Friday, Sept. 8 - Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017
New Brunswick, NJ
Friday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 10, New Brunswick, NJ's cultural and artistic diversity will be on display at ROCK New Brunswick, an expanded version of Hub City Sounds' annual free local music festival. ROCK New Brunswick will feature five events -- a panel discussion, two warm-up parties, a main event at Boyd Park, and an after party -- over the course of three days. (For more information, see the Press Release.)
ROCK New Brunswick is co-curated, promoted, and sponsored by over a dozen music media outlets, collectively referred to as the NJ Music Media Partnership. One of said media partners is Jersey Beat, run by NJ's Jim Testa. Enjoy this interview with Jim, below:
1. What's your name, where are you from, what do you do?
I'm Jim Testa from Weehawken, and I started Jersey Beat fanzine back in 1982 to cover local music. We published a print fanzine for 25 years - we were doing 128 pages with a color glossy cover in our glory days - but in 2007 we switched over to a website which continues today at www.jerseybeat.com.
Jersey Beat continues to cover NJ music and beyond. I also write a weekly column for the Jersey Journal/NJ.com covering Hoboken and Jersey City, but I've been covering bands from New Brunswick and Asbury Park for a good long time.
2. How did you hear about ROCK New Brunswick? What can we expect to see/hear at the festival, and what are you personally most looking forward to?
Bob Makin approached me and asked if I would like to be a co-sponsor. I plan to be [at Boyd Park, the festival's main event] all day Sunday. I am most looking forward to checking out Cook Thugless for the first time and seeing my old friends and one of my favorite NJ bands, The Anderson Council.
3. How can people connect with you online?
www.jerseybeat.com is the website. We have a Jersey Beat page on Facebook and I'm on Twitter and Instagram as @jimjbeat. I also do a podcast where I either play music we've been covering or interview local musicians, and you can find that at jerseybeatpodcast.blogspot.com.
We are always looking for volunteers who would like to write reviews or interviews or live reviews or take photos, please get in touch. And we're always looking for new artists from New Jersey and the area to write about. People can contact me at jim[at]jerseybeat.com.
I am also a folksinger, songwriter, and sort-of-musician, and if anyone's interested, they can hear my music at jimtesta.bandcamp.com.