Outside Lands Boasts Queer and Bay Area Pride in Its Sixteenth Year

San Francisco’s 16th annual Outside Lands Music Festival was a true celebration of music and culture featuring the best of the Bay Area and beyond. Atwood Magazine caught up with performers Kaleena Zanders, Balthazar Aguirre of BALTHVS, and Scott Huerta of French Cassettes – all of whom have at some point called SF home!

More than 200,000 music lovers donned their denim jackets and black boots to trek through acres of San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Park for the annual Outside Lands Music Festival.

Attendees braved the fog and mist while bopping to the sounds of Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, the Killers, JUNGLE, and Post Malone from August 9 to August 11.

This year, the famous festival – that has repeatedly brought together the best of the Bay Area’s food, cannabis, beer and wine, art and performances – celebrated its sweet 16, firmly finding its footing as a cultural staple of San Francisco. It is unabashedly a festival that’s a love letter to SF: the stages are named after the city’s iconic landmarks, the hand painted murals wrapping around the festival grounds feature San Francisco’s most prominent activists and artists, and 100% of the onsite vendors are businesses local to the city.

While the multi-genre festival has always featured an extensive lineup of musicians that fall into the folk/singer-songwriter/Americana category, this year definitely highlighted the global rise of dance, house, and electronic music. One of the stages named “SOMA” was a dedicated stage for house and techno at the festival, which ran a constant dance party throughout the three days. On Sunday, the festival closed with the vibrant Haitian-Canadian DJ KAYTRANADA, whose expansive and upbeat soundscapes were the perfect way to unite the crowd one last time under the stars. He played memorable tracks from his most beloved albums: 99.9%, BUBBA, and TIMELESS, which was released in June.

Dolores’ one of the smaller stages, was created specially to recognize “the queer and trans communities and the DIY spaces that are vital to San Francisco nightlife and culture.” Vibrant and energetic performers like p1nkstar and PRINCESS graced this stage, paying homage to queer parties, performances and activism, all of which are closely intertwined with San Francisco’s history.

Chappell Roan’s set drew a crowd of almost 80,000 (almost half of all attendees at the festival), who proudly belted along to her lyrics, “I’m gonna keep dancing at the pink pony club, with my boots / it’s where I belong,” clad in pink cowboy hats and mounds of glitter. It’s a definitively empowering queer anthem. Other celebrated figures in the community that performed this year included Reneé Rapp and Romy, the latter of whom treated fans to an eclectic after-hours DJ set at 1015 Folsom the night of August 9.

Atwood Magazine had the chance to chat with three of the performers from last weekend’s festival – Kaleena Zanders, Balthazar Aguirre of BALTHVS, and Scott Huerta of French Cassettes – all of whom have called the Bay Area home.

A CONVERSATION WITH KALEENA ZANDERS

Atwood Magazine: You’re from San Jose, CA. So am I! How did you get your musical start in the Bay Area?

Kaleena Zanders: I was into a lot of pop and rock music growing up, and also did musical theater. I went to San Jose State University and played in a rock band there. I had a great music community in college, and also took music classes at SJSU, so my training was gradual and over time. After college, I went to the Musician’s Institute for a year and half, where I met my best friend—who introduced me to electronic and jazz music. I live in LA now, but my dad is still up in Dublin. It was always on my bucket list to play Outside Lands.

So you grew up listening to pop and rock, how did you make the switch to the dance and house music you make now?

Kaleena Zanders: House music is incredible, it’s soulful, and it’s rooted in Black people’s experience. Black people have a tendency to rejoice and find happiness, and still stay positive despite what they may be facing. I’m always looking for reasons to restore and renew. So the transition to house music was very natural for me.

EDC was my first festival, and it was incredible. The community that forms around dance music is so eye opening. My best friend and I, our goal was to be the female Disclosure. At the end of 2014 I was ready to fully commit myself to being a yoga teacher. Then, when I thought I was totally done with music and working at Trader Joe’s in 2015, this random song I recorded became my biggest hit. That was the catalyst to start taking this seriously again.

Tell me about your song, “Looking for Joy.” It’s a very enjoyable and positive track.

