A decade under the influence: #Devilstone

• Launched in 2009 as a niche underground festival, Devilstone now is one of the key players in rock/metal/alternative festival arena of the Baltics.
• Since 2010, I’ve been helping out to create and raise awareness about Devilstone and its artists in Lithuania and abroad creating press releases, news articles, social media copies and Spotify playlists.
• While working with Devilstone normally continues throughout the whole year, in 2018 and 2019 I co-managed the festival’s SoMe channels during the event itself.

It was a gloomy evening of winter 2009 when I, fresh at the uni and a bit more advanced in the realm of loud music, was browsing a then-thriving Lithuanian metal forum that is currently as relevant as Myspace. There I found a post by Devilstone Festival who were looking for new writers. A festival that, in spite of its freshman status and remote location managed to get Sepultura to its first edition? Would have been silly of me not to reach out.

Their response followed almost immediately: very well, try writing a press release for a hypothetical scenario of Mayhem* coming to perform at Devilstone 2010. I knew some things about Mayhem, though what I didn’t know could’ve filled a stadium. So I googled ‘Mayhem band’ and started reading, listening and typing.

That was the first time I felt the extremity of adrenaline kicking in while typing words about a band. That was my first-ever piece about music, the first-ever press release, and the first-ever press release for Devilstone.

A couple of hours in, already past midnight, they took me in. That same text was later used to actually announce Mayhem headlining Devilstone 2010 in the press. Thrilled out of my mind, I had no idea of what was yet to come.

Over the years, I lost count on how many press releases, articles and social media copies I’ve written for the festival that now I happily call my home. Must be hundreds of the first and thousands of the latter. Meanwhile Devilstone was slowly but surely progressing towards what it is now: 4 stages, 4 days, 50+ artists from all over the globe, numerous genres of alternative guitar and electronic music and thousands of die-hard fans. Yeah. For an alternative festival in the Baltics, one could say that we’ve made it.

Just like being a goth in your teenage years can set a decent tone for your future style, metal can be a good taste setter and a and a solid base for further explorations in music. Because it’s complex, because it’s different, because it opens up your mind for unconventional harmonies, structures and aesthetics.

Which brings me to say that in many ways, I grew together and parallelly with Devilstone. From someone who’s all about metal to someone who’s into many styles and genres. From post-punk to post-rock, from black metal to pop punk, from alternative rock to hardcore, from psychedelic rock to darkwave.

My involvement in Devilstone also evolved over the past few years. From a copywriter whose job is done before day one of the festival to someone who continues to reach out to devilstoners in real-time on-site. Watching & reporting the stages rise, the festival site filling up with its amenities, people working from early morning until late in the night to make everything right. Getting over my anti-social self and talking to bands. And, of course, seeing fans lining up for their Devilstone experience. After that... Boom, 4 days of concerts, posting & sharing flies by like one minute.

More intense every year, more artists to unveil, more genres to cover, more devilstoners to guide in their musical discoveries. There is nothing more rewarding than someone saying they gave a spin for an band I wrote about. And there is nothing more satisfying than seeing Devilstone in-action, knowing that I get to be a small, yet significant part of it.

Photos: Sakada, We Belong in Photos, XIV.