Oneida's John Colpitts Wants You to Coexist With Nature in the Seuffert Bandshell

John Colpitts, drummer for the psych rock band Oneida, has been performing in New York for nearly three decades. When I asked him how his band has lasted so long, he told me, "it's just something we prioritized." 

"God, it sounds so dumb," Colpitts, who also performs as Kid Millions, continued. "We would really prioritize playing together, making music, making records, but not getting paid." He said that since the band was founded in 1996, they've made just enough money to fund…making more music.

So, when Colpitts and his wife first saw Seuffert Bandshell in Forest Park, Queens while taking a walk around the house they moved to in 2020, they thought it would be perfect for a music festival—but the primary question was how to fund it. The answer came in the form of two New York City Artist Corps grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, one for him and one for Sarah Bernstein, a musician with whom he collaborates. 

Then Colpitts and his band were off to the races, booking themselves and experimental guitarist Ava Mendoza for a mid-day, mini music festival at the bandshell in September 2020. It was so great playing outdoors under the tree-filtered sun, they wanted to do it yearly… but then remembered that costs money. 

"After the first year was funded [through the Artist Corps grant], we were spoiled, because the last four years I've had to really push and struggle to raise the money. But whatever, it's fine. It's worth it. It's always worth it."

It's worth it, Colpitts says, because it was exactly the kind of show they wanted to play, after years of taking the stage at clubs and bars at two in the morning. "We try to make it an event that can coexist with the outdoors," Colpitts said. "It's a really beautiful, beautiful bandshell setting. There's very old trees, growing up through the benches, and you're sitting outside in the sun." And crucially, it's in the afternoon.

Throughout Oneida's time living and performing in New York, Colpitts told me that's kind of what you have to do: create your own dream show. He told me he's drawn to other musicians who do the same, particularly among the experimental rock crowd he typically books for the bandshell.

"I don't want to make it painful for folks," Colpitts said. "So it's music that is going to intrigue and bring people in. But I should also say that I don't want to underestimate folks, because it's free, most people are just open to things. They're like, whoa. This is weird. This music is weird."

In advance of Oneida's next mini-festival in the bandshell, I asked him where to find more weird music and people creating their own dream shows in the coming weeks.