May
IRIE. For all your fans around the world who wish they could attend but can’t, will there be any way for them to feel the Cali Roots experience? Will there be a DVD of Cali Roots 2015 available at some time in the future?
Dan Sheehan: We won’t be doing a DVD this year; we will possibly do one next year but we are going to do live streaming. We did it last year through our YouTube page, and we’ll have two stages live streaming this year from the main stage and the California Roots stage. Last year we got about 15,000 watching on the Friday, about 16,000 watching on Saturday and about 18,000 watching on Sunday.
IRIE. Those are good numbers!
Dan Sheehan: The first year, we didn’t know exactly what to expect and this year we are trying to make it even more readily available for people and give them more advanced notice of it happening; we’re kind of ironing out all of those details. There is also a mobile app that we’ll be launching soon that will have some of the onsite stuff available, and of course our social media will be very active during the festival.
IRIE. That’s great because your online efforts make it accessible for people who are not able to afford it or not be able to be there.
Dan Sheehan: Absolutely, we agree 100 percent. We understand that flying to Monterey at the end of May is definitely not an option for some people. With our capacity, we also do sell out, so it helps to give people the opportunity to experience the energy of the festival, even if they’re not physically there.
IRIE. Your California Roots Festival lineups read like a who’s who of reggae artists. Who would your dream lineup be?
Dan Sheehan: That’s a really good question. I don’t necessarily have that dream lineup, but there are dream artists that I’ve been trying to get for some time. I’ve been trying to get Fat Freddy’s Drop out of New Zealand for the last couple of years. Last year I booked an artist I’ve always wanted to book, Damian Marley, one of the biggest on my to-do list. Burning Spear is someone I would like to book at the festival at some point and kind of do a really cool throw back to the roots of when reggae started. A lot of the bands that I book are bands that I am also a fan of. My dream list would probably be an accumulation of the last three years’ lineups. It’s a good question, I’ve never really thought about my dream lineup; I’ve thought a lot about fans’ dream lineups because we really value our fans’ opinions.
IRIE. There is a plethora of emerging artists on the scene. Whose tracks are you listening to these days?
Dan Sheehan: I’ve been playing Protoje a lot; he’s definitely an artist I’m checking on right now. Raging Fyah is definitely another artist I’ve been really feeling a lot. We have Chronixx this year; I’ve been listening to and checking on Chronixx for awhile. There’s a lot more but sometimes I just don’t have enough time in the day.
IRIE. What has been your biggest challenge in bringing California Roots to life?
Dan Sheehan: I think the challenge is staying relevant and keeping fresh. I think that’s the big challenge; it’s not just booking the same lineup as two years ago. As festival producers we don’t necessarily want to repeat the same artists every year.
IRIE. Your lineup this year is a really interesting mix.
Dan Sheehan: Yes it is. It was one of my funner lineups to book. Having artists like The Roots on there, even having John Butler Trio; I think some of our fans don’t really know exactly what to expect but he is such a phenomenal artist. Yes, I’m really happy with the lineup, even though it took a little while for some of the hardcore Cali Roots fans to really embrace. We also realize that we can’t change that much either. We don’t want to go so far out of the box that we risk alienating the fan base that helped build this up. That’s something we’re very aware of as well.
IRIE. What are your future ambitions for the California Roots Festival?
Dan Sheehan: Everything goes back to the challenges. It’s being on the cutting edge of what’s hot and who’s hot and to continue to have that transparent vibe that we have with our fans. I think our ambitions are just to keep the movement going.
We’re very selective with our sponsors as with everything else. We could get a big corporate sponsor to give us a bunch of money but that’s not who we are; that’s not the vibe of the festival and we need to give credit to our fans for that too.
We have a lot of respect for our fans and we feel that if we brought in a huge corporate sponsor, it would show that we kind of – I don’t like the word ‘sold out’ – but it would definitely ruin the vibe. With our core values I think it’s not the right thing for us.
IRIE. It says on the website, ‘California Roots isn’t just a music festival; it’s a movement. It’s a way of life.’ What does the festival mean to you personally?
Dan Sheehan: When I first came to the Festival, for me personally it was .. I’m not going to say it was my second wind, it was probably more like my ninth wind in the music industry.
For me, it really opened my eyes and helped me turn the corner, becoming who I am in this particular industry. I think the fans really embrace this movement as, again, a movement of like-minded people, people coming to the event for the sole purpose of having a good time and being together, not judging and really just embracing the music and one another, embracing how lucky we are to actually be here doing what we’re doing.
IRIE. Nuff Respect! 
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