Sugar Mountain announces 2017 line up

Get Pavlov’s dog on the phone – it’s time to start salivating as we reveal the full programme for Sugar Mountain 2017. On Saturday 21 January, we return to our beloved home at Victorian College of the Arts right in the heart of Melbourne, SM17 brings you an abundance of all you’ve come to love from the festival… and probably some stuff you don’t know you love yet. With Australian firsts and Melbourne exclusives, plus an assembly of cutting edge locals, Sugar Mountain 2017 will be one for the ages.

*Drum roll please*

MUSIC

The first Australian performance since 2012 from cultural icon and chameleonic vanguard Blood Orange (UK), in his only Melbourne show. Other Melbourne exclusives include: innovative electronic legend Pantha Du Prince (Germany); Canadian wunderkind Jessy Lanza; London rap prodigy Little Simz (UK); plus an exclusive collaboration between synth legend Suzanne Ciani (USA) and her spiritual heir Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (USA). Virtuosos Moses Sumney (USA) and Kelsey Lu (USA) will make their first ever appearances on Aussie soil at SM17. There’s dancefloor dons Mood II Swing (USA) and Beppe Loda (Italy); folk innovator Weyes Blood (USA); and a swathe of emerging electronic figures: Baba Stiltz (Stockholm), Palms Trax (UK), Kornél Kovács (Stockholm).

The local talent? Alt-pop boundary-pushers Big Scary; Melbourne live stalwarts MY DISCO and Black Cab. Blistering outfits The Belligerents, Methyl Ethel and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Jaala and Jack River. On the electronic tip, Melbourne selectors Tornado Wallace, CC:DISCO! and Daydreams DJs; and live heat from the likes of Slum Sociable, Sui Zhen, KUČKA, ALTA and Dro Carey.

ART

In 2017 we’re bringing international big guns to deliver stunning large-scale interactive activations courtesy of heavy-hitters MOMO (USA), Supergroup – Morag Myerscough x Luke Morgan (UK), Robyn Moody x Caroline Polachek (Canada), Melbourne’s March Studios. They’ll be joined by an array of acclaimed visual artists from all disciplines: Karan Singh (Tokyo/Melb), Caleb O’Shea (Melb), Elliott Routledge (Sydney), and Miriam Bleau (Canada).

SENSORY

Our experimental Sensory restaurant, which debuted at SM 2016, will return in an even more ambitious format next year delivering an astonishing line-up. Collaborators and details will be announced soon.

BOILER ROOM IS BACK

It’s ‘the home of underground music’ whose broadcasts have become a global cultural phenomenon. Sugar Mountain is the only festival in Australia to house a Boiler Room stage, one of eight festivals worldwide. With a new locale featuring better access and more space for shape cutting, it’s gonna be the same intimate BR x SM experience you love. Possibly even better? Big call.

AUGMENTED REALITY

This ain’t Pikachu. In an exciting addition we’ll be delivering a new augmented reality experience, in collaboration with extremely talented Tokyo artist Karan Singh, presented in association with V MoVement. This AR experience will bridge the gap between the real and digital worlds at the festival, bringing them closer to the point of singularity.

RETURN OF THE THEATRE SPACE

In 2015 you witnessed Kirin J Callinan’s infamous skype duet with Neil Finn and Oscar Key Sung’s scorching set with Cassius Select. After a year off due to renovations, 2017 sees Sugar Mountain moving back into VCA’s indoor theatre space. This is where you’ll find dynamic, one-off collaborations – including a very special performance by Suzanne Ciani x Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, the pair’s celebrated album Sunergynamed Pitchfork’s Best New Music.

FIRST RELEASE TICKETS – JUST $99!

Limited First Release tickets to SM17 are on sale now and only $99! Prices will go up once these sell out – get in early if you want to snap up one of these puppies.

Buy them here

As always, we’ve got a few surprises in store too. See ya there!