Ep. 52 How SideQuest Grid Is Changing the Music Festival Experience

In this episode, we talk with Lauren and David, the creators of Sidequest Grid, a festival-based social game that helps attendees meet new people and discover the magic between the sets.

Lauren and David have spent the last few years living full-time in their van, traveling to music festivals across the country and sharing their experiences on Soundchecks to Stage Dives. After attending more than 20 festivals, they turned their passion for community into a creative way to help festival-goers connect.

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Transcript

Festival Friendship Cold Open

Vanessa 0:00

Hey, Sunny.

Sunny 0:01

Yeah, Vanessa?

Vanessa 0:02

What do you call two best friends that love music festivals?

Sunny 0:05

Hmm. I guess you'd call them Festies.

Clark 0:27

Music. Festivals. Friendship. Festies.

Meet SideQuest Grid Creators

Sunny 0:41

Hello, Festies. Thank you for tuning in. Today we're joined by two true festival veterans, Lauren and David, the creators of SideQuest Grid. SideQuest Grid is a festival-based social game that uses SideQuests to encourage attendees to step outside their comfort zones, meet new people, and create stories worth telling. But before launching SideQuest Grid, Lauren and David built Soundchecks to Stage dives, where they travel the country full time in their van, documenting music festivals, sharing reviews, guides, and behind-the-scenes content from events across the United States. Since 2024, they've been to over 20 music festivals. Today they're joining us from their van in Austin. We're really excited to talk with them about how their years of festival experience led to the creation of SideQuest Grid and what they've learned as creators and entrepreneurs and just their all-around vision for helping people build deeper connections within the festival community.

Lauren 1:43

Hello, hello.

Vanessa 1:44

Thank you for joining us.

Lauren 1:45

We're super happy to be here. Thank you guys for having us.

Sunny 1:48

When we first came across SideQuest Grid, we were honestly in awe of what you're building. It's such a creative and tangible way to bring people together at festivals. And that idea of helping people connect is something we think about a lot here at Festies. So your project immediately resonated with us. Yeah, thank you so much.

David 2:09

Yeah, thank you. It's and honestly, the main thing that we wanted to be captured is exactly that. Like we just want to bring people together. And festivals are such a way to do that because people come in with an open mindset and they want to connect. And just to be able to produce that in any way is such a joy for us. So it's a privilege. Yeah, we're

PLUR And Community Beyond EDM

David 2:32

super happy about it.

Vanessa 2:33

Did the idea come from seeing that kind of community at festivals? I know you guys go to a lot of like EDM shows where I feel like that's already really prominent. You know, people are very PLUR, whereas like it's it's at other festivals, but it's not as much as I feel like in the EDM community. So did you guys just kind of want to build up on that? Or did you see that kind of connectivity like missing in some places?

David 2:58

Definitely in I guess the bass music scene, there is a lot more PLUR. It kind of, I guess, is very strong in that area. But for us, we're trying to make sure that like people coming into the scene they learn the correct way. And I think we've really tried to make sure that as a community we do that, and it all just starts with plur, basically. Yeah. And a lot of our side quests and a lot of uh the things that we stand for incorporate that as well. So we're trying to spread that further on outside of kind of like the EDM community as well.

Lauren 3:36

I think the EDM space is a very natural jumping off point for something like this because again, it is so strongly community-based. But I think about fests like Bonnaroo, and I think about, you know, these more multi-genre fests where like you can't tell me that the culture and community at Bonnaroo isn't solid. And so it's definitely not just a EDM thing, but I do think that at least for us and in our kind of experiences, the EDM space made the perfect launch pad and it really gave us a way to kind of like use a somewhat of existing structure and a strong community to, you know, use as the jumping off point for sure.

Vanessa 4:14

No, that makes total sense. We typically go to like multi-genre festivals, and we've noticed that that was kind of missing at some of them, not ones like Bonnaroo, but we go to outside lands all the time because it's in San Francisco where we're we're from and Coachella and all that stuff. So that's another great way to build that community in other festivals as well.

Sunny 4:34

Yeah, and that's what's so exciting about what you're building. It feels like such a great way to bring that sense of connection to festivals of all kinds.

Van Life And Festival Media Work

Sunny 4:42

So, taking it back to the beginning, how did you both first get involved in the festival world and what sparked your passion for this community?

