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Bands blared on

Tampa Noise Fest lets noisemakers make noise their music.

By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published June 11, 2007

Gabriel Loewenberg creates beautiful noise with the Billfonds at the Tampa Noise Fest on Sunday afternoon.
	[Danny Ghitis | Times]

TAMPA - They wielded cell phones, synthesizers and even an electric spring.

Some bands had never before played together. Others were seasoned performers.

All of them had one goal: making noise.

Just after 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the tambourines started tapping at the Tampa Noise Fest. A disco ball dangled high above in a warehouse gallery space tucked away in one of the city's industrial corridors.

Bugles blared while synthesizers cranked out electronic sounds: boing boing boing, wee-oooh wee-oooh. Performers strummed guitars with drumsticks.

"In the end, we just let it happen," said Christopher Nadeau, 23, of Clearwater. "We just try to forward our ideas of what music could be and maybe challenge a few ideas."

The three-day event, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Institute of Noise, was a first for the Tampa Bay area. But participants said they hoped it wouldn't be the last.

"It's very democratic. Literally anybody can get up on stage with a noisemaker," said K. Paul Boyev of Tampa, who recorded the shows and plans to post the noise online. "You don't need expensive equipment. You just have to have the motivation to wave your freak flag."

[Last modified June 10, 2007, 23:16:00]