Rockfest founder Alex Martel on 2014’s re-worked edition of the Quebec festival

As the founder, primary booker, and public figurehead behind Quebec’s annual Rockfest, Alex Martel is intrinsically tied to the festival in most people’s minds. So when last year’s record-breaking crowd swelled to over 100,000 attendees, overwhelming the tiny town of Montebello, Quebec and pushing the site’s insufficient facilities past the breaking point, people knew where to direct their outrage.

Stories of overflowing toilets, cancelled buses, and chaotic camping sites proliferated online, with most calling out Martel personally for the organizational failings. However, let it not be said that Martel does not learn from his mistakes.

For this year’s edition, logistical duties for the festival have been handed over to the team behind the Festival d’été de Québec, which has run a sprawling summer festival in Quebec City for decades without incident. The organizers have instituted a new ticketing system to avoid lineups, and are promising a revamped camping system, and completely re-thought festival grounds.

Rockfest may have grown much faster than the organizers initially planned or were ready for, but with an experienced team behind the helm for the 2014 edition, it looks like the organizational snafus are a thing of the past. With tickets nearly sold-out at the time of this interview, it appears that the crowds are willing to forgive and forget as well, in order to see a ridiculous line-up ranging from mainstream acts like Weezer, Mötley Crüe and Cypress Hill, to a veritable who’s who of 90’s-era punk bands.

We spoke with Alex Martel about the challenges of mounting this year’s edition, the booking process, and his personal festival picks for this year.

Bad Feeling Mag: What was the biggest lesson you learned from the issues at Rockfest last year?
Alex Martel: It comes down to getting the right team to handle the production and logistics of an event like Rockfest that’s been growing exponentially the past couple years. We really got the dream team this year with Festival d’été de Québec taking over production, Pierre Miron of the Ottawa Bluesfest as the site coordinator and Orkestra, who do the Gatineau Beerfest, to handle the campgrounds, parking, etc.

BFM: What would you say to people who are wary of the festival after last year?
AM: I think people got over it by this point.  We fixed what needed to be fixed and people love the festival, the atmosphere and the lineup. Plus, ticket sales are through the roof this year and we expect to be sold out pretty soon.

BFM: Can you detail the logistical changes for this year’s edition?
AM: The configuration of the festival grounds is totally changed, with more entrances, more exits, more toilets, etc. We’re also mailing all the wristbands ahead of time, so no more box office waiting lines. We’ve got a new VIP camping as well as a new general camping, which is located in a huge field at a walking distance, so we can accommodate way more people. There will also be screens on the main stage.  I could go on!

BFM: How did the relationship with the Festival D’ete come about, and what do they bring to the table?
AM: I knew them already. I happened to run into Louis Bellavance, their festival programmer, at the time that I was looking at options for production and it kind of happened naturally. They’re the largest music festival in Canada, so they definitely bring experience to the table.

BFM: What is the booking process like for Rockfest? How early did you begin booking this year’s edition?
AM: It’s a long and meticulous process. I spend a lot of time working on lists and grids, doing research, etc.  We listen a lot to what our festival-goers ask us. I also try to balance out the different genres to keep it diverse and I like to dig deep, so even the smaller bands are important. The first band I confirmed for Rockfest 2014 was NOFX and that was before we even announced the lineup for Rockfest 2013!

BFM: What bands are you most proud of booking this year?
AM: Blink-182 was definitely the headliner that I wanted, and it was hard to get them because they’re in the studio right now. I’m really proud of the lineup as a whole. I’m also really excited for the bands that I was able to reunite, like Bigwig, 88 Fingers Louie, Reset with the original lineup, Despised Icon, The Sainte Catherines, Mononc’ Serge with Anonymus, etc.

BFM: Where there any particular bands you wish you had gotten?
AM: There’s always tons of bands that end up not working every year, but I usually end up getting them a year or two later. One band that’s just never available on our dates is Slayer, so hopefully it’ll work out in the future.

BFM: This year’s lineup is more eclectic than the past few years – was that always the plan? Or did that come about organically in the booking process?
AM: It pretty much evolved naturally, but I’ve always liked the diversity of the bands at the festival and the crowd itself. I think it’s pretty awesome to have Reel Big Fish and Cannibal Corpse on the same bill.

BFM: Apart from the headliners, are there any other bands on the bill you specifically hope people check out?
AM: There’s this band called UKKO that’s reuniting at Rockfest. They were a pretty important punk-rock band in our area in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, but never got known elsewhere. Flyering for these guys was pretty much my first ”job” in the music business when I was like 14 and they were the first people to believe in me.  Fans of Millencolin, Pennywise, NOFX or Lagwagon, check out UKKO at Rockfest!

BFM: What are the challenges involved with booking a festival for a Quebec audience? Would the Rockfest lineup be very different if it took place in another province?
AM: We’ve got an entire stage of Quebec bands, which I think really adds to the diversity. It rotates with the main stage, so you basically get to see Mononc’ Serge playing between Weezer and Blink-182, Grimskunk playing between Alice In Chains and Mötley Crüe, etc. It’s a very unlikely mix of styles and languages, which I think is pretty cool.

BFM: Quebec has so many festivals, is the competition for acts intense?
AM: It can be, but I think we’ve got a very solid lineup every year and we established Rockfest as THE rock/punk/metal/hardcore festival in Quebec.

BFM: What festival do you look to for inspiration? In terms of organization, bands, grounds, etc.?
AM: Pretty much every single event I’ve ever been to since I was a kid. Ozzfest and the old 90’s Warped Tour were definitely influences. European festivals are a big inspiration as well. I also really like the vibe at fairs and carnivals, which is why we added rides and fire buskers last year. I try to take the best aspects of every event and make it my own, into something unique. The fact that we do it in a tiny town of 900 people in the countryside that gets taken over by thousands of punks and metalheads makes it even more unique.

BFM: You’ve got a few bands on the bill that have issues with each other (Danzig and Misfits, Henry Rollins and Black Flag for example) – how did you go about getting some of these bands to share the same bill for perhaps the first time?
AM: Nothing special really, I just sent offers and they confirmed. I think it’s pretty cool that they’ll be playing on the same bill!  We also had Jello Biafra and Dead Kennedys, but Jello pulled out at the last minute before the announcement unfortunately.

BFM: Finally, where can Rockfest go from here? Are there any other elements you would want to incorporate into the festival in the future?
AM: We’re working on the 10th anniversary for 2015. It’ll continue to evolve, grow and get better every year!

Rockfest takes place June 20-21 in Montebello, Quebec (about an hour from Montreal). For tickets and all other information, visit http://www.amnesiarockfest.com/en/.