhibitions. The programming was presented in a variety of locations throughout Seattle, including the Capitol Hill neighbourhood and Downtown Seattle. In addition to the performance programs, the Decibel Festival included a professional section featuring panels, lectures, and workshops, which served as a meeting ground for leading-edge artists, labels, and music gear manufacturers. In fall 2011, the Decibel Festival celebrated its largest edition to date, with 23,000 attendees. The 2011 edition sold both record numbers of festival passes (up 18% from 2010) and individual showcase tickets (up 45% from 2010). Despite years of stated intent to publications, attendees, supporters, artists, and volunteer staff to become a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, it never materialised. After a festival high in 2011, the Decibel Festival would come to an end in 2015. Horton moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Horton continues to use the Decibel Festival name to promote smaller events, which are mainly hosted in Los Angeles.

Artists

Since its inception, Decibel has hosted over 1,100 acts ranging from underground dance and experimental electronic music to transmedial art. Some of these past performers include: *3 Channels * 12th Planet * Addison Groove *

Akufen Marc Leclair, better known by his stage name Akufen, is a Canadian electronic musician. His music is electronic music that is often described as minimal house, minimal techno, glitch, or microhouse. His 2002 release titled ''My Way'' introduced ...

* The Album Leaf *Alexi Delano *Alter Ego * Amon Tobin ISAM LIVE * Apparat * AraabMuzik * Atom™ *

Autechre Autechre () is an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are among the best known acts signed to UK electronic label Warp Records, through which all of Au ...

* Baths * Ben Klock * Ben Frost *

Biosphere The biosphere (from Greek βίος ''bíos'' "life" and σφαῖρα ''sphaira'' "sphere"), also known as the ecosphere (from Greek οἶκος ''oîkos'' "environment" and σφαῖρα), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also ...

*Bok Bok * Bonobo *

Booka Shade Booka Shade is a German house duo. It is made up of Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier, described as veterans of the Frankfurt electronic music scene. They have released 7 studio albums including Memento (2004) Movements (2006), The Sun & The ...

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he esta ...

* Breakage *Bruno Pronsato *

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...

Caspa CASPA or the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants is an application service for graduate-level PA programs. Similar to the Common Application used by some undergraduate institutions and the American Medical College Applicatio ...

* Catz 'n Dogz *

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

* Christopher Willits *

Claude VonStroke Barclay Macbride Crenshaw (born July 7, 1971), who is known by the stage name Claude VonStroke, is an American house music, house producer based in Los Angeles. He owns Dirtybird Records based in San Francisco. In July 2006 he released his debut ...

Cobblestone Jazz Cobblestone Jazz is a Canadian trio based in Victoria, British Columbia, known for their jazz improvisation-influenced approach to making electronic music. The band has been described as "a 21st century jam band A jam band is a musical gr ...

Dabrye Tadd Mullinix or Dabrye is an American musician from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, also known by the aliases James T. Cotton and SK-1. During his adolescent years, he grew up in Troy, MI. His ''Winking Makes a Face'' was the first album r ...

* Daedelus *Dan Bell * DARKSIDE * Deadbeat *

Deadmau5 Joel Thomas Zimmerman (born January 5, 1981), known professionally as Deadmau5 (stylized as deadmau5; pronounced "dead-mouse"), is a Canadian electronic music producer and DJ. He mainly produces progressive house music, though he also produce ...

* The Dead Texan * Derrick May *

Dinky Dinky may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dinky Toys, a brand of die-cast toy vehicles * Dinky (film), a 1935 film starring Jackie Cooper * Dinky Bossetti, protagonist of the 1990 film '' Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael'', played by Winona Ryde ...

* Diplo *

DJ Krush , better known by his stage name DJ Krush, is a record producer and DJ. He is known for his atmospheric instrumental production which incorporates sound elements from nature and extensive use of jazz and soul samples. Early life Ishi was born in ...

