by Randall Sellers • Special to The Current
In keeping with last year’s promise to add a music component to the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival, Todd Morris, the founder of the annual event, has announced that the festival has just partnered with the influential Philadelphia music collective, Great Circles.
Founded in Philadelphia in 2008 as an independent record label for electronic music, Great Circles is a growing collective of musicians, DJs, audio & visual producers, and event organizers.
Since 2020 operating from a storefront in Philadelphia’s East Kensington neighborhood, Great Circles has built and run their own online radio station and audio/visual streaming site. Musical programming on greatcircles.net spans jazz, R&B and soul, experimental forms, reggae and dub, and a wide range of electronic music genres including ambient, house, techno and bass music.
In addition to a current schedule of nearly 100 hours of livestreamed DJ sets each month, Great Circles’ online programming also includes individual and collaborative audio/visual projects. The collective also hosts live performances that audiences can experience both in-person and online.
The online streaming arm of Great Circles is complemented and supported by a record shop where customers discover an intentionally curated selection of new records, CDs, cassettes, music books & magazines, and related apparel. Visitors enjoy a unique experience as DJs play live from the shop’s custom DJ booth, and local creatives mingle in the record lounge.
Great Circles founder, Justin Gibbon, and other members of the core team have produced DIY events across Philadelphia for over 15 years, hosting cutting-edge talent from around the world and providing a platform where local creatives can present sounds and visual work not likely to be found in mainstream venues.
Said Gibbon about the JTIFF partnership, “We’re very excited to partner with JTIFF and to introduce live music and audio/visual performances from Philadelphia artists to their film loving audience, while also livestreaming select festival events to our own online community to spread the word about JTIFF. It’s clearly a mutually beneficial partnership.”
JTIFF’s founder, Todd Morris, echoed Gibbon’s sentiments saying, “this is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with such a fresh, dynamic group of creators, adding a whole new level of energy and inspiration to our current boundary-breaking program. In fact, Morris claims the partnership is already bearing fruit.
“We’ll be kicking off this year’s festival, Thursday 4/21, with a raucous live performance by the incredible philly-based psychedelic “sludge rock” trio, SLOMO SAPIENS. We were only able to book these rising stars thanks to our collaboration with Justin Gibbon who put us all together.
And at the Filmmakers’ Gala, Friday 4/22 at the Stabin Museum, we’ll have Great Circles’ DJs spinning vinyl in the café, while a first-class jazz trio plays in the lounge; followed by two amazing Audio-Visual artists performing live at 7:00pm Saturday 4/23 at the Mauch Chunk Opera House, right before our primetime feature, “When I Consume You.” I truly believe that this partnership with Great Circles will eventually help JTIFF achieve its greater goal of becoming a nationally recognized multimedia festival.
For more information about Great Circles: greatcircles.net
For JTIFF tickets, schedule and info: jimthorpeindiefilmfest.com
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