Lauren 4:51

Yeah, so we've lived in the van full-time for uh the last two and a half, three years at this point, and we have been doing media and content for music festivals. So we've built our own platform, Soundchecks to Stage Dives, where we did all of our content. We have a YouTube channel, and you know, we really got into the festival space as lovers of music and as lovers of festivals, but also always with that mindset of how can we help other people love and enjoy this the way that we do. And so it became a lot of informational tips, sharing true experiences, things we learned the hard way. And then, of course, like I said, creating content, you know, promotional type content for the events as well. And so we did about 20 events uh between 2024 and 2025, again, just going from one to the other. And so obviously, after doing a large number of festivals like that, we felt like, you know, the music is solid. We we know exactly what that's all about, and and that's why we typically go to these things, right? But we found ourselves being even more drawn to the community aspect and to the people, not to say the music isn't incredible, of course, but, we like to say that we come for the music and we stay for the people. And so we found ourselves growing more and more attached to the experiences that we were having and the things that were happening in between sets or like not really on a schedule. That was where our joy and and true love was coming from. And so, although we still love to create content for festivals and we still do that for that platform, it really was our own kind of personal experience of being in these conversations and and and experiences with people that kind of got us from from one side to the other.

Vanessa 6:33

Nice. And before 2024, have you guys been personally going to festivals for years and years?

Lauren 6:39

Yeah. My first festival ever was in 2007, aging myself here. but it was Voodoo Fest in New Orleans. My first camping festival was Bonneroo. Nice. I don't even remember which year that was, but it was a it was a while back. Um, but you know, I guess David's festival experiences are a little bit different than than mine, having grown up here, like in the US.

David 7:00

Yeah, very different. Festivals in Australia, although we had them, obviously weren't the same as what uh over here. Uh I still attended uh a few festivals we had, future music uh over there. We'd have a few festivals that would come through, but once I got to America, that's when it really opened up kind of a whole new world for me, and festivals here are just so amazing. Uh, and it's one of the reasons why I love living here in America, is because of the festival scene and the festival community that you can only basically get here.

Vanessa 7:34

And there's so many, and you guys have found the perfect way to like travel around and see so many of them. That's so awesome.

David 7:42

Yeah, the van definitely helps that. And I think it was van life was one thing that we both when we first ever met each other was a dream we had separately.

Lauren 7:52

Yeah, we talked about it on our first date.

David 7:54

And so we made this dream life and incorporated all these things into it, and then it just kind of happened. We we just made a life out of it, really.

Lauren 8:05

So yeah, I think I think we just we carved our lane. We we we really, for probably the first time in our adult lives, sat down and said, like, what do we want our life to look like? And what makes us happy and what brings us joy? Because although we were both successful in our careers at the time, I think it's fair to say that neither of us was fully happy with the way that our life was going out, and in the next, you know, 50, 60, 70 years of that was really questionable. I think, like, how do we do this forever? And so we've again, we've we've got ourselves on a path that you know is very fulfilling and very happy and puts us in our happy place, which is festivals in this van.

Sunny 8:41

right. If you don't mind me asking I'm curious, how did you both meet?

How They Met And Built Van Life

Lauren 8:48

So we actually met in Austin. Um, can can I like tell them the actual story? Okay, so

David 8:54

tell them the fake one.

Lauren 8:56

Yeah, so technically speaking, we met on Tinder, but there's I guess a little bit more to it than that. So I was teaching, we had the week off for Thanksgiving break, and my friends were like, You'd love Austin. It's such a cool city, there's tons of music. You should go check it out. So I just got in my car and I found like a cheap Airbnb, and I was like, well, I'm gonna just go see Austin. And of course I got tickets to a show, got tickets to see Band of Heathens at the far out lounge. And I got two tickets. I really don't know why because I was coming by myself, but I made a tender that Wednesday of the show, and I was like, hey, like I'm in town, I have tickets to a show. Does anyone want to go? And David was living in Austin at the time and recently moved from LA and he was like, Well, yeah, I'll go. And like we kind of just thought that you know we'd go to this show together and like never see each other again, and you know, we got married last June.

Sunny 9:42

Wow,

David 9:43

and now we live in a van and travel to music festivals together.

Vanessa 9:47

Oh so when you decide to move into your van and do van life, is it immediately van life and festivals? It was pretty quick.

David 9:57

Yeah, it was. So we were living in New Orleans, still both working and just kind of like planning. We had started our platform sound checks to stage dives. We never first started saying we were gonna go shoot media for festivals and live in the van and do that. It was just something that kind of came along as we started to build and opportunities opened up for us. Yeah, and we kind of just took every opportunity that ever came our way and being in the van allowed us to do that.

Lauren 10:28

Yeah, we did 43,000 miles our first year in 2024.

David 10:34

And we absolutely loved it, it was our dream kind of life. We're more stationary now because we're building our side quest grid, and everything that we put into the game, we create ourselves, and so we have to make everything. So it's very hard to do that in the van. So we have to kind of stay put now, but we're very longing to get back on the road soon.

