.Think And Die Thinking Fest Returns

Celebrating diversity through indie music and underground art, the annual Think and Die Thinking festival will be held this week at Cafe Stritch and the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center.
Expanded from its punk-rock roots, the festival aims to promote the work of those traditionally marginalized by mainstream society, especially the LGBTQ community, women and people of color, according to local musician and festival co-founder Christine Tupou.
“We create a space to celebrate what is different about all of us and how we may be forced to suppress those differences in order to just live our daily lives,” Tupou says. “With that in mind, people are able to come together every year to display their art, play music, show their literature and skill share.”
The musicians are chosen for their commitment to the values espoused by the festival, in addition to their artistic merits.
“We strive to prioritize raising the voices of folks who have historically been disenfranchised and silenced throughout, not just punk history but, history in general,” Tupou says. The 2015 lineup is special partly because the event organizers invited mostly artists who’ve never before performed in the festival.
“I’m excited about literally all of the bands but, off the top of my head, I am very excited about Downtown Boys from Providence, R.I., playing the fest,” Tupou says. They are my favorite band to watch live. Victoria, who fronts the band, grew up here in San Jose and always has the most amazing things to say in between songs.”
Downtown Boys, who describe themselves as a “Bi bilingual political dance sax punk party,” perform Saturday at 11:30pm. Tupou, who used to play in the now-defunct lo-fi pop band, Sourpatch, will perform with Try the Pie, at 10:30pm on the festival’s opening night.
The festival is a multimedia affair. This year, in addition to performances by dozens of bands from both near and far, visual art and literature will also be showcased.
“There will be writing workshops, a workshop on guitar set-ups and zine readings,” Tupou says. There will also be a panel presentation entitled “Marginalized Identities and the Current Climate of Punk: A Multi-Perspective Discussion,” which Tupou describes as a way to come together and share community-organizing experiences.
“It will be a very viscerally packed weekend for sure,” Tupou says.
 Think and Die Thinking begins tomorrow, July 9 with a showcase at Cafe Stritch, and runs through July 12.

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