Concert promoter and recent Florida transplant Adam Arritola thinks of himself as a “sound explorer.” While that may sound pretentious to some, the ambitious lineup he’s assembled for the new music festival Rochester Experimental Week — which runs from Oct. 10 to 16 at various venues throughout the city — shows that Arritola is adventurous.

The festival hosts nearly100 musical acts from around the country, as well as artists from Argentina and Japan. A contingent from upstate New York helps give the event a local feel.

“A good friend of mine told me that my greatest skill, my greatest value as a person in life is my ability to take people from different walks of life and get them to cross paths and build something beautiful from that,” said the 27-year-old Arritola, who presents shows under the moniker Eclectic Overdrive.

The music featured during Rochester Experimental Week is nothing if not eclectic.

Rochester metal band Sulaco plays a rare, entirely improvised set at Rosen Krown on Oct 12. On Oct. 14, the E. Main Street church-turned-venue DUTCH hosts Tatsuya Nakatani — a visceral percussionist whose soundscapes range from ambient to just plain cacophonous — and his Nakatani Gong Orchestra. Arritola’s mentor Frank Falestra, aka Rat Bastard, brings his noise guitar riffs and eccentric spoken-word vocals to 75 Stutson Street on Oct. 15.

Arritola said Rochester Experimental Week was inspired by an event Rat Bastard co-founded called International Noise Conference — a free, weeklong music festival in which musicians play 15-minute sets back-to-back on different stages simultaneously. Experimental Week is also free, with the musicians playing for no money, save for reimbursed travel expenses in some cases.



Concertgoers can expect music that’s weird and avant-garde. But ultimately what they’ll hear at Rochester Experimental Week can best be described as different.

“There’s something new on this festival for everyone, including the people that think they’ve seen it all,” Arritola said.