Geek Pop is an online music festival featuring artists inspired by science, established in 2008. In the first festival, hosted by the website, attendees were only able to download a podcast featuring songs about science as a radio-style festival report. From 2009, the festival moved to its own website where listeners could listen to music for free and download radio-style report podcasts called the "highlights podcast". The Geek Pop website also produces a monthly podcast, and has hosted live events.
Background
Online festivals first began in 2003 at the Exposure Festival. Online festivals have a set launch time, but do not happen in a fixed location. They are available online after their launch date. Similar to festivals, online festivals have a set time and celebrate a particular aspect of a community, albeit an online community. The emergence of social media has enabled online festivals to allow people to communicate to each other during the online festival. At Geek Pop festivals, this communication is primarily achieved through an online "bar", which uses Twitter on the website to show tweets about Geek Pop. There are environmental benefits to having an online festival as opposed to, or in conjunction with, a real festival. Half of the acts playing in 2008 were from overseas, but no carbon was used to "bring" them to a primarily UK audience. There is no litter or waste generated by the festival and the majority of the marketing is done online, reducing the amount of paper needed.
Professor Science featuring Athena Currier – Sweet Home Apparatus
Emily Schulman – Dinosaur Extinction
Media recognition
Geek Pop '08 was mentioned during podcasts from the Guardian and Nature, receiving positive reviews from both – "There were many highlights, but pick of the bunch Dark Matter by science troubadour Johnny Berliner", said Nature. Laboratory Talk said that, "this virtual festival has much to commend it… My personal highpoint was the aching rendition of Hotel Mauna Kea by the Photomixers, demonstrating simultaneously pathos, humour, and even a little musical talent." Since March 2008 it has also been featured on Australia's Diffusion Science Radio's 2008 Christmas Special as well as the Mr Science Show.
Geek Pop '09
Geek Pop '09 was launched on the 6 March 2009. Alongside the two virtual stages imagined in the podcast from the previous year, the reproductive stage and the Tesla Tent, the festival introduced a new main stage which will be called the Tetrahedron stage. The major difference for the 2009 festival from the previous year was its relocation to a standalone website and the introduction of an interactive festival map that allowed listeners to choose songs to listen to.
Geek Pop 2010
Geek Pop 2010 occurred on 12–21 March 2010 and featured a 5th virtual stage for science comedy, named the Comical Flask. There were also two live performances, one in Bristol in the Cube Microplex, and one in London in The Miller. Notable acts that contributed to the online festival and live events include Baba Brinkman, Dr Stuart Clark as Dr. Stu and the Neutron Stars, Bert Miller & the Animal Folk, Dr. Martin Austwick from Answer Me This! podcast as The Sound of the Ladies and Jonny Berliner. Baba Brinkman's "Rationalist Anthem" Off That appeared exclusively as part of Geek Pop 2010, featuring a video animated by Tommy Nagle.
