The Story Behind the Music Festival with Heart, M3F
To prepare for this year’s M3F (formerly known as McDowell Mountain Music Festival), I had a chance to chat with the M3F festival manager, Heather Rogers. Heather has been with Wespac Construction Inc., since 2004, and has seen the evolution of the festival over the last sixteen years.
Did you know M3F is put on by a construction company? I sure didn’t and I’ve attended the festival in the past. It was so exciting to hear about the inception of M3F, how far it’s come, and how much it’s grown. Music runs through my veins and I’ve enjoyed several headliners at the festival over the years. Particularly Thievery Corporation, Phantogram, Odesza, and Empire of the Sun.
This year I’m so excited to see Rüfüs Du Sol, San Holo, Phantoms, and Sofi Tukker, just to name a few! I’m obsessed with DJs and have been known to fly to Washington D.C. for one night to see Sasha and John Digweed, my fave DJs, at Echostage, the number two highest-rated club in the world (and the top in the U.S.). Only M3F would be able to pull in a sick lineup like this in my backyard instead of having to fly across the country to see such amazing talent. Throughout the article, I’ve included hyperlinks of my top tracks for artists I’m aware of and a full video preview of my #M3F2020 bucket list artists to help get you pumped up.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the history of M3F, how the festival supports the Music Therapy Program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and what it takes to put on one of the largest festivals in the Southwest. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
Be sure to follow the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation’s social media channels @FriendsOfPCH to see all of the amazing world-class care Phoenix Children’s Hospital provides. Watch our channels for exclusive #M3F2020 footage and to follow my journey at the festival! #EveryTicketCounts
What inspired Wespac to establish M3F in 2004?
Our founder and CEO of Wespac Construction Inc., John Largay, is dedicated to creating a workplace that cultivates a unique culture for all team members. The culture is to volunteer, the culture is to give back to charity and to the community. John is also a music lover and wanted to change the live music scene in Phoenix. He wanted to use his passion for music in a way that would positively impact the community and give back to charity while building a new culture in the Southwest with bands and artists that don’t normally stop in Phoenix. They just go to Vegas or LA and kind of skip us. This humble yet simplistic approach was the inspiration behind creating M3F back in 2004. John brought all of this together, created and expanded the awareness while incorporating teambuilding. You can’t get a better teambuilding project for our company than this. 99% of our employees participate in the festival some way.
Awesome! Do you remember who some of the very first musicians and bands are that you had out?
Yes, we had the Black Crowes, David Crosby, The Marshall Tucker Band, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Ratdog, Blues Traveler and so many more but that’s a few.
So cool. If I’m not in meetings I’m always rockin’ out with headphones on because music keeps me going. Just like music is therapy and keeps kids going at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
Did you, Wespac, or John envision that M3F would become a musical destination for festivalgoers?
I think we always thought about it. I know we talked about it. We hoped for it. So to see it grow as much as it has, and to see it be this large is fantastic! I mean, we are not music people in the industry, we’re a construction firm, so it’s out of our wheelhouse, but we treat it like one of our jobs. The party goes in and the party goes out. And that’s what you do with a job site – you go in, you build the building, and go back out. So logistically it makes sense that it’s kind of hand-in-hand.
Yeah, that makes sense. It’s kind of like opening a restaurant or a night club and you don’t have any restaurant or night club experience. I just find it super fascinating that M3F is founded and operated by a construction company.
Right. Exactly. We just do the best we can and the fact that everyone on the team contributes is amazing. This is a perfect way for us to do what we say we’re going to do in terms of building the culture within our organization and in the community. And it all just comes together.
That’s so powerful. This may be a no-brainer question but have you seen an increase in attendance year-over-year?
Our whole thing is built on the experience of M3F. You want to be next to your friend but you don’t want to be “next” to your friend, so we don’t want to lose that or lose the ability to move people back and forth across the field. We want them to be a part of every experience that we are offering. Not just the music but the Kid Zone, vendor village, food trucks, art activations, live art – we want people to see it all. So we have had an increase in attendance every year and do what we can to keep the people coming. We hope that it always keeps growing.
How were the three Cs derived? (Community, Culture, and Charity)
I think they grew off of the charity aspect. M3F has been 100% non-profit and we donate all the money at the end to charity. Watching it evolve is kind of like a three-legged stool, with all legs working together to hold up the stool. We’re trying to build the culture in Phoenix, which impacts the community by bringing people together for the greater good. All of these blend together, so it makes sense that they’re a three-legged stool to build the mission on.
I love the three-legged stool analogy! Can you tell us why Phoenix Children’s Hospital is one of the organizations M3F supports?
We’ve always tried to stick with family-oriented organizations, in some respects, and we love helping children. Who doesn’t go in that direction? Especially with the recent addition of the Music Therapy Program at Phoenix Children’s. I mean how much better does it get than a music festival and a children’s hospital coming together to make a difference in the lives of so many children? Similar to what you said about how music keeps you going, we all wear headphones at some point in the day over here just to drown each other out but it also keeps us going. Everyone has their own tastes in music but this is such a rewarding partnership, knowing how much the Music Therapy Program helps heal sick children and their families and helping to create more awareness in the community. That’s magic right there! Some people are aware that all proceeds from M3F go back to charity but I don’t think people realize that the Hospital has a Music Therapy program. This partnership will also help create more awareness and put a spotlight on where those dollars are going.
Have you, someone on your team, or someone you know had an experience with any of their kids being seen at Phoenix Children’s?
I believe one of our project managers’ young daughter had a liver transplant. He was in the hallway with his daughter at Phoenix Children’s and a Music Therapy Specialist passed in the hallway playing the drum and they all did a little dance. Even though the program is so much more than that, it was an uplifting experience for them. He was so proud when he sent the video because he knows that Wespac supports the program that’s helping his daughter and so many other children.
That’s really touching. I’ve never had a job where we cry so much. You see these kids and everything they’re going through, which impacts their families and their siblings. I talk to a lot of parents on the Foundation’s social media channels and it’s such a great feeling to know that I can be there to listen and help in any way I can.
A group of us from Wespac went down to visit everyone in the Music Therapy program and I’m the one that started crying out of the group. It was like, “ok, this is why we do what we do.”
For those that may not know, can you share how much M3F has donated to local charities since 2004?
Yes, we’ve donated just over $2 million.
Whoa. That’s so cool! Do you plan on beating last year’s amount raised? I’m sure it’s a goal but $509,000 in one year – that’s a whole lot of money.
I mean of course, yes, it is always the goal to do better the next year. We never make any promises because you don’t know what will happen, life comes at you in many different forms. But it is always the goal, we don’t fail well!
