The 4.49 Gathering was first organized in 2008 here in Hungary. This year it’s the 8th edition and this small and cozy, originally darkish hi-tech gathering has undergone several exciting changes. We caught up with promoter NasCa and stage manager Miska a.k.a. Dr Space of the 4.49 crew to find out more about how it all began and why we should definitely not miss it this year, if in Hungary. Follow the event page.

– What do you consider the beginning of 4.49? What experiences or desires lead to the creation of this gathering? How did the 4.49 crew come together? What is the background of the members?

– NasCa: I started going to psytrance parties back in 2001. In those times the psytrance scene here in Hungary was much smaller, and not mostly Budapest-based like these years. There were just about 2-5 parties in a month in the whole country! Basically family gatherings mostly with about 3-500 people (still the best crowd size in my opinion). So I often visited these gigs in Szeged, Pécs, etc. and that’s how I met with Uszi (he’s the mastermind of the 4.49 decoration crew), and during the years we made more and more friends who wanted to join us in several ways, and on a cold winter day in 2007, with my friend Lajos (who was also involved in organizing, and still supports our team)
we realized that we need to make a good dark trance festival. Back then it was a more dark-oriented event (actually the first darkpsy festival in Hungary) and nowadays it’s more about forest and psytrance.

– Miska: I knew the guys from a festival called Psyweekend, where I was managing the artists, and the main stage, and they were building and decorating the chillout. All the time. We were one big gang, helping and supporting each other in the work and preparations. Maybe in 2009, or 2010, I had a 1 year as a freelancer, I was invited by the guys to help them in the construction process. It was really funny. We built a stage on a lake, with a 10-year-old guy, and a huge tent from a parachute for the workshops nearby the lake. The owners of that location asked us to leave all as it was for children’s summer camps, and the construction we built in 2 days was still there for years after:)
Since then, if my workload and family life lets me, I try to support them, if possible. Honestly, there aren’t many underground events around like this in this size, and it’s good to see how the guys keep feeding it unselfishly…

– What about the location? How did you look for it or chose it? What do you consider special about it, or just perfect for a 4.49 gathering?

– Miska: This is actually one of the main qualities that can affect an event… We had several locations during the years, and some of them hosted us 2-3 times.. Even if it’s hard to find the perfect spot, the surprising effect of the unknown is a big mystery.

– NasCa: Two years ago we had to cancel the event because we simply couldn’t find a good place for it. It was really sad and so disappointing for us. And in the autumn of 2014 one of our friends, and former crew-member “Darkangels” Narny made a dark trance event, and after his event we had to ask the owner Peti if we could organize the next 4.49 there. He said yes. And it’s still a yes, and he is happy to host us..

– If you could move and hold your festival anywhere in the whole wide world and universe, where would you transport it? Would you, at all?

– Miska: Every year, a new planet. No question at all! Every 5th year, back on Earth, Hungary.

– What was the motivation and concept behind the festival? How has it changed or grown?

– NasCa: At the first festival, we wanted to show a really different alternative concept of music, and arts all around. We made an experimental, mainly dark psytrance event with quite a huge international lineup, and all the domestic pioneers, and, of course, a great chillout with nomad folklore from all around the world:)
Changes, of course, we made and make every year, keeping to our values, as we also have new inputs that are changing us, and that we want to share with our friends, our crowd and the community.

– And why 4.49?

– NasCa: The first festival was held in June 27-29, 2008. So when we needed to find a good and unique name for our festival, after about one hour of brainstorming, I looked down on the calendar and bam, Saturday sunrise time is 4:49! Sounded pretty cool to me, and all of the crew liked it. There were no event names that only consisted of numbers.

– Has the festival evolved musically? What (sub-)psy genre and other music genres do you aim to spread? What does this year’s lineup reflect (especially compared with the previous, or the very first, festivals?

