You’ll be putting on the zFAM BBQ on September 6 in Brantford. How did the idea for this event come about?

We’re a fairly new label and we wanted to host an event to celebrate with the bands on our roster. It developed into this really community-driven idea where we’re going to hold it outdoors and get some bands from other areas as well; some legendary ones or ones that have inspired zBTFD in some way. It’s going to be an all day event to get together and enjoy community.

In your Instagram post announcing the event you said, “In an era of the same over-priced government-funded and censored music festivals in vineyards or beeryards and municipal centres, it's about time to bring things back to the basics.” It’s so nice to see events that are community-driven.

Yeah, it truly is that. We are a screen-printing and embroidery facility, that’s our main bread and butter. The way we give back to the community is from our work here. That’s what we mean by not government-funded. [laughs] Funded by these! [flexes arms]

How do you keep that sense of community strong? How do you foster it?

Just to continue to encourage involvement and remove as many barriers to access as possible. We’re really artist-driven; they definitely have full control over what’s going on creatively. All are welcome. We try to do as many all-ages events as we can. Inspiring the youth is our main MO. They’re the future so we want to show them cool things that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

The beauty of DIY is you can actually get your hands on it and do it.

Yeah! We encourage them to get involved too like, “What are your ideas?” Over at the zBTFD store / community space we have a little book where folks from the community can write their ideas down. We just opened, but no idea is off limits. Let’s see what they have and we’ll try to put as many in place as possible so they can see their ideas come to fruition.

What’s the response been like so far to the idea book?

It’s good! We’ve got a few ideas in there that are awesome. Some of them we’ve actually done, like we’ve started doing an open mic. We’ve had several in-stores and a lot of people in the community book have suggested who they’d like to see perform. It’s good to get everyone’s input.

Before we get more into the BBQ, how would you describe the origin story of zBTFD?

It started before I was even involved. Co-founder Chris George - or CG as he’s otherwise known - has been booking for a long time and opened the Ford Plant many years ago. After that closed, it was reimagined into zzzBTFD. The “zzz” is like Brantford is a sleepy town so let’s do something fun and exciting. They were booking shows and doing things in an interesting way in a small-ish city. When I joined, which was 7 years ago now, it was reimagined again and that’s when it became zBTFD. It’s a new era but it’s got the same MO which is having as much community involvement as possible and a creative focus that allows artists and creatives to have a unique outlet.

That would lead into when we became a record label which was less than a year ago. It started with Burner. Become Nothing is such a good album! It started with them and now we have quite a roster including Eiyn Sof, Heavy Sweater - who are playing at the BBQ, Missing Matter, Mutt, Oil Giant - who are playing at the BBQ, Quotas - who are playing at the BBQ, Rob Michalchuk, Sundowner - who are playing at the BBQ, Time Fjord, Waste Youth, and Wiener Kabab. The string that ties us all together is we’re artist-driven. They tell us how they see their vision and we do our best to make that happen with them.

The BBQ has an incredible lineup. There are lots of bands that are on the label like Sundowner and your band Quotas and other awesome bands like Newfound Interest in Connecticut and Casper Skulls. How did the curation of the lineup come together?

That’s a great question. For most of them we’ve been connected in some way, they’ve been part of the zFam either officially or unofficially. We’ve just crossed paths and enjoyed each other’s company. Newfound Interest in Connecticut played the Ford Plant several times back in the day. We saw they were playing again and they did New Friends Fest last year. I know that the other bands that are playing are absolutely going to love this. This is going to inspire them and that’s what it’s really about. The band were really interested in joining us for the barbecue. North of America as well has been a huge influence on several of the bands that will be playing and the ones that are z-adjacent. They’re just legends. We’re really excited about all the bands on the lineup! We’re very excited to have everyone be together and enjoy some activities and fun and food and be outside.

Another thing that we want to highlight is the unique nature of our lineup, how it’s like the bubbling underground. We’re putting a spotlight on that, whereas most festivals you see are more major and have the same names. We’re hoping to shine a spotlight where it’s not typically shone.

A lot of the bands on the festival don’t play live very much.

Exactly! It’s a rare collection and it’s going to be an inspiring, great day. Also, part of the day’s events will be a little bit of friendly competition. We are going to do a 100-metre dash for fun. We’ll see how my aging bones will handle that, but I fully plan on winning. [laughs]

There will be vegan options at the barbecue too. There will be options for everyone and everyone will be happy. Chris says we’re going to bring it back to a point where festivals were fun. They used to be fun and that’s what this is gonna be.

Can you give any hints about the secret legendary band?

I cannot. I haven’t even told my closest friends and they won’t stop asking. [laughs]

Will there be any prizes for the friendly competition?

There’ll be medals and trophies. We love to go all out! We are merch creators as well so there will be swag bags. There are low tickets online right now. They’re moving quick.

What has it been like to see that response to the tickets? To see them flying off the shelves?

It’s been great! I like that there are folks from communities outside of Brantford who are very interested in attending this. This is a destination. We’ve noticed at our in-stores that a lot of the attendees are coming in from Guelph, from Cambridge, from Toronto. It’s not just Brantford that’s attending these. We’ve had people who are making the trip to come in to see the events we’ve been putting on. That’s been really exciting because we get some input from other communities. The BBQ will be no exception for that.

Many of our bands are from far out of town. North of America has members from Halifax, By Divine Right is from Toronto, Status/Non-Status is from London, Sunnsetter is from Norfolk County, and Casper Skulls is based between Sudbury and Toronto. Brantford will be the destination on September 6. Brantford’s buzzing! [laughs]

How would you describe the scene in Brantford?

It’s alive! There’s so much energy. There’s a lot going on right now that’s really interesting, really creative, and very exciting. There’s a lot of creative energy and it’s supportive too. There’s a lot of support from within our community and other communities as well. It’s growing. Our last event had a lot of young people which we loved seeing.

It’s so good to have that, especially in smaller towns where in some cases it doesn’t exist.

It seems like there’s nothing for the youth to do in some communities. In our space we host matinees and we’ve got free snacks and pantry goods and drinks and everything. All ages are welcome. Hopefully we see more and more of the youth come out.

Which part of the zFAM BBQ are you most excited for?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say the 100-metre dash. [laughs] Honestly, I’m so excited to see the live music. All of these bands personally have inspired me in some way and I just can’t wait to see them all perform. It’s gonna be awesome! The fact that they’re playing is already pretty awesome. I love being part of hosting events. Let’s just chill together and have fun. No expectations, no ego. Let’s just hang out and bring it back to actually connecting with each other.