SOTA Festival are going all-digital in 2020, and here are the deets

SOTA Festival are going all-digital in 2020, and here are the deets

Featuring a lineup including some of WA's best musicians, the festival will stream online this WA Day, a.k.a. Monday June 1st.

Over the last decade, you've been able to work out the happenings of the West Australian music scene - who is big, who is next up, who to keep an eye on - by taking a look at the annual SOTA (State of the Art) Festival lineup, which year after year, delivers a high-tier billing full of the upper echelon of West Australian talent. Last year, for example, the festival encapsulated the many movements within WA music: SLUMBERJACK and Reija Lee in electronic; Drapht and T$oko in hip-hop; Great Gable and Tether in the rock world and so on.

In 2020, live music may have come to an abrupt halt due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but that isn't to say that WA music as a whole is slowing down because of that. This year, SOTA Festival are switching things up slightly to adjust to the changing COVID climate, going full online as they present the full SOTA Festival experience - a.k.a. a chance to catch some of the state's best musicians up close (and for free) - via a digital stream, set to show that even in the face of unprecedented times, music is going to dissappear; the community is stronger than a lot of people think.

This year, SOTA Festival's lineup is representative of the many different peaks in West Australia's music scene, including some of the state's most renowned musicians across a variety of genres. Leading the charge is Abbe May, a long-time favourite of Perth's grunge-y alt-pop world that decades into her career, isn't disappearing anytime soon. Carla Geneve is next up, off the back of an explosive year; Drapht, Perth's hip-hop favourite back for round two; indigenous favourites Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse; daring masterminds Methyl Ethel; Psychedelic Porn Crumpets; and even San Cisco, who just launched the path for their forthcoming new album with a fresh single under their belt.

From 2PM to 8PM, the SOTAstream event will capture these musicians live from Freo.Social, complete with the venue's production and live atmosphere that the festival hopes will give it a unique each in comparison to many other live-streamed festivals in the COVID-19 era, often finding acts stripped-back from the bedrooms and loungerooms. It's a change for people to enjoy live music once again - albeit with a screen in front of them - and with all musicians, music venues and festivals struggling to keep things together at the moment, SOTAstream feels like proof that things can still happen - the music will always go on, as they say.

This year's SOTAstream - as always - is free to the public, open for anyone to watch with a decent internet or radio connection (meaning that even if you're not from WA, you're able to tune in and watch some of the state's best talent - just try not to get too much FOMO). Kicking off at 2PM AWST / 4PM AEST, the event will live streamed on Facebook (check into the Pilerats page for one place to keep up with the action, for example), Perth Now and RTRFM - meaning that there's plenty of ways to keep up with what's going on.

Find all the finer details below, and keep up to date with what's going on via SOTA's Facebook page.

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