– Miska: As we said before, we started out as a really experimental festival, with all the subgenres, and the subgenres’ subgenre, so we had everything from hitech to darkprog on the main floor, truly everything, and had no fear of the high BPMs:) But this changed year by year, and we realized that to be specifically “DARK” is not diverse enough. We present everything from fun funky- forest psy to cool daytime fullon, or groovy progressive, on the danceflooor. But still we like the twists in all kind of psytrance, from progressive to dark, where the crowd feels the difference, and the DJs and Artists somehow also get the point:)

For the chill, we never had any definite concept, except to invite all the best guys who we know. There you can hear music from techno to trip-hop, from psychill to folk music, gipsy-violin and maybe even an opera, or an all-live dubtechno band with their own engineered and crafted synth and devices.

– Which artists or programs are you especially proud of (past and present)?

– NasCa: I don’t like to highlight anyone from the lineup, I don’t believe in the “superstar” culture personally, for me it’s a scam, getting far from reality, and it distracts the attention from the real important things. If you are listening to a good artist, it’s not the guy himself who made it that’s important, ok, he is part of the picture of course, but what’s more important is what he’s doing.

If you are a good DJ and you are capable of keeping the audience’s attention during your set with interesting music and set the perfect atmosphere, you are a superstar for me. So basically, we work with superstars

– Miska: I personally had great times at 4.49 from the musical experience point of view, all the time. I had preconceptions in the beginning, as I was not really into the high BPMs and dark music… but times are changing, and I’ve heard great sets from guys who had just played their first ones, and of course from the old-guys, or the “big names”. Everybody is preparing their secret-weapons and specials..:)

Honestly, the 4.49 crew was the one who heard me first, playing somewhere as a “DJ” to my 50 friends, and invited me to do the same for their crowd…. Since then I played at all the 4.49 gatherings, and it’s still one of my favorite events. So, maybe for the same reason, I like to pay more attention to the new guys that I haven’t heard before….I like to be surprised. I won’t be so shy, and name my best experience, which was a live chill set from a Hungarian producer called Skarma, back in 2011, I think…

– What are some of the challenges you had to or have to overcome?

– NasCa: Please don’t ask this question just a few days before the festival:) We still have tons of things on our to-do list!

– What do you feel have been the biggest rewards so far? When would you feel happy and satisfied after this year’s edition?

– Nasca: The most important thing is to create a uniquely friendly space for a few days one time each year, where everyone feels good, positive and peaceful. If it’s done, we are happy!

– Miska: I would say “NOD”. What’s “NOD”? Have you seen the movie ‘Groove’? You should. That’s the most you can get.

– What are your future goals? Which direction would you like to grow in?

– NasCa: To keep the festival rolling, and to add people, a better quality every year.

– What other festivals do you like to go to yourselves? Are there any festivals that have inspired you or inspire you?

– NasCa: Since 2004 I’ve been visiting O.Z.O.R.A. every year. It’s really fantastic to see the changes and the growth. We also got inspired by the Psyweekend festival.

– Miska: I would name all festivals I’ve been to, to party or play. Actually the one above, mentioned by NasCa, called Psyweekend was my first psychedelic festival, and I met some of my true friends there the first time.. We had great times in Slovakia, at Mystika, which we visited several times. Of course, Boom, which is a must at least once, for the psy-freaks, and what can I say, I wouldn’t miss any OZORA. That’s like going home, into our common lucid-dream-land.

– What would you advise us definitely not to miss at this year’s 4.49 Gathering? What are the special features this year?

– We are preparing a lot of programs besides the music, you can try chi-kung, acro yoga, hula hoop, slackline… You can also try yourself at juggling every afternoon at our juggling workshop. For the rest… let there be some secrets!

– Miska: I would advise everybody not to miss the first beat when it comes out from the sound system and surrounds the trees and you see the guys with goosebumps, and deep-smiling… I could just sit and watch people having fun together for days, watching them sitting together by the fire. All these moments are unrepeatable special features… besides all the planned or unplanned activities:)