Come Together

Back for its second year, Together, New England’s burgeoning electronic music, arts, and technology festival, promises a week-long celebration of electronic culture throughout the city of Boston. Presented by Future Boston Alliance and Dig Publishing, Together spans from April 18-24, and will feature Boston’s most talented electronic artists alongside such national and international superstars as Germany’s Pantha du Prince, American producer Wolfgang Gartner, Denmark’s legendary Trentemøller, and English DJ and music journalist, Mary Anne Hobbs.

At a press conference on Friday, Together’s panel of directors expressed their goal to bring Boston’s electronic community to the world’s attention. Creative director and cofounder David Day stated that he believes Boston should be included in the same sentence as cultural centers like Paris and London.

“So much is going on with electronic music in Boston,” says Day, “but it’s been happening in parts and sections. This festival is about uniting the community.”

And a united community they have achieved. At last count, Together placed about 90 events in total at more than 20 venues like Paradise Rock Club, Royale, Great Scott, the Middle East, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. In addition to the various performances happening across Boston, Together will include fashion shows, art exhibits, technology demonstrations, film screenings, speaking panels, and workshops revolving around the culture of electronic music.

“This is multi-disciplinary. Electronic music and fashion have always gone hand-in-hand. It opens up fashion and art to express more imaginative themes,” says Ariana Paoletti, manager of Get Together, the festival’s largest event.

Among Together’s most visible fusions of art and technology will be a traveling photo booth, a magnetic sculpture to accompany Trentemoller’s closing-night performance, and Butch, a robotic Triceratops that will appear and Tweet from many of the festival’s events. With such exhibits, the Together staff have made it clear that the festival is much more than just a dance party.

“I liken it to a circus coming. There are all these things going on, all these communities, all these nights, and Together brings them all out for everyone to see. For those people who don’t really know about X, Y, or Z, this will give them the opportunity to find out,” said Day.

But for all the mixture of events, local electronic music forms the heart of Together. Electronic music collectives like Music Ecology, ElecSonic, and Bassic will all feature Boston-bred talent early in the week. And among Boston’s best expect performances from BU’s own Supersillyus, Ryan Durkin and DJ Ghostdad’s collaboration Banana Seat, and Shuttle, drummer for the Cambridge-based band Passion Pit. The mix of Boston musicians and international stars is sure to make for a cohesive festival experience unlike any other.

“We didn’t want to be jumping onto trends getting everything that was popular for the sake of being popular,” says managing director Alex Maniatis. “We really wanted to put some thought into this, and we asked the community what they wanted to see. There are some legends on here, and there are also some new, innovative guys.”

Together: The New England Electronic Music Festival runs April 18-24 at venues across Boston, starting 9 pm Monday with Pantha du Prince at Great Scott. Visit togetherboston.com for complete details and schedule information.