WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007 | WAKARUSA FESTIVAL | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Assembly of Dust guitarist and lead vocalist Reid Genauer performs during the band's set Sunday afternoon. Genauer formed the band in 2002. He is the former frontman for the band Strangefolk.
Lead singer finds balance
The Kansan sits down with Assembly of Dust's frontman
By Sam Carlson scarlson@kansan.com
Assembly of Dust hails from New York and New Hampshire. The band was scheduled to arrive Friday night, which would have left plenty of time before their 3:15 p.m. show Saturday. However, the group's flight was cancelled and they didn't get into Lawrence until Saturday morning.
The Kansan caught up with frontman Reid Genauer after the band's performance on Saturday.
Genauer, 35, lives in Manhattan, N.Y.
Kansan: Are most of your shows on the East Coast?
Genauer: Yes and no. That's definitely where our core fan base is from, but we play all over.
Kansan: Do you notice any difference between this year's festival and last year's?
Genauer: Hard to say. I got here before the set and just had time to knock back a water.
Genauer: I have a one-year-old son and a wife.
Kansan: Do you have any family?
Kansan: How does traveling affect family life?
Genauer: I try to balance it so I'm not gone too much. I definitely enjoy watching the little
critter grow. But I've been doing this for a lot of years and my wife has been with me for most of them, so she sort of gets it. She's pretty tolerant.
Kansan: How often do you guys perform?
Kansan: How did the band come together?
Genauer: We do probably 70 gigs a year.
Genauer: All of us were friends, so we knew each other already. I think we all share a similar musical aesthetic, and that's the point of commonality.
Genauer: It's hard to say. We're from the Northeast and there's a little more fervor and intensity in the Northeast. That's just how people are. In places that are far from home, there tends to be more inquisitive looks from people.
Kansan: Do you notice any differences between the people here and those from other locations at which you play?
Genauer: Next week we're in Maine and then the weekend after that, I forget where we are. But we've got a lot more festivals this summer.
Kansan: What does the immediate future hold for Assembly of Dust?
Kansan: As for followers, do you recognize people in the crowd?
--years past. Wempe said this may be attributed to the publicity of law enforcement at last years' festival.
Genauer. Absolutely. Even from festival to festival, there are people I've seen that I know from Massachusetts here, and there are people I've seen from California within four feet of where we're standing. It's kind of cool. But it's really cool to come to Kansas and see an audience full of people singing the words back to you. It's really rewarding.
Kansan: Do you think you'd like to come back next year?
Genauer: Absolutely. This is what it's all about. Part of the reason that festivals are so great, and this one in particular, is that people are here for the music. They're going to catch a buzz as well, but primarily it's music fanatics. It's really gratifying to play to a lawn full of people who are there to soak it in.
Kansan: How do you determine which songs you're going to play for a given act?
Genauer: We try to mix it up. It's almost like what you have for dinner every night. You try to have a balanced night, and so we try to do that with our set list. We try to include slow songs, ballads and more up-tempo tunes, and tunes that have a guitar solo versus a keyboard solo.
Illegal drug activity down at Wakarusa Festival
Edited by Joe Caponio
Police officers saw less illegal activity at the Wakarusa Festival this year.
Kari Wempe from the Douglas County Sherrif's Office said the officers did not see the same amount of drug use or intent to sell as in
"I think there was a presence out their last year," Wempe said. "We set a level of expectation. We have laws we are going to maintain."
— Susan Schwarz
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Jill Jillybean of New York, N.Y., does acrobatics on stilts Sunday afternoon near the Sun Down Stage. Jillybean said that she was looking forward to the Michael Franti concert the most. This was her second time at the festival.
PRIVATE BEDROOM AND BATHROOM
- Beach Entry Pool
- Individual Leases
- Shuttle to Campus
- All Inclusive Rent
4101 W 24th Place, Lawrence, KS 66047
Office: 785.856.5848 www.LegendsPlace.com
Legends Place