*dOP *

Duke Dumont Adam George Dyment (born August 1981), better known by his stage name Duke Dumont, is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known for his hit singles " Need U (100%)" " I Got U", " Ocean Drive" and " Won't Look Back" which both reache ...

Egyptrixx Egyptrixx (born David Psutka) is a Canadian electronic musician from Toronto, Ontario. Psutka also releases music under the names "ACT!" and " Ceramic TL", is a member of experimental folk project Anamai, and works as a studio producer and composer ...

Empire of the Sun ''Empire of the Sun'' is a 1984 novel by English writer J. G. Ballard; it was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like Ballard's earlier short story "The Dead Time" (published in the anthology ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

Ellen Allien Ellen Fraatz, known professionally as Ellen Allien, is a German electronic musician, music producer, and the founder of BPitch Control music label. Her album '' Stadtkind'' was dedicated to the city of Berlin, and she cites the culture of reun ...

*Eluvium *FaltyDL *fennesz *The Field (musician), The Field *Flying Lotus *Flume (musician), Flume *Four Tet *Frank Bretschneider *Frivolous *Funkstörung *The Gaslamp Killer *Geographer (band), Geographer *Girl Unit *The Glitch Mob *Gold Panda *Green Velvet *Gui Boratto *Harold Budd *ill-esha *Isolee *Itak Tek *Jacob London *James Blake (musician), James Blake *Jeff Samuel *John Tejada *Joker (musician), Joker *Justice (band), Justice *Kangding Ray *Kevin Saunderson *KiloWatts (musician), KiloWatts *Kimbra *Ladytron *Lorde *Loscil *Lusine *Machinedrum *Mad Professor *Mala *Marcus Nikolai *Marcel Dettmann *Martin Buttrich *Mary Anne Hobbs *Matias Aguayo *Matmos *Matthew Dear *Max Cooper (electronica musician), Max Cooper *Meat Beat Manifesto *Michael Mayer (musician), Michael Mayer *Moby *Mochipet *Moderat *Modeselektor *Monolake *Mount Kimbie *Mountains *Move D *Mt. Eden *Murcof *Nicolas Jaar *Nils Frahm *Nina Kraviz *Nortec Collective *Odesza *The Orb *Orbital (band), Orbital *Pepe Bradock *Quantic (musician), Quantic *Ramadanman *Richie Hawtin *Robert Babicz *Robert Hood *Robin Guthrie *Sascha Funke *School of Seven Bells *Scott Pagano *Scuba *Shackleton (musician), Shackleton *The Sight Below *Simian Mobile Disco *Smash TV *Soul Clap *Spacetime Continuum *Speedy J *Star Slinger *Starkey (artist), Starkey *Stars of the Lid *Strategy *Styrofoam *Subtle *Switch (band), Switch *T.Raumschmiere *Telefon Tel Aviv *Theo Parrish *Thievery Corporation *Thomas Fehlmann *Tiger & Woods *Tim Exile *Tim Hecker *David Tipper, Tipper *Trentemoller *TOKiMONSTA *Tycho (musician), Tycho *VibeSquad *Vladislav Delay *Voodeux *Wighnomy Brothers *Wolf + Lamb *Zedd *Zola Jesus *Zomby

Venues

Decibel Fest at Volunteer Park 01 (6204616290)

Over the years, the Decibel Festival has been hosted at various venues across the Seattle area including: The Showbox, The Showbox#Showbox SoDo, The Showbox SoDo
Q NightclubNeumos
Crocodile Cafe, The Crocodile, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, The Triple Door, Islander Cruise Ship, EMP Museum, and Re-Bar. The Decibel Festival was a member of ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound).

References

External links

Decibel Festival

Decibel Facebook Page

Decibel Twitter Page

Decibel YouTube Page
{{Electronic music festival Music festivals established in 2004 Music of Seattle Festivals in Seattle Electronic music festivals in the United States New media art festivals Fairs in Washington (state)

History

Artists

Venues

See also

References

External links