Hollow Earth’s Jamie Fife (Images: Josh Kelety for CHS)

2014’s Magmafest included the Eiderdown Records Sound Salon in Hollow Earth’s “specially” equipped studio. There will be a second Eiderdown Sound Salon on March 14, 2015. (Image: Hollow Earth)

It’s time again for Magmafest, a month in the Central District of independent live music and arts organized and put on by the volunteer-run Hollow Earth. The 2015 edition of the festival slated to start up on March 1st with a two-part “warm-up” featuring a collage-making party (with Magma Soup) and then show with music and poetry.

But there’s a new, bigger, more expensive mission of this year’s fest.

The event comes as Hollow Earth Radio is easing into its recently acquired low power FM license from the FCC, and the opportunities, growth, and challenges that it has created. Specifically, raising a “ridiculous” figure to pay for an expensive new transmitter and antenna to broadcast Hollow Earth’s waves.

Carly Dunn, a volunteer coordinator at Hollow Earth who has been with the station for around two years, said that the energy around Magmafest has changed since getting the LPFM license.

“I think we’re definitely thinking about things like money now,” Dunn tells CHS. “Before it was like ‘yea, wouldn’t it be weird if we did this!?’ But now with shows I’m thinking ‘man, what can I do to get people out here, and giving and stuff’.”

“We have been approved, and it’s great news. It’s just, there’s a lot of work to be done,” she said.

Magmafest 2015 Week 1 — Full Schedule

• Sun Mar 1 – MAGMAFEST 2015 WARM UP Part 1: Collage, Comedy, & Magma soup! E Sanchez/A Iwancio/S Koyano/A Miller/B McKelvey/V Nigro/K Nacozy/F Baum

• Sun Mar 1 – MAGMAFEST 2015 WARM UP Part 2: Glossophonic Showcase VII with Freeway Park / Queequeg / Amber Nelson / Arlo Jacob Smith

• Fri Mar 6 – MAGMAFEST 2015 – 5th Annual Women Who Rock (un)Conference: Rocking Media Justice. Kick Off Party” featuring Seattle Fandango Project

• Sat Mar 7 – MAGMAFEST 2015 Chastity Belt / S / John Atkins

Revenue for the volunteer-run station is composed of a smattering of individual donations, show proceeds, and the occasional grant, such as the City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund.

Hollow Earth’s LPFM broadcast reach is expected to cover a broad area outside of the immediate Capitol Hill and Central District vicinity, stretching down Rainier Avenue South, up to the U-District and even as far east as Mercer island, according to Dunn. “It’s big, so everyone is really excited… people who have shows already, they feel really inspired. They want to do bigger things. So that’s really cool,” she said.

At the same time, the news of the station going LPFM and the attention it received has resulted in an “overwhelming” number of eager volunteers who want to get involved, and eventually do some of their own programming at the station. “We’re kind of putting a hold on new volunteers,” said Dunn while the station irons out some official ‘office hours’ to have station managers in house. “Except for Magma Fest!” she quickly added. “I think [it] is the perfect way to get involved because you can really see what Hollow Earth is during that month.”

Hollow Earth is still looking for help with organizing Magmafest 2015 to do everything from emcee shows to making posters and hitting up local businesses to help sponsor events.

Proceeds from Magmafest are going towards helping acquire the transmitter.

.Hollow Earth is holding the majority of the shows in its narrow and intimate station space on E Union, with the exception of four that are slated for locations such as Cappy’s Boxing gym just blocks away and the Cockpit on the Hill.

The shows are predominantly organized by Hollow Earth DJs. Dunn and Jamie Fife, a DJ whose show “Pizzablood” runs every Monday afternoon, will be collaborating on a show.

Some of the shows will also be recorded and posted on Bandcamp for people who can’t make it. “Any performance here is broadcast live, so it has that advantage, that people can listen from home,” said one Hollow Earth volunteer who goes by the title Corporal Tofu Lung and was described as a “force of nature” in helping run the station by Dunn.

8-year-old Hollow Earth would like to continue on its path as serving as an accessible local radio, media, and arts project. “[We would like to be] more of a neighborhood, community radio network. And not just being a exclusive music listening, weird, not open place… We just want it to be more like people coming in and feeling like they can have input here.”

Back in 2013 when Hollow Earth was applying for its LPFM license, volunteers reportedly went door to door in the Central District, asking people what they would like to hear on the station. Getting diverse programming and voices from feminists, people of color, and the LGBTQ community is also a priority for Hollow Earth, especially for one of the station founders Garrett Kelly, according to Dunn. The station has also begun running a Friday community news segment.

The project is also looking to partner and establish relationships with local community organizations, such as when Hollow Earth worked with the Richard Hugo House to host zine making workshops and a zine library as part of the Zine Archive and Publishing Project.

What Hollow Earth doesn’t want is to be exclusive, despite its taking a moment to build capacity for the rising interest its volunteer opportunities and programming are generating.

“This is the place for firsts for sure. ‘I’ve never run live sound before, I’ve never made a poster, I’ve never listened to this kind of music before,’ this is the kind of place where you can do that. You don’t really have to ask a lot around here. You just get immediate support,” said Dunn.

“Everyone has ideas and a lot of people have crazy ideas but I think sometimes you think you can’t do any [of those ideas], there’s more of a process to flushing those out. But here you can come in here and this [the space, equipment, & community] is all ours.”

To find out about volunteering with Hollow Earth Radio, shoot Carly an email at [email protected], and check out their Facebook page for details on the Magmafest 2015 shows and events.

You can learn more — and tune in — at hollowearthradio.org.