Wondering how Wanderland 2013 came about?

MANILA, Philippines - Young STAR sits down with Karpos Multimedia’s 23-year-old Filipina president Stephanie Uy for a quick word on the recent music festival’s success (even if she humbly doesn’t consider it as such) and future.

YOUNG STAR: Congrats on Wanderland! How does it feel achieving such success at such a young age?

STEPHANIE UY: Thank you! We couldn’t have done it without the Lord’s helping hand. We’re happy that we were able to mount a big project in such a short time. But we still don’t consider this a success. We are still aiming for bigger and better projects.

How did you decide on the lineup for this year’s Wanderland?

To be honest, we were biased when we were deciding the lineup. Of course we chose the bands that we love. (Laughs hard) When we first planned Wanderland, three bands came into our minds to headline the festival. It was a very long process. We started contacting a lot of bands mid-November and some of them just confirmed two months before the show. The bands are not touring together. Most of them are just flying to Manila just for the festival.

We carefully chose the bands with different markets in mind. The Temper Trap are for the underground indie pop rock market. They always headline different festivals and they are our personal favorite. Neon Trees are an alternative rock band and their performances are very energetic, (something that) can really hype the crowd. Nada Surf is for the mid-20s to 30s who loved watching the series The OC and One Tree Hill. It brings back good memories from high school. Avalanche City was discovered by us while listening to 8tracks (an online radio). We really love this band because of their chill folk music and we intentionally put their playtime at around 6 p.m. because of their hit song Sunset. Colour Coding, meanwhile, has a fan base here. They’re not just good-looking guys but musically talented as well. Lastly, Tully on Tully was requested by our friend who believes that their music will fit Wanderland and he was right!

Is there anything you would have done differently? Any lessons learned?

A lot, actually, but we believe that those mistakes served as a way for us to do better. We wish we had more time to prepare. Two months was not enough (time) to launch a big project like this. We thank the Lord for He has guided us through and we are very satisfied with the results. This project has taught us patience, perseverance, and most importantly, complete trust in God.

What do you think makes Manila ready for music festivals like this?

Manila’s music taste has become more diverse. We think Wanderland proved that Manila is ready for a festival like this.

What can we expect from Karpos this year and beyond?

Definitely a much bigger and more exciting Wanderland 2014!