Sunny 10:57

Now that you're spending more time in one place and putting more energy into building SideQuest Grid, it feels like you've had the opportunity to create a real home base for the project.

Vanessa 11:09

I saw your office build that looked awesome. Yeah. So cool. Yeah.

Lauren 11:13

Yeah. So that's the house that I grew up in, actually, and my dad's lived there all this time. And it just, yeah, it became like a glorified storage space. Every computer my family's ever owned was in there. Like I have no idea why. Um, but you know, it just it was like, okay, this is gonna have to be created. Yeah, yeah. But luckily, you know, he was kind enough to let us kind of come in and like take over and make a usable space.

What A Side Quest Means

Sunny 11:39

So for any of our listeners who don't know, do you mind explaining what a side quest is at its base level?

Lauren 11:47

You wanna take this one or you don't really take it? Okay, so I think the like dictionary definition would be anything that is not the main attraction, right? So, like, say in the context of a festival, I am going to go to see my favorite artist, right? That's my main quest. That's the reason I'm going. But there are so many other things that are happening at any given moment, planned and unplanned, that I could find myself being a part of. And that's the side quest, right? Some people might be familiar with it in terms of like gaming, right? I might be playing a game where my main goal is to do this, but I meet a character along the way that sends me over here to find something or do something. And so it's taking you off the beaten path, it's taking you maybe away from what you expected to do and putting you on a path of the unexpected.

Vanessa 12:37

Awesome. I love that explanation.

Sunny 12:39

That was a perfect explanation. Where did the original idea for SideQuest Grid come from?

Bass Canyon Sparks The Game

David 12:47

The need first came for us. We were going to Bass Canyon, and it was the only one that we were going to fly to. So we didn't have our van, we didn't have everything that we'd would always have at a festival. It's in a part of the country that we had both never been before, so we never knew anybody that was going to kind of be there. And because we had been to so many festivals that year, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to challenge ourselves to connect more because we felt that we were maybe lacking that. And so we created it for ourselves and went and did it, and showed other people at Bass Canyon while we were doing it, and had it on Instagram, and encouraged people to play along with us if they wanted to, just so we could get feedback as well to see if other people enjoyed it. And we had such an amazing time at Bass Canyon doing it and had so many meaningful connections with people because of the side quests that we thought we had to now continue and and spread that on because we saw the impact it had, not only on us, but other people at the event as well.

Lauren 13:53

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Like we were so out of our comfort zone, you know. Again, we didn't have all our stuff. We didn't put up a tent in like maybe ever.

David 14:02

Yeah.

Lauren 14:03

I don't think we had ever put up a tent because we we typically have the van for camping, right? So like every aspect of bass canyon was new for us. And we didn't have any sort of comfort zone to like fall back on or rely on. And so we're like, we have to find a way to get out there in this new place and and meet people. And so that was really kind of how how it started, I think.

From Bingo To Event Specific Grids

Sunny 14:25

Yeah, I remember in your bass camp that this started out as kind of a bingo game. I'm curious how you went from that initial idea to what Side Quest Grid is today.

Lauren 14:38

Yeah, so originally as a concept, it was a bingo game. we've really shifted away from the bingo concept just because, again, like that's that's a thing. That's that's something that's already been done. And and quite honestly, that's something that a lot of people can create for themselves. And we don't want to discourage anyone from doing that. We want them to, you know, make those for their Ray fam and their groups and like use the inside jokes and like do those things. But we did still want the grid to be multifaceted in in that it wasn't just one quest per card. We still wanted it to have multiple things, but we really try to use the festival knowledge that we have to create unique experiences or highlight unique experiences that can only happen at that event. For example, there is um a person in the EDM, heavy heavily in the EDM festival community. He goes by the name of Cheeezus Spins. And he has this incredible talent where he is just able to spin pillows, flow stars. I mean, probably almost anything that you give him. He could spin kind of like a drumstick and he like throws it up in the air. And it's just it's this really cool and fascinating thing to watch, and it's just something that is so unique to him. He is from Wisconsin, and so there's this uh festival up there called Force Fields that he is that's kind of like his home-based festival, uh, and you know, in his community. And so we put him on the Force Fields grid because that is his people, his community, and like that's who uh, you know, we want to to kind of highlight in in that space. And so that's an example of just one person that we kind of might take from the community.

David 16:08

Well, one that's not super specific to an event, but is specific to us is Find a Tiny Hat is a side quest that is on every single grid. And it was one of the side quests that we were given uh at Electric Forest before we started all this. And it was one of our favorite quests, but it kind of was the quest that sparked the idea, and so as a little Easter egg, that's gonna be on there every single time. So that'll never be specific to anything but us.