Kaleena Zanders: I was going through this period of feeling down because I was extremely empathetic to all of the difficulties going on around us in the world. I came into the studio feeling frustrated with life and really angst. I felt helpless all the time, and kept asking myself, “how do I find joy?” I was also feeling down about my management and just some other personal things in my life. Since I’m such a free spirit, it can get frustrating navigating my career through this one lane. So this was an outcry of my self-discovery to find joy again. I recorded it with a producer, Nathan, and my best friend Carla.

You have a big, bold, beautiful voice. It sounds like you’re classically trained. Who are some of your musical inspirations?

Kaleena Zanders: I’ve always thought that my grandmother had a lot to do with my voice. She died when I was 2, but she taught a choir and was a prolific piano player. I think it’s because of her that my dad also has a beautiful voice. Lately, I’ve been trying to change my set to make it even more soulful. I feel this ancestral call to pay homage to my grandma.

What are some of your dreams and goals for the next few years?

Kaleena Zanders: I’d like to explore a hybrid of television and music and put it together into a series. Sort of similar to what Donald Glover or what Lil Dicky did [with their music and TV shows]. I want to bridge the gap between television and music by creating a series that’s captivating and intense, and features my music.

A CONVERSATION WITH BALTHVS

Atwood Magazine: It’s so nice to talk to you. BALTHVS (pronounced ‘ball - thus’) has been performing so much recently. Congratulations on your success. Where are you calling from?

Balthazar Aguirre: I’m currently in Colombia, where I was born and raised. It feels so good that we have a whole team of people behind us now. In March, we played at Cornerstone in Berkeley. We recently played a show in Aspen, and opened for JUNGLE in Salt Lake City. We’re so excited to be performing two shows in San Francisco; a show at Rickshaw Stop and our set at Outside Lands.

Tell me about how BALTHVS started.

Balthazar Aguirre: Around 2018, I had a psychedelic rock band, which included our current drummer: Santiago [Lizcano]. We were inspired by The Grateful Dead and Santana. Unfortunately, the people in Colombia weren’t ready for that at the time. It’s funny, Colombia is a psychedelic country that is somehow completely lacking in psychedelic music.

We then did this one special gig, where Joanna Mercuriana was our opener (who is now the current bassist and vocalist of BALTHVS). She was this big personality with an amazing voice, playing this little ukulele. I remember seeing her, and it was love at first sight in every sense, musically and romantically. We moved in together, and Joanna became our bass player.

What does the name ‘BALTHVS’ mean? How did you come up with this name for the band?

Balthazar Aguirre: I was making a living as a city tour guide for Bogota years ago. One of the places I would take tourists is the Botero Museum; the biggest art museum in South America. It’s a free museum for the people, and I know it by heart, because of all my time spent there as a child and as a tour guide. There are two pencil studies in the Botero by Balthasar Klossowski de Rola, known as Balthus, a Polish-French modern artist. His name is almost the same as mine, and ‘balthvs’ became the band name.

What is the cultural atmosphere like, growing up and currently living in Colombia?

Balthazar Aguirre: I live in Bogata, which is the most bike-friendly city in Latin America. I spend a majority of my time on a bicycle, and it inspires my rhythm and movement. In that way, biking comes out as an unconscious influence.

I also had extremely strict parents with a regimented upbringing; I was an only child. I didn’t follow the typical plan of having a family, and chose a different path than what my parents had done. My Initial inspiration for my band was a psychedelic experience. I realized that I wanted to be a musician, because music is the best medium to convey what you’re experiencing in that state.

What are you currently most excited about, both personally and for the future of BALTHVS?

Balthazar Aguirre: Positive messages keep me going the most. I just read a comment from a fan this morning that said, “Greetings from Turkey, I love your music. I can’t wait for you to come to Istanbul.” Every day you’re getting this kind of invaluable positive feedback from the world.

Harvest, our album, came out a few weeks ago, which we are ecstatic about. The three of us rented a cottage in the middle of the jungle in Colombia. There were mango trees, a pool, in a house hours away from Bogota. We locked ourselves in for a month and just recorded songs.

