When Kevin Arnold came up with the idea of starting a homegrown music festival in February 1993, he thought of it as a one-off lark. Calling it Noise Pop, Arnold viewed the festival simply as a way to increase the visibility of a few local underground bands he liked.

“There never was going to be more than one festival,” Arnold says.

But after receiving such a positive response from Bay Area music fans, who packed the Kennel Club (now known as The Independent) to watch such bands as Overwhelming Colorfast, the Mieces and the Fastbacks, Arnold realized his concept was more than just a lark. Now in its fifteenth year, Noise Pop – running February 27 to March 4 – has evolved into a premier music festival for up-and-coming musical acts,

The 2007 lineup is just as impressive and more varied than ever, featuring Bay Area acts the Coup, Lyrics Born, Jolie Holland, John Vanderslice, the Donnas and Hella, along with Autolux, Money Mark, the Dandy Warhols, Clinic, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Cake, Brightblack Morning Light, the Dwarves, Roky Erickson and the Explosives (13th Floor Elevators), and a reunion of the original lineup of Sebadoh (including San Francisco resident Eric Gaffney).

Arnold, the founder and CEO of IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance, a digital distribution company for independent music), admits organizing a sprawling festival like Noise Pop isn’t easy,

“In fact, there were times in the fourth or fifth year I thought, ‘I better kill it now while it’s a young, cool thing.’ But I guess it’s been interesting enough to me to keep on doing it. There’s real support out there from the community that want[s] it to keep happening.”

Indeed, Noise Pop has been a labor of love for Arnold – it hasn’t exactly filled his pockets with loot. But then again, turning a profit has never been the intention of Noise Pop.

“It’s always been a very big hobby to me – it’s never really made any money,” Arnold said. “Every year we pretty much break even. And that’s fine with me.”

both local and from around the world.

The list of performers that have played Noise Pop reads like a who’s who of marquee indie bands – the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, the Dismemberment Plan, the Faint, M. Ward, The New Pornographers, Guided by Voices, the Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, OK Go, Mates of State, Joanna Newsom and scores more – a sure sign Arnold knows what he’s doing.

but every year he somehow found himself back at the helm, striving to one-up the previous year while still maintaining the festival’s commitment to artistry and integrity.

“It’s been one of those little pieces of your life you both love and hate," Arnold said. "It’s been really fun and rewarding but it’s also been really painful and challenging.”

Eventually, his big hobby became a little too big thanks to Noise Pop’s higher profile in recent years, and Arnold asked trusted friends in the music industry to help out with many of the organizational duties, which included hiring a PR firm, booking agents, event coordinators and band management. Noise Pop is now a full-scale operation.

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