TAMPA, Florida — Tampa Bay has an underground music scene with a growing following thanks to events like the weeklong festival Loud on Seventh.
The festival, which was held from Sept. 4 to Sept. 10 in Ybor City, had 26 events that ranged from concerts to networking events, all dedicated to up-and-coming artists.
The founder of Loud on Seventh, Aych, explained that the idea behind the festival was a natural progression from his open-mic nights events around the Tampa Bay area, which he has been running for over 17 years.
This year, Loud on Seventh celebrated its fourth year with more events and musical artists.
But when the festival first started back in 2019, it was only four days and mainly on the weekends. This year, however, Aych said he wanted to do things differently.
“This year, I wanted to challenge myself a little bit. See if we could do seven,” Aych said in part. “It’s easier because you aren’t cramming everything in four days. Like, you can kind of do some cool stuff like we had art shows this year. We had a comedy show. Some poetry. And [did] not try to cram everything into the party days.”
The party days being Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Aych, who is originally from Delaware, said Tampa Bay was his second home, and he doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon. He explained that he has a passion for the arts, being a former artist himself, and he loves creating memorable moments, especially for newer artists.
“I want it [Seventh on Loud] to be the place where the up-and-coming people are here. Like I want it to be the up-and-coming spot. Nothing against celebrities, but you know, celebrities are celebrities already. I want to catch them on the way up,” Aych said.
He said he remembered seeing Grammy award winner Kendrick Lamar before he was famous, and when he saw him rising to national fame, he recalls saying, “Oh I remember seeing them.”
Aych aims to give those memorable moments to his festivalgoers.
One festivalgoer, who was also an artist, Lyrik, recalled an experience she had this year while seeing a local band at Loud on Seventh called the Beatdown Band.
“That's my first time seeing them,” Lyrik said, “It was just so Black. It was beautiful. They were so good at what they did. You could tell that they were just so passionate and just put the love and everything into their music and you could just feel it. Just talking about it right now gave me goosebumps.”
Aych agreed it was one of his favorite moments as well, adding that he hopes to see the festival continue to grow.
“Every year, it gets better. I’m trying to fine-tune it every year. You know, improve things, what to do and what not to do,” he said. “The team is small, but we are effective.”
He said the success he has seen so far has been organic and that he is already thinking about next year. One day, Aych hopes to have a month-long festival.
“I just love music. And I love the scene. I like creating. I’m a creative, so I like to create events I would want to be a part of," he said.
