Seriously — anything goes.
Without a doubt, INC is one of Miami's most precious commodities and oddities. It functions as a community-builder and creative growth machine. Falestra's been guiding, supporting, and documenting the Miami music scene for decades. "My collection, Miami Music Archive, has to be one of the most important collections of Miami music," he tells New Times. And while he's recorded the past, he's also guiding the future. For many years, INC was mostly centralized around Churchill's Pub, which has been silent and shuttered since 2020. "Miami Music Archive is trying to establish a DIY venue for this event plus many others that we host," he adds.
Falestra has faced roadblocks from, he says, management companies and cops in his effort to centralize music events at a space he occupies in a warehouse district in northwest Miami. He claims they're illegally towing attendees' cars. "Miami-Dade County likes to treat DIY musicians like criminals, so we can't have a consistent venue because we may be up to something dangerous like live music," he says sarcastically. "They stop and block any music events they discover. So, people like myself, who want to set up an archive with about a capsule of 50 years of recording works and instruments, forget it. Why would anyone think it was important to educate future musicians?"
He notes that musicians need to play at night because they're working during the day. "The best place for that type of activity logically is in the industrial warehouse districts where some stupid motherfucker in some county office makes a rule that there cannot be music played in those areas late at night where no one is around and no one is bothered by the music," Falestra says.
That's the subversive energy you need to bring to INC, which will occur at various venues across town, including the Club, Bar Nancy, and Locust Projects. Besides, a scattered INC is still a strong INC.
International Noise Conference will once again take over Locust Projects on February 4.
Photo by Maitejosune Urrechaga
The pair first took part in INC in 2013 when they curated Churchill's Pub's back patio. "I think we thought it was the coolest thing that we were getting to pick a totally different type of lineup," Urrechaga says. They introduced more rock acts into the mix. "We want to see all sorts of stuff and be entertained. It's like a buffet."
"It challenges musicians, too, to do something that's not your normal band setup," Kapel says. They'll play with a different setup and preview songs from an upcoming album. And they hint at a surprise. They'll continue to mix scenes and mediums by including visual and performing artists like David Rohn, who performs as fascinating characters in costume.
This will also mark the first time longtime Miami musician Oly Vargas will perform at INC. In the past, as a pop artist, she felt that maybe she didn't match the event's musical energy, but she recently started a new R&B project with her friend Steven Bermudez, who moved back to Miami after more than two decades in New York City. They bonded over their shared grief after losing their siblings in recent years. They won't be performing R&B but rather a meditative sound performance focused on healing from a loss.
"I asked Steven if he wanted to join me, and he enthusiastically said yes. He doesn't know what INC is, so I kind of had to give him a quick overview — how a performance can be anything," Vargas says. "I guess it's just freedom to express yourself in whichever way."
Each night during INC promises a unique venture led by a different curator. The final night on February 9 at Bar Nancy will honor visionary film director, visual artist, and musician David Lynch with a theme of "Transcendental Zenn Magick Love," says four-time curator Jason "Gucci" Handelsman, who once interviewed the late great director for New Times Broward-Palm Beach. He'll be performing new songs. "We've been closing INC on Super Bowl Sunday for the last few years, and so it's our Super Bowl night, filled with great noise artists, great vibes, and another INC for the books."
International Noise Conference 2025. Friday, January 31, through Sunday, February 9, at various locations; squelchers.net. Admission is free.
