Q&A: Nebraska Pop Festival aims to spotlight lesser-known musicians, support arts education

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story will also be published on hearnebraska.org. The reporter is working as both an intern for Hear Nebraska and a reporter for the Daily Nebraskan.

It's often said small towns have nothing to do. Christopher Beiermann of Columbus, Neb., would tend to disagree. Using the Internet as a portal to the world, Beiermann is putting the finishing touches on a music festival hosted in Omaha. The Nebraska Pop Festival will bring in acts from New Zealand and Sweden, as well as from both coasts of the United States. Local bands such as Gloworm, Irkutsk and Green Trees will join in, too, at three venues, Barley Street Tavern, the Pizza Shop Collective and the Side Door Lounge. As he says, it's all a labor of love, just like his bedroom record label, Series Two Records.

All in all, the festival has taken easily more than 1,000 hours of Beiermann's time, and all money earned from the July 30 pre-festival show to the Aug. 9 through Aug. 14 concerts will go directly to the nonprofit arts education organization Arts for All. It's a lot of work, but he doesn't mind as long as it helps Nebraska get to know the rest of the world's music while appreciating its own.

I spoke with Beiermann just after discovering a message he sent on April 3 to my own music's email account. I hadn't received any personal emails before Beiermann's, so I didn't bother checking it until I read, "Your name has made a very shortlist of bands to be considered to play at the third annual Nebraska Pop Festival." I knew then what my first question would be.

Daily Nebraskan: Since you basically plucked me out of nowhere, having played no real shows in Lincoln, I'm wondering, how do you discover lesser-known bands?

Christopher Beiermann: I seek them out. And a lot of times bands seek me out, but many more times, I seek them out by doing research online. I listen to what people are listening to. I listen to them in conversation, asking them for music recommendations. But the lion's share of the bands we have coming here were on my shortlist or submitted a CD or sent a handwritten letter or gotten into contact with me via other methods.

DN: How do you pitch the Nebraska Pop Festival to bands outside of Nebraska who might not know what we're about?

CB: Well, basically, a lot of them are able to take a look at what we've done in years past, and the bands we've brought, where they came from. The convenience factor is a lot of artists and bands from around the world know the term Omaha and Omaha music. A lot of that is thanks to bands like Bright Eyes, Cursive or the Faint.

What I've learned about Lincoln is a lot of international bands and bands from the coasts maybe don't know what Lincoln is. There's quite a few that do, too, but I know that Omaha is very recognizable as a city. And a lot of them have been here before, but there's also a lot that have never been here before, and the first time they get a taste of Nebraska is coming to the festival. That happened quite a few times the first year, last year, and it's going to happen quite a few times this year as well.

DN: Are you still living in Columbus?

CB: Yeah, it's about 85 miles west of Omaha, basically a straight shot from the Waiting Room, going west.

DN: So do you get to see these bands on the bill very often, or is the festival your chance to get in touch with them?

CB: A lot of the artists and bands from Lincoln and Omaha I've either already seen or made an effort to see prior to their performance at the festival. There's a fair amount of artists and bands coming back from out of state.

I honestly do my best to see these bands, and any time they do come to Omaha or Lincoln, I can't always make it because it entails a three-hour roundtrip for me. I think it's worth it, but it does involve getting home. When shows end at 1 or 1:30, you get home about 3 or 3:30.

I remember one time going to a show at the Clawfoot House in Lincoln. I got home at 4 a.m. because I talked with one of the people who run the house. I can't remember his name, but he did the Public Eyesore label.

DN: Was it Bryan (Day) from the Clawfoot House?

CB: Yes, Bryan.

DN: Tell me about your own record label (Series Two) and how it intersects with the festival.

CB: Well, my record label started about five years ago. Technically, the LLC was established Feb. 21 of 2006. The five-year anniversary came this year. It's been a very big labor of love, never been about money for me, just about helping out artists and bands, generally a lot of lesser-known artists and bands who are making some really good music that didn't reach too far out of their own scene and their own region. I wanted to make sure other people could hear it.