5° North Music Festival is a music festival which aims to bring the celebration of local music up here to Penang, as more than often, events like this are held outside of Penang. Organised by CluelessArt, and supported by Bose, 5° North Music Festival will be a whole day of music ranging from rap to beach pop to post-hardcore, and even to some electronic music to end the night. Hosted in the iconic Hin Bus Art Depot, previously an old dilapidated bus depot that has since been restored into an art centre, people will be accompanied by food, drinks, clothing vendors, street art and more importantly amazing, local music. Besides, they will also be having an online band contest where the 2 bands with the highest votes on the contest, get to play 2 opening slots for the day.
The theme is the era when Francis Light founded Prince of Wales Island, or as we now call it- Penang Island. The lady in the poster is Martina Rozells, bearer of Francis Light’s children. I say bearer and not wife as they were not allow to marry due to Martina being a catholic and Francis Light being a protestant. They were hampered down by society’s do’s and don’ts, society’s right and wrongs. They could have chosen to give in to the pressure that their society at the time put on them to be “perfect”, but they refused to give in to that pressure. They refused to let anyone tell them how to live their lives, and they chased their dreams regardless of the circumstances surrounding them. That is essentially what the music industry in Malaysia is like. People are constantly telling musicians that music will not feed them, music will not pay your bills, music is not a career, music is just a hobby, you need something to sustain you longer. But these musicians, they absolutely refused to succumb to our current society’s take on music and decided to chase their dreams making music, singing their hearts out, letting people hear the song that resonates in their hearts and souls. Regardless of what the 1770s society told Francis Light and Martina Rozells, they raised smart, courageous, beautiful children, one of which who went on to be the founder of Adelaide, Australia. However, not much else was known about Martina Rozells. Her origins, and life story are very much unknown and mysterious, just like the girl in the poster. Mysterious. But courageous.
Tickets can be bought at various locations in Penang as well as by post. For more on 5° North Music Festival please check out their Facebook Page.