We are touring the U.S. all of August, and at the end of September, we’ll be back in the southeast U.S. and then Austin City Limits. Later, we have a Europe and Australia tour, so there’s a lot to look forward to right now.I’ve always created music with the attitude that this is not a hobby or a pastime, this is my full fledged profession.

A CONVERSATION WITH FRENCH CASSETTES

Atwood Magazine: You and the other two members of the band met in high school in 2006, in the small town of Ripon, CA, making indie rock tunes. How did your childhood and early environment shape the kind of music you’re making today?

Scott Huerta: I grew up in the Central Valley and started when I was super, super young. Funny enough, I got inspired to start watching an episode of The Simpsons. There was a scene where Bleeding Gums Murphy was playing saxophone with Lisa, singing happy birthday to her. That scene really clicked for me, because my Dad had also played saxophone since high school.

We didn’t really have a lot of music around in my house or listen to it much growing up, so my access to it was listening to the theme songs for Frasier and Seinfeld. There was also this band from the 80s called Electric Light Orchestra that I loved in high school.

Once, I got the flu in high school and was bedridden for two weeks listening to Electric Light Orchestra nonstop. I remember being so impressed by the McCartney-style compositions, and I thought the way they were able to fit so many different genres together in a tasteful way was incredible.

You are the vocalist, Mackenzie Bunch is the guitar player, and your brother Thomas is the bassist. How did the band form?

Scott Huerta: I met Mackenzie when I was 16, and I’m 34 now, so that’s kind of insane. He showed up to my high school as a transfer student; I remember he had on a green Jansport backpack and a cool t-shirt. We would walk each other home and rehearse every day. My brother, Mackenzie and I are the founding members, but right now French Cassettes also includes a jazz drummer we met in San Francisco. Andrew St. James is currently the bass player, as my brother recently had a kid.

Tell me about your latest album, Benzene. You were working on this for a few years, correct? What was the process like?

Scott Huerta: We worked on this record for five years. There’s a song [on the album] that means a lot to me called When You Know You Know. The story of writing it went like this: in the midst of COVID, I kept telling myself, “you haven’t written a song in months.” I was looking in the mirror , looking at a wall, thinking that it doesn’t matter if I write the most boring song on the planet. “Write something,” I told myself, “or you’re going to lose your mind.” That’s how the first song came about.

The guys really loved the simple writing on this project. I scoured my old hard drives for inspiration and material. Mackenzie collaborated with me and brought the song Baseball Bat. She showed up to the studio one day and said, “I had a dream that The Strokes were playing a song… and then I wrote a song about that.”

So, I love this album a tiny bit more than our previous one [Rolodex] because of the collaboration effort.

Basking in French Cassettes’ Sunny, Spirited Third Album ‘Benzene’

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Who are some of your current musical inspirations?

Scott Huerta: I get most of my inspiration from my friends. I just admire my friends who play music. Even if they’re not my favorite band in the world, every time they have the gumption to put out any kind of music, it keeps me going. It’s like having a lot of friendly competition. I love the Beach Boys and the Beatles, too.

What are you most looking forward to at Outside Lands?

Scott Huerta: Touring is so important and it will always be important. I live in San Francisco – Bernal Heights – and I’ve lived two blocks away [from Outside Lands] for 10 years. One of my fondest memories is, I woke up one morning, and music was playing at ten in the morning. I’m thinking, “who is playing Penny Lane right now?” It turned out to be the actual guy – Paul McCartney – rehearsing for his OSL set.

I have always loved Outside Lands. Playing other festivals means nothing to me. [OSL] pretty consistently gets really good acts. I was waiting for them to notice us for years. We have been waiting for this.

There’s another fond memory I have of seeing the band Beirut at Outside Lands, one year when I got in because I was picking up trash as part of a volunteering program, ‘Clean Vibes.’ I actually usually don’t like going to live shows, but I absolutely love Golden Gate Park. It’s magical to be able to see everything from the hill. Watching that Beirut set was a really shining moment for me. I knew at that moment that whatever it took, I one day would have to play this festival.

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