Helping spread a little Sunshine

Saturday 26 May 2018

Niall Mac of Stoked Music is helping spread a little Sunshine this weekend.

Last's year's packed out music festival at the Watersplash is back by popular demand. We caught up with him to find out more about what partygoers can expect.

What is Sunshine about?

“It always began - even back in 2009 when we first launched it, before taking a couple of years off - as a festival Channel Islands artists had to be in the middle of. In other festivals, local bands are played early when there is practically no audience. We wanted to make sure local artists would play in front of a full room and provide them with the opportunity to perform alongside slightly bigger names. We have two local artists where we can, an up-and-coming artist and then a UK artist who acts as the headline and draws the audience.”

What is the line-up this year?

“We have Newton Faulkner who is our headline. He played in Jersey before and we thought The Watersplash was the place to put him, given his type of music. Then we have Rews, a girl duet band, who played at Glastonbury and are getting great exposure. And then we have two local acts, Samuel Walwyn, who is from Jersey and The Recks, who are from Sark. We deliberately keep it as varied as possible. We call it a boutique music festival. It is a music festival in a venue and it makes for an incredible evening.”

Are the artists easily convinced to play at The Watersplash?

“We want the audience to get a good opportunity to see the artists in a really small venue. You are right up close to the artists. Last year, Reef said they were up for it immediately. We have to negotiate, which makes the tickets a bit more expensive, but you pay for something a little bit more exclusive. The artists are willing to come here, they have no issue with the size of it.”