Lauren 16:41

We actually ended up running into him several months later at Lost Lands, and by that point, we had debuted the grid into the world. Like Lost Lands was really the first time that we had put it out so publicly and said, here, take this and run with it. And the community did. And so when we got a chance to meet back up with him and show him the grid, and we put find a tiny hat on there, like it was just a really cool full circle moment where he got to see how his silly little side quest impacted us and how it meaningful it was, and I think just reinforces the idea for everyone that these little tiny moments do matter and they can be meaningful and they can be impactful.

Sunny 17:25

Definitely. My wheels are spinning as you're talking because I think one of the really powerful things about SideQuest Grid is that you are encouraging people to look beyond their usual festival routine. You know, it's so easy to put the blinders on and just move from one set to the next. But your challenges prompt people to slow down, notice the details around them, and experience parts of the festival they might otherwise miss.

Lauren 17:53

Most definitely.

David 17:54

Yeah, and we really try with the SideQuest grid, we reach out to the Facebook community of that festival to see if anybody in the community is also doing anything awesome as well. Because one thing that the grid helps you do is see the whole festival and find out about things that aren't like on the website of the festival or that you know you may hear through them, but is through a more, I guess, underground channel. Yeah, a grassroots channel. And that's something that we really tried to make sure that we get on the grid is not just these kind of like random side quests that we've made up. We really want them to be meaningful side quests that only happen at that event.

Sunny 18:41

Speaking of other people doing cool things at festivals, we saw that you came across Caleb, the Bonnaroo Year Book guy.

David 18:48

Love Caleb.

Vanessa 18:49

Love him.

Sunny 18:49

Who we just interviewed um a month ago. How long ago was that? Yeah, I think a couple months ago, yeah.

Hidden Festival Moments And Collaborators

Sunny 18:54

I love that between all of our separate projects that we're doing, we've all crossed paths.

Lauren 19:00

We had the chance to connect with him in person at Hulaween. We got one of the Halloween I Spy books from him. So we're like super excited to see that when it comes in. And he even put a grid in the book for us. So yeah, we're super excited. Oh, awesome.

Sunny 19:13

They got their grid in there and then we got our sticker in there.

Vanessa 19:16

Yeah. I saw you guys met DJ Susan too. He's actually a friend of mine from college.

Lauren 19:24

Oh, no way. That's so funny. What a small world. Yeah, like that was electric forest magic right there because he just happened to be standing behind us on the platform uh at the honeycomb stage for uh the levity set. And you know, as we do, kind of just started talking to the people around us, and he was like, yo, yeah, like I'm playing later. And so later on that night, we like went to his set at the honeycomb stage. It was it was sick. So it was super cool. So funny.

Sunny 19:52

Yeah, him and Vanessa go way back even to like before he really started DJing. So when we saw him on your vlog, it was really exciting.

Vanessa 20:00

And you guys are going to Bonnaroo this year.

Lauren 20:04

We have active applications out. We'll see what happens. We haven't heard anything official. Um, however, we will definitely be doing the secret side quest because we have some friends who are going to be able to help us out and make sure that those little green pouches get dropped and that we have uh a meetup where people can come and get grids and stickers and all that good stuff as well. So even if David and I are not personally able to make it, we will make sure that everything still happens for sure. We've got this little network of people kind of across the country at this point that that have been helping out in situations where we are not personally able to get there.

Vanessa 20:36

Me and my fiance will be there. So I hope that you guys can make it so we can meet up in person.

Lauren 20:41

Yeah, and we'd love that.

Sunny 20:43

You mentioned the green pouches, and I want to make sure our listeners understand what you're referring to because I think this is such a cool part of the experience. Can you explain

Secret Pouches That Spark Hellos

Sunny 20:54

what the envelopes are and how they work?

David 20:57

Yeah, so the little green pouches are our way to spark a thousand hello's at music festivals this year, but really just to get people to connect. We call it a secret side quest because you don't ever know what's really in the pouch. We craft something specifically for the event. And when you get one of the pouches, your goal is to find somebody else that also has found a pouch and is playing the game. And if you trade with them, your artifact will be complete. And it's not about the artifact, it's about finding that other person and having that human connection and having that trade and helping each other and learning that person's name. Right. It's the most important thing uh that we try and put forward within the field guide that we leave in the little green pouch, which kind of explains how to play the game. And so those little green pouches are really gonna spark a lot of human connections at music festival this year.

Sunny 22:01

Yeah, and one of the coolest parts of this seems to be the moments when people actually find each other.

Vanessa 22:06

I love seeing in your vlogs everyone connect with their finding their keychains or their yin-yang symbols and how excited everyone gets. It's so cool.

Sunny 22:17

Your Seven Stars uh music festival vlog really showed how these secret side quests can play out.

