'About Having Faith in the Scene': GRAIN Founder Chris Langenberg Talks Return of Against the Grain Festival

Indie music company GRAIN not only celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, but also the return of the beloved Against the Grain festival after an eight-year hiatus.

Already confirmed for the Brisbane event going ahead on Saturday, June 20th, includes Stereolab, Pond, the Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, and the Belair Lip Bombs.

To mark the special occasion, The Music Network sat down with GRAIN founder Chris Langenberg to talk about the special milestone, the return of Against the Grain, and the state of festivals in Australia.

The Music Network: When you reflect on the 10-year milestone, what comes to mind regarding its evolution? 

Chris Langenberg: I never really had an end goal for GRAIN, so 10 years is pretty crazy to think about. I started the brand as an online magazine when I was fresh out of high school, at university, just going to gigs and wanting to write about my favourite bands that I thought weren’t getting enough recognition. 

One day, I was walking past the newly built Bakery Lane in Fortitude Valley and just thought it’d be cool to put a gig on there. What followed is pretty much what kicked off putting on events for GRAIN, and I’ve never really looked back. 

That first Against The Grain festival in Bakery Lane was followed by over 160 shows across Australia and internationally, with a strong home base in Magandjin/Brisbane. The brand has achieved much more than I could have ever imagined when I was just 18, starting a blog. 

Can you discuss the eight-year hiatus - the why, what you and the team learned?

In the past, Against The Grain was a completely independent venture. I was 21 when I put on the last festival in 2018 and still had lots to learn. To be honest, I was probably a little naive in growing the festival too fast, and there were definitely oversights.

Instead of trying for a fourth year and potentially losing more money, I shifted GRAIN’s focus to club nights. I wanted to try and build a scene around the GRAIN brand and nurture a culture of going to gigs regularly in Brisbane. 

It felt important not to rush the return of Against The Grain. It’s always been something that I wanted to work towards, but there has been so much to learn over the past 8 years, and it has all culminated in producing something that feels really important for Brisbane. 

What does it mean to come back now, particularly when we are seeing beloved events fall? 

There’s definitely a lot of risk in producing a festival of this scale, across a space that’s never been used before, in a climate where people are traditionally not buying tickets. But because of that, it feels like an important moment for a festival like this to happen in Brisbane. 

There’s a great deal of uncertainty around the live scene, with festivals moving away from the city (or cancelling) and venues closing down. There’s also the fact that Brisbane, as a city, is changing at a frighteningly rapid rate. All of the talk (and destruction/construction) in the lead up to the Olympics, as well as the ever-rising cost of living, rent and housing, has made a lot of people feel like they’re being left behind.

Against The Grain feels less about trying to capitalise on a gap in the live market in Brisbane (which is definitely growing) and more about having faith in the scene that is here. It feels like a necessary event to prove to people that Brisbane is a city where festivals like this can happen.  

Chris Langenberg

What have you learned from the experience?

Sometimes I think major events and festivals can lose touch with what their audience wants and can afford. Something that I have learnt in watching the lifespan of other events, and something that I think has kept GRAIN running, is to know who we are servicing and make sure that our offering is realistic. 

Sometimes people can overlook grassroots and DIY scenes, but the reality is that these are the crowds that want to go to live music events. I think it’s important to stay in touch with what’s happening at a small level to know what’s possible to do on a larger scale. 

You've worked with some massive local and international names. Any particular standout shows or memories with any of those acts? 

There’s been some definite standout shows across GRAIN’s history. Looking back on past GRAIN lineups and seeing how artists have grown feels really special. Obviously, each of the Against The Grain festivals were huge projects to do while I was so young and inexperienced, but I always look back positively because the learning curves from those events helped me grow and gain deeper experience.

I am super proud of the SILO club night series, which had 27 editions and featured artists like Genesis Owusu, Bad//Dreems, The Belair Lip Bombs, RVG, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, Phantastic Ferniture, DZ Deathrays, Radio Free Alice and hundreds more. 

Producing and promoting shows with international artists such as Fontaines DC, IDLES, Baxter Dury, Dry Cleaning, Caribou, Alex G and many more. 

I put on a few GRAIN parties in Brighton (UK) while I was living there for a couple of years. It was pretty wild to see the brand be so embraced by a new crowd in a completely new space.

More recently, I am really proud of producing a sold-out show at The Tivoli in Brisbane for our mate Jordan from the Brisbane band Bugs to help raise money for his cancer treatment. It really felt like the community came together for him in a huge way. 

Where does GRAIN go from here? What will we be talking about at the 15 or even 20-year milestone? 

If all goes to plan and Against The Grain is successful this year, the plan is to bring it back annually. I think there’s so much space and necessity for a festival like this in Brisbane, and there’s plenty of room to grow still. 

In terms of GRAIN, I’m not sure of what’s to come yet. I think more parties, more tours and maybe in 20 years I can write a book about it all!