VALLEJO, Calif. – On Sunday June 28, musicians, artists, and vendors gathered in downtown Vallejo for NOICE Fest – a grassroots event created to raise donations for The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and the Autonomous Gallery.
Marz Martinez is lead singer for Mothball Fleet and lead organizer for NOICE Fest. They spent months organizing vendors, the venue space, and rallying local community members for the festival.
“I’ve never done a corporate event. Everything I’ve done, event-wise, has been grassroots, so this is truly all I know. If there is a different way, I don’t want to know about it,” said Marz Martinez.
“People forget that music is a way to be political, or that music is political, literally,” they said, “This was a nice reminder that they go hand in hand.”
Vendors lined the hallway leading to the gallery as live music by various artists played throughout the day. While there was a $10-20 suggested donation, no one was turned away from the event due to lack of funds.
The full lineup for the festival included local bands like Pro-pain, Kid Venison, Mothball Fleet, TOCCA, El 7 Quartet, and Strange Culprits, with drag performances by Fae Tality and Nyx.
One organization tabling at the festival was De-Flock Vallejo. RJ, who requested their last name be withheld, is an organizer with the group. During the festival they passed out pamphlets informing others on the privacy concerns of Flock and other Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs).
Despite state laws prohibiting access to automated license plate reader data by out-of-state agencies, Flock data is still shared with federal agencies like ICE.
DeFlock Vallejo was recently successful in getting Vallejo’s Measure P committee to deny funding this fiscal year for Axon, a private company that manufactures police body cameras and ALPRs. In 2025, the company tested body worn cameras with facial recognition.
While funding for Flock is delayed, the organization is still pushing for the city to cancel its Flock contract, and showing up to city council meetings.
“They know my face. They know the regular people who come…we can keep saying our opinions to them, but they want to hear new ones,” said RJ in an interview with North Bay Vanguard.
Besides being able to inform others in the community, one of RJ’s favorite moments of the day was getting a tattoo at the festival – a melting ice cube.
“This is the first time I’ve really like been an activist or done anything like this,” they said, “It’s a little cheesy to get like a commemorative tattoo, but it also feels very cool and good to really devote myself and my time to something that has an impact on a community – on my community.”
RJ was not the only person at NOICE Fest trying something new.
Clarisse Ocampo is the owner of Ingat Cafe, a home-based business in Fairfield that serves Filipino-inspired drinks. This was her first pop-up event.
“I used to work at a boba shop, but this is definitely different. It’s different kinds of drinks, and seeing my own recipes come to life, and seeing people actually enjoy it, it really fulfills my intention [with] opening this cafe,” said Clarisse Ocampo.
The name “Ingat” honors her late best friend Dylan, meaning “take care” in Tagalog.
To Ocampo’s surprise, the item they worried wouldn’t sell as much ended up being one of the cafe’s best selling items at NOICE Fest – the calamansi creamsicle: calamansi juice, coconut, and dehydrated orange with a cream top.
Ocampo said they were hesitant to attend protests when they were younger because they feared going alone and felt intimidated in large crowds. They said they now focus more on the purpose behind people gathering for specific causes, viewing those events as rooted in care and love for the community. That perspective, they said, helped them overcome their shyness and feel more comfortable participating in protests and similar events.
“Seeing the news every day, it kind of makes me not have that much hope, but doing events like these, meeting more people, it makes me okay,” said Ocampo.
During the festival Ocampo said they ran into a small issue with the generator, but luckily, one of the medics with Solano Napa Med Response (SNMR) – another organization tabling at NOICE Fest was able to help get it running again.
Christian is a co-founder of SNMR. He requested his last name be withheld.
“I created this program after watching high school kids get assaulted by [the Police] while they were going to a protest,” said Christian in an interview with North Bay Vanguard.
Luckily, the day’s job at the festival was pretty mellow.
“It’s actually good when your medics are bored,” he said.
Besides providing free first aid services at the festival, the group also does educational outreach and harm reduction.
“We just assume…I can’t possibly do something about it. Somebody else can handle it, and that’s defeatist thinking,” said Christian. “If you’re not actively trying to make changes, no one else is going to do it.”
Christian said said many people avoid calling ambulances or using emergency medical services because of the high cost of the current health care system.
“They’re avoiding EMS entirely because it’s expensive. So we’re trying to find a way by going almost entirely by community donations and grants, providing free EMS first aid services so that things like this can happen.”
The event lasted from 2-10 p.m., with musicians having allotted time slots throughout the day.
River Orellana is a singer and rhythm guitarist for TOCCA, an alt-funk metal and hardcore punk band.
“We all have a jazz background, we love metalcore music, [and] we love punk music,” said River Orellana. “We definitely kind of bounce around in genres and try to genre blend as much as we can, just because it’s fun.”
Orellana also said they aim to introduce and normalize progressive politics through their music.
“A lot of our lyrics are aligned with political issues,” they said, “In the times that we’re in right now… we’re bringing awareness to the genocide in Gaza. In our songs I will talk, I will sing about it.”
Orellana is also a member of the Contra Costa County branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, (DSA).
“We will not normalize an era of going backwards. We will not allow darkness to suffocate us, because through these organizations, through getting organized, we do the work, and we see the impact, we see the power that it gives to our communities, and we’re seeing success,” they said.
“Events like this, they are run by the people.”
The D.S.A also tabled at NOICE Fest, specifically the Solano Napa branch of East Bay Chapter, (SoNaR). Remy C. is chairman of the mutual aid committee at SoNaR.
“You don’t feel the presence of capitalism breathing down your neck here. You can be broke and come in here and have a good time, and listen to music and get some free stuff too,” said Remy.
He also emphasized the need for a DIY local venue in Vallejo such as NOICE Fest, as people are spread out and often drawn towards the larger music venues such as Bottlerock in Napa.
“You’re taught to pay for everything. Well, you don’t have to pay for everything. We can build things,” he said.
“We’re all going to have to be aware of politics and how it works if we want a revolution where we can have a better material condition and a better distribution of power into the system, because right now the common person doesn’t have very much power at all, and that’s unfortunate,” said Remy.
Kiernan Besh is a vocalist for the indie-punk band Pro-Pain.
When asked how they’d describe the music they make, Besh said, “It sucks. Shit sucks.”
Besh, like many others at the festival, grew up in Vallejo. And while performing at a venue isn’t anything new or different for Pro-Pain – for Besh, seeing young people getting active and coming together to make art from where he grew up – that’s something new.
“That is absolutely a new component of this experience for me. I am trying to make sure not to take it for granted,” said Besh, “I will say that it’s one of the bravest things you can do, and it is something that seems mundane and lame, to show up to local shit – but it can potentially change everything.”
Besh also said to anyone who doesn’t like their music, feel free to buy a shirt. They’ll use the money to get better.
“The Bay as a whole, we love to posture ourselves, but to see real change occurring and a lot of people from different groups and communities and backgrounds coming together…it’s surreal,” said Besh.
Brandon Gamoras-Young, known locally as “Chubs the Trash Panda” within the Vallejo community, is an emcee for NOICE Fest and co-founder of Solano Napa Med Response. He emphasized the importance of community solidarity during an increase in crackdowns on civil liberties.
“Having events like this tells people that we’re not going to be deterred by what the system tells us to do, what they want us to do. We are not going to back down from standing up with our brothers, our sisters in every culture, every faith, any type of race, creed, or sex. We’re here for everybody,” said Gamoras-Young.
“We elected our folks to be in office, and if they do not serve us, then we must serve ourselves. We must protect ourselves. We must come together ourselves – and that’s what we’re doing right here. We’re coming right here together for ourselves, for our community.”