Lauren 22:24

Sometimes we get to see that and sometimes we don't. Like the the yin-yang example from Seven Stars was just kind of a unique opportunity where we actually did get to see someone find one and see their reaction. And then we actually got to meet up with uh the two people who had found each other the previous day, and we got to hear that story. So we don't often get to hear those stories. So we always encourage people, like if they're willing to share them, you know, via social media or in like Facebook group or whatever. Um, because we do love to hear them and and we do think that those stories are really inspiring for other people. Like if I could do it, you can

Designing Keepsakes And Festival Memory

Lauren 22:56

do it.

Sunny 22:56

What goes into building those? What's the process look like?

Lauren 23:01

I would say it's probably about like an eight-week process from kind of idea and brainstorming conception to you know everything being mailed out in the event itself taking place. Um David and I uh do everything from point A to point B. We we create the gameplay. Like I said, it's custom every time we create and design and produce any game pieces or artifacts or like whatever things you might need, physical things you might need, like the yin-yangs, for example, uh for Seven Stars. Although we did have help with those, I will say. Shout out Anthony on that. But we feel like it's really important for us to produce those things because we aren't artists who paint, we aren't artists who make music, but we do feel like creating and crafting this experience is our art form. And so we really try to have a full picture of that from start to finish. So we create the story and the lore that comes through the field guide and kind of is how you experience that. And then, you know, we we pack all the orders, we ship everything, we get all of those little green pouches you know, put together. We do have some help uh in terms of ambassadors, uh, like I said before, who are able to go to events that we aren't. Um, we have a really amazing group of people who are like, hey, I want to help get these pouches out there. And so we gather things together and ship it all to them and coordinate. You know, it's a lot of logistics, honestly. Now that I'm kind of see like saying it out loud.

Sunny 24:28

Yeah.

Lauren 24:28

We've recently brought on um an artist to start helping with some of the grid artwork. Um, we had been typically doing all of that ourselves as well. But again, there's there's some really incredibly talented artists out there. And so if we can kind of bring them on and share their artwork through this process as well, that's something that we're we're looking more towards in the future for sure.

Sunny 24:48

Last night when we were watching some of your vlogs, Clark made a point of how it feels like something really special to hold on to forever.

Vanessa 24:55

Like a keepsake, festival keepsake. Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Lauren 25:00

Thank you for saying that because that is definitely part of our intention. And I mean, we want it to be meaningful. We want it to be something that serves a purpose. We don't want it to just be, you know, more plastic or, you know, something that you know you had and then lose or throw away. Like we do want it to be meaningful, and we hope that of course there are valuable memories and connections attached to that as well that that you also want to want to hold on to. So we appreciate you saying that. Glad that that's that's a thing.

Clark 25:26

I think just the the nature of when you make the grids so specifically for each festival, I feel like that helps where you're like, it says the specific festival, it has like these connections that spark those memories instead of maybe a couple trinkets you have, and over the years you're like, wait, did I get that trinket at this festival or or this other one I went to? You know, it's like because your grids are so specific, I'm sure that'll connect a ton with whoever has those and does those experiences too. Yeah, exactly.

David 25:59

And because festivals are so amazing, like all these people show up and we build this city for four days or five days or six days, and then it just disappears, and all that energy and all that creativity that was there is now gone, and so it only stands just in that moment of time. So we really want to make sure that people remember that too, and the grids help that, and we try and connect that a lot.

Lauren 26:26

So for sure bring that back into the real world when that temporary city is kind of done, you know. Like I had this experience here in this vacuum in this space, but why can't I have similar experiences in my day-to-day or in my normal life, you know? And hopefully it can be a reminder and a spark for that as well.

Clark 26:44

Yeah, very nice, very nice.

Vanessa 26:46

I'm so glad we found you guys because I mean we've been going to festivals for 10 plus years, like because we're music lovers, but we're totally guilty of being like, this is all the music I want to see, like stage to stage. We just chase sets, as they say. We've been doing that forever, and so this has for me personally, I think Sunny too, but this has given me a whole new like perspective on festivals, I guess. And like now I want to spend a whole day just doing side quests, and we're going to Bonaru, that's our next festival, and I'm like, I want to get your box, and my first side quest adventure would be with your box.

David 27:29

We love that, and I said it earlier is we're trying to help the new ravers coming into the scene, but there is, I guess, a whole group of people that have been like yourselves that have just been seeing the music, seeing the music, seeing the music. And it that's why we all go. Like it is again, that's the main mission, right? But once you do learn about a side quest and you go on one or two, it it does w open you up and you see so much more of the festival. Instead of just staring at different stages, you know, for your eight hours, you'll be able to see so much more. And I think that gives you more bang for your buck when you go to certain events, because you know, you do get the music and you get the acts, but you get all the other side things that come with that. And if you miss out on that, I really feel like you do yourself a disservice.

