Interview with Tony Lerch, director of Caribana - Giving a warm welcome to musicians and music lovers
- Catherine
- Jun 3, 2013
- 5 min read
On Wednesday 5th June, the lake side around Crans près Céligny will be rocking to the sound of Motor Head and Skunk Anansie, two of the headline acts playing on the first night at the 2013 Caribana festival.
Photo above: Skunk Anansie - courtesy Caribana Festival This festival first began 23 years ago when a group of friends headed by Tony Lerch (now director of the festival) organised a small musical event at the port of Crans. That first free event focussed on tropical and Caribbean music, since then the festival has evolved into one of
festivals in Swiss Romandie playing a variety of genres of music from rock, to reggae, folk, indie soul, grunge, blues and more.
Photo above: Tony Lerch - Director of Caribana Music Festival
“Having a stunning setting helps. It’s pretty special, the artists love it. We also give them the opportunity to discover more of the area before they go on stage. The bands and singers receive a “Welcome Programme” when they arrive here with a list of activities available to them. We offer a sailing trip on the lake, that in itself is beautiful. We sail past some interesting sights on the way, we point out the UEFA building, Michael Schumacher’s house, the Chateau of Prangins, Ernesto Bertorelli’s house (the 2003 America's Cup winner). Not only is a boat trip impressive but with the backdrop of the Alps and Mont Blanc behind them, it’s a pretty cool way to warm up the artists before they go on stage! If they don’t want to go sailing, they are given the option of cycling or walking in the vineyards with a chance to visit a local wine cellar. The only thing we ask them not to do is to participate in any risky sports, or swim too long in the lake and catch cold. We want them to stay safe be in good shape to play on the stage that night.
I think the artists love it, it’s a sort of mini-holiday for them because although it’s a big named festival, it still remains very intimate. They can walk along the side of the lake and mix with the public if they want to. There was an occasion a few years ago when Jim Kerr of “Simple Minds” chose not to eat at the artiste’s restaurant but to wander down to the port and have “filets de perches” there. Brian Ferry came back to visit and ate at a restaurant that he remembered when he played here.
Photo above: First night at Caribana 2011 - C. Nelson-Pollard
Having said that our very position right next to the lake means that it’s not that easy for the roadies. We have a bizarre shaped ground for a festival, and it’s not ideal for shifting stuff around. In addition it’s a very narrow path to carry gear down from the trucks to the stage, and the roadies have to carry and transport everything by hand. These days most rock festivals have automatic loading equipment. Some of the bands comment on this and say it’s like playing at rock festival from many years ago. Although it obviously makes it tricky for logistical purposes, it also add to the atmosphere, everyone lends a hand to get the show on stage.
In addition to the setting, word of mouth helps to attract some of the big named bands: they hear about its reputation and want to come along. We are proud that we often identify bands at the start of their career just before they take off and we manage to book them early on. We are really pleased that “Imagine Dragons” are playing with us on Saturday night this year - they have recently become a huge hit. There have been musicians that we identified and we booked early on that became so massive in the following months they simply became too expensive for us to take. A case in point is Robbie Williams, we booked him in October 1997 for the following year’s Caribana. He then released “Angels” which went on to become massive, his album skyrocketed and he was in great demand. We could no longer afford him which was a great shame. It was the same kind of story with “The Corrs”.
Having said that, there have been quite a few names who have played here first as a relatively unknown on one of the smaller stages and they went on to do bigger things, such as Faceless, Charlie Winston, and Nelly Furtado who we did book early on in their careers. The bands and artists on the smaller stages here at Caribana are always definitely worth going to see - they too may go on to greater success and you will have had the chance to see them close up at Caribana.
As to Tony Lerch’s own favourite type of music? “Well it’s no secret that I am a big fan of The Police, and I really like reggae, but I’m interested in all kinds of music. We have had some great nights with big and small artists over the past 20 or so years. We peaked at 32,000 spectators back in 2010 and since then have levelled out at around 30,000. The financial crisis has affected us and other festivals a bit, tickets aren’t selling as fast as they used to. All festival organisers are finding times as bit tougher. I think there are many, many festivals over Switzerland over the summer so competition is keen between us all, but conversely this means it’s good for the general public. They get to have a big choice of where they can go and spend their money. I am glad they are still choosing Caribana!
Photo above: Caribana 2012 - C. Nelson-Pollard
Like many festivals in Switzerland, Caribana depends on the good will and enthusiasm of its volunteers on site and on the committee which works throughout the year to help run such a big event. “There isn’t anyone on the committee who is paid to do the job including me - we all do it for the love of the festival. We value our volunteers enormously, it’s getting a little bit harder to take on young volunteers between the ages of 16 and 18 due to new laws that have been implemented in Switzerland, but if anyone is interested in volunteering on site here, even if their French isn’t that great, we will happily consider them for a future festival.
Back when we first started the festival, very few people used to know about the grounds that we use here at Caribana, just the local residents - now we have really put it on the map. We also keep evolving: this year the Sunday is for teenagers, with "Caribateens" . We saw that other towns were offering events for teenagers but there wasn’t much in this area, so we came up with the idea of a day dedicated to them. This year we have other changes on the grounds for the public: there will be steps down onto the beachside, and there’s more. We look forward to another good year and thankfully the weather is now improving and looking very promising for another great festival.
At the time of publishing there were still tickets available for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Saturday is sold out). Click here for more info. if you are not able to go, Living in Nyon will be reporting from the festival each day, on the bands, the new changes on the site, the atmosphere, and of course, the music!
Photo above: Party Time at Caribana 2012 - C. Nelson-Pollard