Felix Cartal’s Streaming Festival Supports LGBTQ Advocacy Group The Ally Coalition

On Wednesday, August 25 Canadian producer, Felix Cartal divulged his plans for a special project to be released on September 1st. Expensive Sounds From Nice People: A Streaming Festival, his first Twitch festival, features sets from renowned DJs Dr. Fresch, LŪN, Hotel Garuda, Subset, and QRTR. The festival is named for his album Expensive Sound For Nice People released earlier this year. 

The Juno Award winner had a landmark year. He used his weekly streams through quarantine to promote his album that premiered to rave reviews receiving tens of millions of streams.

Cartal chose to partner with The Ally Coalition, (TAC) a lifeline of direct support for LBGTQ+ youth programs. Any donations collected during the event will be donated to TAC.

Founded in 2013 by Bleachers front-man Jack Antonoff and his wife Rachel Antonoff, The Ally Coalition provides meaningful support to LGBTQ+ youth through social media campaigns, collaborative partnerships, and live events. Music has always been a vector for social justice. 

According to TAC, LGBTQ+ youth are far more likely to be victims of depression, violence, bullying, and suicide. Last year, over 30 states tried to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. TAC encourages allies to fight injustice and use music to mobilize the masses.

Because The Ally Coalition holds such a unique connection to the music industry, the artists who partner with the organization are able to use their expansive platforms to raise awareness of the adversities facing the LGBTQ+ population on a wider scale and activate their fan bases to fully engage with these issues in fruitful and effectual ways.

The partnership hits close to home for queer Brooklyn-based producer QRTR. She shared her thoughts with Grey Area on Cartal’s festival partnership with TAC.

“As a queer person myself, it's extremely refreshing to see such big names support LGBTQ+ youth via the The Ally Coalition,” she said. “I know this sort of thing would have been unheard of just a few years ago, so it's really heartwarming to see it happening now. It's a great indicator of the way dance music is pushing forward by amplifying and supporting the same types of marginalized people that built the foundations of dance music culture as we know it.” 

The New York-based producer will be headlining the festival next Wednesday with fellow house artists, LŪN, Dr Fresch, Hotel Garuda, Subset and Wh0.

“It feels really special to know I get to be part of this to not only represent, but also support the queer community simultaneously. Much respect to Felix for putting this together, I can't wait for folks to tune in!”

Expensive Sounds From Nice People streams September 1st, 2021 on Twitch