Astral People Announce Twin-City Festival, ‘Move My Way’

At the cusp of celebrating their 15th birthday, Gadigal Land/Sydney-based curators, event runners and artist managers Astral People are still setting their sights on what’s to come.

Today, the group announced a brand-new festival, Move My Way, set to take place across Gadigal Land and Naarm/Melbourne in October of this year.

Astral People’s musical expertise has, in the last year alone, seen them organise tours across seemingly every genre possible, with the likes of Grace Jones, De La Soul, Jyoty, Mala and Shy FX, Eris Drew and Octo Octa, Carl Craig, DJ Stingray, Vegyn visiting Australian shores with thanks to the group.

Amongst that incredibly broad taste, Move My Way sees Astral establishing “a meeting point for local scenes and global influences that are tethered by a shared musical language,” they shared. That means a diverse range of programming that touches upon hip hop, R&B, jazz and elements of modern club culture for “a celebration of soulful persuasion.”

That persuasion sees Move My Way inviting a series of legendary international headliners for its inaugural edition, including Grammy-nominated American rapper Freddie Gibbs, London-based septet Kokoroko, Zambian-born rapper and singer/songwriter Sampa the Great and the return of Mercury Prize-winning jazz quintet Ezra Collective.

Outside of big names, Move My Way has shared its intention to place community radio and the people behind it at centre stage, too. This sees the likes of renowned selector and radio host Coco María, prolific radio host, label head, podcaster, DJ and mainstay of the global festival circuit, Jamz Supernova, as well as partnerships with community stations fbi radio and PBS.

That local curation extends to partnerships with local promoters too, with Gadigal Land’s Planet Trip inviting a selection of its extended family to perform, alongside Fitzroy’s Northside Records doing the same for the Naarm show.

Astral is no stranger to running festivals, having been at the helm of another venture, OutsideIn, between 2012 and 2015, with a selection of artists on Move My Way’s bill having already played an Astral festival before, most notably Freddie Gibbs.

With over a decade between these two moments, however, no doubt Astral People will utilise the experience and people power they’ve gained in that time to great effect.

Move My Way’s inaugural edition takes place over the first weekend of October at Carriageworks on Saturday, October 3, and PICA on Sunday, October 4.