Together Boston Is the Rare Festival That Makes Its City Better

There are a lot of great myths about Boston. There's the Curse of the Bambino, the ghosts in King's Chapel Burying Ground, and more recently, the legend of Joe Sly. But one of its most pernicious (one which even this site has helped propogate) is the notion that the city has an aversion to dance music. Charlie Levine of Soul Clap once tersely mused that Boston is "a fucking rock town." And while there's no shortage of high profile guitar-slingers to emerge from the city, a club scene has always lurked somewhere below the surface—dating as far back as the famed The Loft in the mid '80s.

It's become a bit more visible over the last decade, thanks in no small part part to Together Festival. Now in its eighth year, the annual event is the one week when dance music is allowed to take over the city—nightclubs, community spaces, and even rock halls cede their stages to beatmakers and DJs from around the globe. By design, people have pretty much no choice but to dance.

"The original vision for Together was to unite the various Boston dance music communities, thus the name," said Joe Grafton, the festival's COO. "We also wanted to elevate the presence of dance music in the city in general."

Its inaugural versions took that concept quite literally, stringing together special edition bookings of parties from different corners of the local scene across a week's worth of shows. In the years since, the festival has grown from that model. With more notoriety has come bigger budgets, and ultimately, more adventurous bookings and productions. That expansion is helping Together quickly become something like Boston's own warped version of a destination festival. To hear its organizers tell it, it has begun to attract punters, promoters, and artists from all over the East coast, not unlike Detroit's Movement or Montreal's Mutek. Still, even as the fest grows, it seems to maintain the communal spirit that first launched it.

"One thing we've noticed about this year in particular is that many of the artists are looking to stick around after they've played to hang out," said Polina Starobinets, the festival's Director of Hospitality. "It's sort of growing into an industry standard kind of fest and that makes us really proud."

As in years past, the 2017's lineup boasts an impressive range of genres and approaches. On this upcoming Thursday alone attendees have the tough task of choosing between parties headlined by hometown funk-house heroes Soul Clap, New York MC Princess Nokia, grime producer Mumdance, UK synthmasters Simian Mobile Disco, and drum and bass figurehead Om Unit, respectively. Building lineups that appeal to many different types of audiences is still a key component to the festival's makeup.

"For us, being able to bring in artists from all over as performers, and really, as guests has been huge. It definitely lends a sort of legitimacy to what we're doing," said Grafton. "Boston's profile as a dance music city has definitely risen in the past few years and we're proud to have been a part of that."

Another function of Together that sets it apart from most regional dance music gatherings is its dedication to providing free daytime programming. Between product showcases from tech companies like Ableton and Roland and pre-party meetups stocked with phone chargers and endless Red Bulls at the festival's headquarters, the festival looks to carve out a unique and personable experience for its artists and guests.

"One of the most exciting things for us is having [3024 Records boss/producer] Martyn on board again as staff for the record fair," said Starobinets. "To have an artist want to not only perform as part of the fest, but actually collaborate as member of the team speaks to what we do differently than anyone else."

According to its organizers, that sort of detail is very emblematic of the festival. With such a small staff, most of the people that make up the festival staff are asked to take on far more than their job title suggests. That's Boston for you, a place that shuts down far too early and has far too many college kids to be so expensive. Nothing cool ever comes all that easy there, but contempt definitely breeds community. Together wouldn't have it any other way.

"I owe everything to Together," said Starobinets. "Joining the team has lead me towards a path that I find extremely fulfilling, one that has allowed me to make music my life in the city that I love."

Together 8 rolls into its fourth night tonight with the Re:Set Presents Octo Octa at Cambridge's Phoenix Landing and the Hessle Audio 10 Year Party at Middlesex Lounge with Ben UFO, Pangea, and Pearson Sound. Check out their website for more info on tonight's party as well as the rest of the festival.