The Southgate House and Sudsy Malone’s are turning into hot spots this weekend for local bands, thanks the mind of Northern Kentucky University senior, Adam Rosing. Besides working hard all summer and maintaining his Web site, cincypunk.org, Rosing, with a little help from some friends, will launch Cincypunk Fest IV. When he sat down for a Q-and-A session last week, Rosing had plenty to say about this upcoming rock show.

Can you give us a little history on Cincypunk Fest? Well, we had our first one in April of 2003, second was in the August 2003, then we basically took a year off and we had our third one in January 2005. There’s not really a set date – it’s kind of whenever we feel like we have a few months to plan for it.

The last three festivals were each held in one night but you chose two days for this particular one. Why is that? With the success of Cincypunk III, we were just blown away. We were expecting 250 kids, maybe 300, but I think 750 or more showed up. We’re not sure how many actually paid … a lot of people snuck in, but just to see that many people taking in local music just kind of blew us away. And it was exciting because we thought two nights was definitely do-able.

How many band submissions did you get this time around? I’d say probably around 60, which is been the most out of any of the (Cincypunk) festivals. I think this definitely our biggest undertaking having two nights … I’m a little worried right now, but I think the diversity of the bands lends itself to all different types of people.

What the selection process like, trying to pick out the bands and all? I got bored in my classes around February, so everyday I’d go to class and I’d sketch out different band and different genres, which one would work and which ones wouldn’t and I basically made a wish list of about 50 bands. I started contacting them and it basically just fell into place.

How many bands are playing? There are 15 bands playing at Southgate House and 14 bands playing at Sudsy Malone’s. There are a lot of punk bands, a lot of rock ‘n’ roll bands and a few hard core bands.

Are there any bands that feature students from NKU? Abigail, Krinj, Norust, Ben Thamann, Sweet Ray Laurel and Matt Stanton are playing at the Southgate House. Margin of Error, This City Is (formerly Alispyo), The Shakedown and Shotgun on Blonde are playing at Sudsy Malone’s.

Usually, the proceeds of Cincypunk Fest go to some sort of charity. Will that happen this year? Yes, this year (the proceeds) are going to the Mental Health Association of Northern Kentucky and the Mental Health Association of Hamilton. We tried to help both sides of the river. Okay, Adam, if you’ve never been to a Cincypunk Fest, what should you expect? You should expect to be entertained the entire time. For both nights, there are multiple stages (and bands) going on at the same time, with different diverse bands. You can expect to see the most talented local bands playing. It’s a good time. It’s kind of like a big party for everyone involved.

Cincypunk Fest IV will be August 26 and 27. The first night of performances are at the Southgate House and the second night at Sudsy Malone’s. For more information check out www.cincypunk.org.