While California attracts the bulk of immigrants to the U.S. in the 21st century, Florida is certainly an important historical hub -particularly for Latinos- with Miami being without a doubt the gateway into the American dream by many a refugee and asylum seeker. Miami-Dade county alone holds roughly 1.5 million immigrants according to one Mo Kantner, Director of State and Local Initiatives at New American Economy. This is not even accounting for the countless other 2nd and even 3rd generation immigrants who also call the Magic City Home.

November 5 at Oasis Wynwood, 2355 N Miami Ave. UNSIN festival launches for the very first time. UNSIN is a free-admission-with-RSVP music and culture festival Founded by ‘Immigrant Records’, a label and agency supporting immigrant artists in the United States. The festival will feature 18 different artists on two stages with a daytime panel program aimed at artists and musicians of all levels and roles, discussing music production, marketing, distribution, and community-building tailored to the local culture in Miami.

For more information, you can visit the Festival’s Instagram.

We took the opportunity to talk to Organizer and founder Julian Duque of ‘Immigration Records’ about the festival, check it out:

Hello Julian. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role in this Festival.

My name is Julian Duque, I’m the founder of Immigration Records an independent digital label that supports immigrant artists and UNSIN. I was born in Colombia and moved to the United States 7 years ago. I spent 4 years living in New York City and have been in Miami for 3 years. As an Immigrant in the United States I had to overcome many obstacles from the day I moved here by myself. It’s been a challenging but rewarding road where I’ve been able to accomplish most of my dreams. My goal at this stage of my life is to support immigrant artists and make their lives better. UNSIN is one step closer to making this happen.

What can you tell us about the history behind the formation of UNSIN? its name, its origin, etc.
UNSIN is a game of letters meaning on scene and unseen. Our slogan reads “on scene artists, unseen stars”. We want to give a space for unseen artists that we consider are on scene stars. UNSIN is a space free of judgment, a space to support emerging artists, a space to welcome people from all walks of life, people from different cultures, different cities, different backgrounds. A space to feel the energy that Miami has to offer.

What’s the biggest challenge in setting up an event of this size on a Free RSVP basis?
The biggest challenge of course is the financial aspect. We depend 100% on sponsorships and we gain a percentage of bar sales. In order to keep the event running we need people to show up and support the event. Apart from that, logistics can be challenging, but we love challenges otherwise we would have never started doing this. We do it for the love of bringing people together through live music experiences. I love the energy that is created at a live show, it’s unique.

Aside from the obvious, were there any particular criteria that came up when selecting the performers?
The main criteria was that we had seen the artists performing LIVE and we knew they had a good show that connected with the audience, also we want to see that artists are currently active with their careers.

What are your hopes and long-time goals for UNSIN?
We want to bring UNSIN to every major city around the world. New York, Bogotá, Berlin, Tokyo, Toronto, Bali, Nigeria. We want to create a space for the best emerging talent in the world.

In a more practical and immediate sense, how will you know that the festival was a success after the fact?
The only way to know that is by being conscious and aware about the energy that is generated during the event, we hope to drive a big crowd to OASIS, but our biggest hope is that the people that go to UNSIN leave with a smile on their faces and more connected to the miami cultural scene.

In inviting an as-wide-as-possible audience to the Fest, Is there a particular idea or outlook you hope people will bring to the shows and workshops?
We hope people bring curiosity and thirst for knowledge. UNSIN is a gathering of the music industry and the local artistic community which is often overlooked. This is a great opportunity for music companies and A&Rs to discover new talent, for industry professionals to network and find ideas to work together and grow the music and arts scene in Miami, for artists to collaborate on new music and for music fans to support local talent. It will be a fun and energetic night!

Can you tell us a bit about the Sponsors you’re working with? how did you approach them with this idea? the presence of META in particular is very interesting.

Most of our sponsors and partners are companies involved in the Music Scene. Believe is a distribution company that works with many Independent artists around the world, they are growing their team in Miami and they were interested to partner with us from day 1. Gibson and Epiphone are brands that support independent artists and they want to get involved in the emerging music scene. Topo Chico has been a supporter of our events since we started and Meta has been supporting the independent music scene for a while now.

Miami seems like the ideal place to hold UNSIN at. Still, what’s your read on the community and music scene in Miami right now? Why hold this festival at this time?
Miami is probably at one of its most important times in history in terms of cultural and entertainment offerings. Even though I have been here for only 3 years I already feel the evolution of the city, the energy, the movement of independent musicians, the quality of their work, their ambition. Miami is a unique city right now and the independent music scene will only keep growing. In order to make it sustainable, we have to get together as a community and find ways to support each other as businesses and support all this booming talent. Musicians and artists need more venues, rehearsal spaces, more opportunities to grow their careers, if we don’t work on that together, artists will leave the city to find opportunities outside of miami.

There are going to be workshops and talks tailored specifically for musicians regarding the production, release, and marketing of their work, but there’s also a workshop on “Empowering Community & Culture in Miami” which is exactly what this Festival seems to be primarily about. All of that said, how can people help? How do you feel attendants can become active participants in this process beyond being music consumers and concertgoers?

The best way to support UNSIN is to show up at the event. Support artists by buying their merch, spread the voice about the event, invite your friends and go with your best attitude to discover new local talent. Have a few beers, eat some delicious food from 7 different restaurants and get ready to meet locals. UNSIN will be a safe place free of judgment to meet with locals, watch extremely talented musicians and enjoy good vibes.

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