Sunny 28:19

I just want to say that I think what Vanessa just said is such a testament to what you're building because Vanessa has always been very focused on the music at festivals. I mean, so have I, but hearing her say that she wants to spend an entire day doing side quests is a huge shift. So um I'm really excited that this conversation has opened up a whole new perspective for her. And it's awesome that she gets to do this at Bonnaroo because Bonnaroo is her favorite festival.

Vanessa 28:47

I can't wait. Okay, well, we don't want to keep you guys too much longer.

David 28:52

Yeah, we got plenty, we got plenty of time, guys. Don't even stress.

Lauren 28:55

Yeah, we're having a blast.

Clark 28:57

Okay, cool. Okay, okay.

Sunny 29:00

Before this, I was like, I feel like we're just gonna end up rambling about festivals because I feel like we're almost puzzle pieces geographically, because you guys have gone to a lot of festivals over like on the East Coast and in the Midwest, and we're from the West Coast. For sure. We've covered a lot of ground. Between all of us, yeah. Yeah. Okay, so then

Expanding Beyond Festivals And Lineup Hype

Sunny 29:20

I really did want to ask this, and I know we touched on it a little bit earlier, but now that we have a better understanding of what SideQuest Grid is, I'm really curious to know about your broader vision. Um, I know you're bringing it to Bonnaroo, but do you see it expanding to other multi-genre festivals? And what kind of response do you think it will get?

Lauren 29:39

I think that some events are maybe a little bit more like mentally prepared for it than others. Like I think that's a fair thing to say, but it is something that could happen at any event anywhere, um, whether that mindset is kind of there or not. But it can happen at the grocery store, it can happen at a music festival, it can happen at the gym, you know? And it I think it's just about getting people into that mindset. And so we we do have a side quest grid that is not festival specific. It has 12 quests that can be done anywhere. And so we in the future could even see like doing city takeovers and like, you know, things that are not specific to a festival. So I think it can work at any festival, I think it can work anywhere. I don't think there's any rules. I think that that's part of what makes it so great.

Sunny 30:32

Wow, that opens up so many possibilities.

David 30:34

We do want to try and get our message out to as many people as possible, but we're also looking for a certain type of person. Like, some people don't want a side quest, some people want to go and they want to stand there and see every single song. Like, you go do you. And so we're not trying to tell everybody, hey, like, don't just go look at the stage for eight hours. That's silly. That's definitely not what we're trying to do either, because music festivals are so about going there and doing what you want to do and having your own kind of adventure however way you see fit. So we're really looking for those people that do like want more, like yourselves, that have been maybe going to festivals for a long time and have seen enough music and have really gotten their fill of that, and now want to step outside and just do a little bit more. That's I guess who we're also really trying to speak to is the people that want to do it and help them.

Sunny 31:29

Yeah.

David 31:29

Yeah.

Vanessa 31:29

Yeah. Catch me doing side quests at the grocery store now.

Clark 31:35

Meet meet me in the produce aisle.

Sunny 31:40

Seven years ago, you would never catch me saying the lineup doesn't matter. You would never catch me saying that. Now I really want to stray people away from this obsession about the lineup because I feel like it causes us to overlook what the festivals are really about.

Vanessa 31:57

And the community and, you know, the people that you meet. Yeah.

Sunny 32:01

Yeah. And I wonder if that's contributing to the closure of all these festivals.

David 32:06

Yeah, exactly. And I think if more festivals went about that of not really hyping the lineup up and that being the end all, they do well with showing like different community aspects that they put on, but I think it should be more highlighted and more focused on because that's again the extra thing you get when you go to the festival. And sometimes festivals escape out on it and they don't bring anything else but the stages and the lineup. And when people like us go to those festivals, we feel like we've been kind of like left out on, and there should have been more. So we're we're on that aspect too of like, cool, the lineup's fire, but almost everybody's got a fire lineup now as a festival, right? Right? Like every festival lineup that's dropped this year, you're like, Yeah, that's fire. Yep, that one's fire too. That one's fire too. So it's like I can go anywhere in the country and see a fire lineup, but when I get there, what else can I do?

Vanessa 33:06

Right.

Clark 33:07

Yeah, I think the message you're putting out really pushes back against that lineup only mindset. I think the side quest grid really does that so well and it opens the door to everything else the festival has to offer. The potential.

David 33:22

Exactly. And I think that point right there is something that really helped us spark the idea as well. Is like, well, if the festival doesn't has it like have it and offer it, we will. We'll we'll create a side quest for the festival. And so, yeah, if they don't want to do it, we're gonna help the community out. And that's gonna be our like offering back to the community and what we can give back. And so, yeah, festivals aren't gonna do it, side quest grid will.

