Daniel G. Wilson is a rock musician, but because he’s Black he’s often left out of the city’s rock music narrative. That led the frontman of the Mississauga band Joncro (one of our 2018 Ones To Watch) to start Festival Lingua Franca last year, an event that focused on showcasing loud bands with non-white members, with a focus on the Black, Latinx and Caribbean communities.
“The goal of this festival is to showcase that rock music is so much more diverse than the stereotypical image of four white dudes playing blues rock,” he says.
“All too often people of colour in the underground rock scene tend to get ignored or erased. We are usually expected to be rappers, R&B singers, reggae singers or only making music that is specific to our home cultures, and are often discouraged from venturing outside those established boxes. That kind of thinking is both reductive and stifling. We have been involved in heavy music since the beginning, and it’s about time people acknowledged it.”
Wilson has put together a huge lineup of musicians for the second edition of Festival Lingua Franca, which this year moves from the shuttered D-Beatstro to a 19+ opening night at the Baby G, August 30 at 7:30 pm, and two all-ages (and alcohol-free) nights at Faith/Void, August 31 and September 1 at 6 pm. (More info on Facebook.)
Bands hail from Toronto and Mississauga, but also Baltimore, Columbus and Yellow Springs. They range from the classic hardcore of Que Lastima to the “queer anarcho Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young” music of Scary Balance. There’s punk, garage rock, indie pop and new wave.
Here’s a full lineup of bands playing (linked to their Bandcamps when available):
Burner
Peach Machine
Piper Maru
Bare Mans
+ more tba
richardt@nowtoronto.com | @trapunski