Sunny 33:47

Yeah. I love that. Yeah, that's so awesome. Thank you for talking with us about that. Um, I was just really curious what your thoughts were. so we have two more segments to get to before we let you go. And the first one is what is your must-have festival item?

Must Have Festival Items

Lauren 34:06

Okay. I believe very strongly in this. If you do not have access to like running water, and I don't mean those like shower portable shower bags because you're never gonna get enough pressure. At the end of the festival day, your feet are nasty. Okay, whether you wear shoes or you don't wear shoes, your feet are nasty, and we all know it, and I'm not gonna pretend like they're not. So before you get into your bed or your cot or your hammock or wherever you're gonna lay your head for the night, please go to like a tractor supply or a home depot and get one of those like sprayer, pressure sprayers for like your lawn and fill that up with water, and you will have that every night, and you will have like an actual little pressure spray. You could totally use it for a shower as well, but I just find that it's really, really nice for your feet at the end of the day, and then you don't have to like get in your bed with gross feet.

Vanessa 34:58

That's a that's a dope.

Sunny 34:59

And I love that. I love that tip. Yeah, thank you for that tip. Yeah, that's awesome.

Clark 35:03

That is golden.

Sunny 35:05

David, you have one you want to uh I don't know how you're gonna follow that, but yeah,

David 35:09

I was about to add how I'm gonna top that tip. So we have these Ryobi fans, these small ones that run off a battery that you would use for a drill, and festivals allow them in, and I carry one of those around clipped to my bag, so it's a bit bigger. The battery lasts all day because it's not a normal charge, it's a big battery cell, and I use that every festival day basically. My arm just was getting too tired using the big fan, and so just having that on you all day was a good tip. Yeah, yeah.

Sunny 35:48

It's worth carrying around, I think. Those are awesome tips.

Dream Lineup Picks And Farewell

Vanessa 35:51

Those are the best tips we've gotten so far. Um, okay, last thing is our dream festies lineup. So we just thought it would be fun to curate this like fake dream festival lineup, and we actually have one for artists who are still living and artists who have passed on. So we ask all of our guests to contribute an artist for each of them. So, who would you want to see on your dream festival lineups?

Lauren 36:18

So I'm gonna start with the person who's already passed. I would immediately and without question say Freddie Mercury and Queen. Obviously, not all of the members of Queen have passed, but Freddie Mercury is an absolute legend and a talent that I think is just once in a lifetime. And um, I mean, same for Brian May. I mean, they're they're they're all incredible, but something about just the way that Freddie Mercury had this just unwavering belief in himself and how that came out through his music and his performances, yeah, is something that if I ever had the chance to see that, I mean, that would be a dream come true for me. For current artists or artists who, you know, you could still potentially see play now, it's a little bit of a tie for me. And and they are both in the EDM space. So if you're you're you know, listeners out there, if you're not in the EDM space, you know, check check these guys out. There's a guy named Vincent Antone that is just groovy and so amazing. And I don't think a lot of people put enough respect on his name. He's he's really good and he deserves to have more people out there supporting him. And then I would also say Daily Bread, because as a bad, I think he is one of the best to ever do it. I've never heard one of his songs and not been just like in awe. And so I think that that translates to his live music as well when he performs and when he plays, like he is the cloud conductor, he is the vibe curator, like he will give you one of the best hours that that you could get in a festival, I think.

Clark 37:52

Yeah, we're so glad we saw Daily Bread at Outside Lands a couple of years ago. Yeah, his his set was so perfect.

Sunny 37:59

David, you have any you want to add?

David 38:01

I do. So my lineup for past is Mac Miller. I would have loved to be able to see Mac Miller live, especially being in Australia. We never really got any tours, so I never got to see kind of anyone live. The biggest act I'd ever seen live in Australia was Eminem. He'd come down for a tour, but that's like the biggest act. Um, Mac Miller would be my part because that would be amazing. That's pretty dope though. Yeah, the Eminem show, Little Wayne, it opened for him, so yeah, it was amazing. Awesome. Um wow. And for my incredible uh other lineup, it would be Liquid Stranger. I don't listen to a lot of Liquid Stranger music like when I'm just like driving or listening to music. I love Liquid Stranger, but I don't listen to his music while doing anything. But every time I see a set of his, it is unbelievable. No matter what he plays, the production that they put in, you know, everything that he puts together always hits for me 10 out of 10. So he gets that spot.

Sunny 39:14

Solid. David, I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit here because Caleb beat you to the punch with putting Mac Miller on our lineup.

David 39:22

Oh, Caleb. I knew we were gonna be best friends.

Vanessa 39:26

He's already on the lineup, so he'll be there.

David 39:30

So as a replacement, it would be seeing Lincoln Park with Chester. Oh yeah. Yeah. That was one act that did come down to Australia that I got to see, which I'm so grateful for. But yeah, that that would be my my replacement.

Clark 39:48

For sure.

Vanessa 39:48

Awesome. Well, thank you guys so so much. I've enjoyed this conversation so much, and I really hope we get to meet in person at some point in the future. Hopefully at Bonnaroo.

Lauren 39:59

Yes.

David 40:00

Yeah, definitely. If if if we do get the confirmation that we're we're going, we'll let you know for sure.

Lauren 40:05

Yeah. If anyone out there from the Bonnaroo team is listening, feel free to check over our app again.

Sunny 40:12

Yes. It needs to be there. Well, we really admire what you're building and um we look up to both of you. I feel like we share a lot of the same goals when it comes to helping people connect and enriching the festival community. Um so thank you for doing what you do. And you're welcome back anytime to share what projects you're working on and anything you have coming up.

Lauren 40:34

We we are honestly just so grateful to be here. We appreciate people like you who are, again, just having conversations about the space because I think that there are a lot of people out there who maybe have some views of the festival community that are inaccurate or maybe uh in a negative connotation. And so I think that um people like you who are out here having these positive conversations and talking about what really is festival culture and what music festivals really are and can be is super important. So we would love to come on anytime and you know, hopefully next time we'll have uh less of a storm and fewer internet issues. Um, but no, we'd love being here and we've really enjoyed talking to you guys. So thank you so much.

Sunny 41:15

Oh, thank you. Real quick, where can people find you?

Lauren 41:18

Yeah, we are we are everywhere all the time on all the things. Multiple platforms.

David 41:23

It's so many to manage insta.

Lauren 41:25

Yeah, so we we are, you know, at SideQuest Grid on, you know, TikTok Insta. We

Where To Find Them And Closing CTAs

Lauren 41:30

do have a Facebook page. Uh, we have a Facebook group called the Wandering Order. Um, that's sort of what we uh have have dubbed our community here. And it is very new and very much growing. Um, but our hope is that once events are over and people have completed their little green pouch side quest or they've met someone that they want to continue to stay connected with, that that Facebook group will offer a digital space for people to do that. And so we would welcome anyone and everyone there. If you like the videos and seeing kind of the behind-the-scenes stuff, Instagram or TikTok would probably be for you. But you you guys had mentioned some of our vlogs. Uh, our YouTube channel, Soundchecks to Stage Dives, is where we do a lot of our vlog work. And then anything kind of like on-site at festivals, big experiences, long form stuff shows up there as well. So

Sunny 42:12

is there anything else you guys wanted to add before we let you go?

David 42:16

No, I mean guys for having us. Yeah, just thanks for everyone's place.

Lauren 42:20

Come and talk about, you know, our hopes and dreams for for what this project can be. And, you know, thank you for the the support of even just like I said, having engaging us in this conversation. And thank you to the listeners out there who may have already checked us out or who might in the future.

Sunny 42:34

Okay, I think that's a wrap. Stay safe in the storm. I hope that passes.

David 42:39

Yeah, thank you.

Lauren 42:39

Yeah, appreciate it. It's it's just, you know, it's it's the southern US. It it'd be raining in April and May. So it's just, you know, one of those things. But we will stay dry and we hope you guys have a great rest of your day as well.

David 42:52

And keep going with the podcast, guys. Keep keep pushing through, just keep showing up. It's it's really awesome that you guys are doing this. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Vanessa 43:00

I really appreciate that. Enjoy the rest of your day, man. Thank you, guys.

Sunny 43:04

Thanks, guys.

David 43:06

Bye.

Sunny 43:10

All right, that wraps up our conversation with Lauren and David from SideQuest Grid. If you're heading to Bonnaroo and want to join the adventure, pre-orders are open until May 21st. Head to sidequestgrid.com and explore all the cool things they have to offer. They have a Bonnaroo Adventure Box and they have a secret SideQuest starter kit and so many other fun things to look through. If you enjoy the episode, be sure to follow SideQuest Grid and check out everything Lauren and David are building. We've included their links to their website and social media in the show notes. And if you're enjoying Festi's podcast, it would mean a lot to us if you subscribed, left a review, and shared this episode with a friend who loves festivals as much as you do. Festival season is ramping up, and our Festi's digital toolkit is designed to make planning easier. It includes checklists. Templates and resources to help you get organized and make the most of your festival experience. You'll find the link for that in the show notes. And you can find us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at Festies Podcast. Thanks so much for listening.