United in Sludge
Zoe Stern's account of Sludgefest 2025: the music festival that transformed everyone into the worms on the sidewalk.
By Zoe Stern
On April 4th and April 5th, 2025, the second-ever Sludgefest in history took the musical world of Oberlin by storm. The music festival featured thirteen student acts and the Cleveland rapper Hellghillies, the self-proclaimed inventor of extreme rap music. The first night took place in a sports house and the second occurred in the Tappan Square bandstand. Sludgefest was a defining phenomenon that brought people from all walks of life together for one noble cause: sludge.
NIGHT 1 – Friday, April 4th
When I arrived on the first night of the most formative event of my college experience so far, I was struck by the array of faces illuminated by the colorful lights. I recognized people I knew from classes, clubs, the Oberlin music scene, and around campus, but I had never seen them all dancing together in one room. Only something as universally enticing as Sludgefest could unify them.
Iyrliaes and Willa kicked off the show with a DJ set that felt casual and unfinished, as if audience and performer were working our way through the sludge together. The set was strange and eclectic, with lots of remixes and frequent starts and stops. They were followed by DJ Glu Trap, who mixed a bountiful muck of self-made remixes which the crowd found irresistible to ooze around to. One such remix featured Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” and Oberlin’s very own beloved $quib. Though the first two acts were enjoyable and quite sludgy, no amount of goop in this world could have prepared me for the performance that followed.
Swo was on, but only one member, Olive, was actually present. Shortly after beginning the set, she began an Instagram video call with Will Judd, who was out of town for a wedding. Not even the distance between Oberlin and New York City could keep Will Judd from the sludge. The call was projected onto the wall where the visuals for the show had been. Will played acoustic guitar over the call, screaming and singing while Olive played tracks off her computer.
A band playing a show where each member is in a different state is no easy feat, and the set was accompanied by the typical glitches and miscommunications of a video call. There were numerous pauses between musical spurts where Will chatted with Olive and the Sludgefest attendees, and on two occasions Olive showed Will the audience with her phone. After a certain point, all music ceased, but Swo’s set was not yet finished. Will took the call outside, showing us a picturesque nighttime view of the New York City skyline. The performance transformed into an impromptu improv comedy set, complete with audience participation.
Next came PopBot, whose set was promptly interrupted by a fire alarm. But could minor setbacks like fire alarms and campus safety stop the sludge? No! Nothing could. The Sludgefest organizers urged their attendees to come back once it was deemed safe to do so. And their cries were heard. When I returned to the show, turnout and crowd energy was at an all time high, even though it was the last set of the night. Orson Abram brought night 1 to a close, and almost everyone in the crowd was dancing. It was my personal favorite set of Orson’s that I’ve witnessed.
The first night of Sludgefest was more of a party setting than the second, and therefore retained momentum for longer. Nevertheless, the second night felt special in its own right, and the micro-community that was formed during the first night carried over to the outdoor setting of the night that followed.
NIGHT 2 – Saturday, April 5th
The Tappan Square bandstand was a beacon of warmth and music in the otherwise dreary, cold, and rainy night. Sludgefest night 2 commenced with Barosielle’s DJ set. It was their best set yet, featuring two different Alex G remixes, an abundance of Jane Remover, and a song by Clio3 of Open Symbols. Necroprophecy 2 was a short, strange set that included a zither ringing out into the night.
The trio Open Symbols followed. If there was a noise show at the end of the world, it would be Open Symbols playing an unrehearsed set. It was strong and roaring like the crashing of waves, inciting stomping and screaming from the crowd. Clio launched vicious attacks against the keys. Ben played voicemails against the strings of their guitar. Autumn sent great billows of noise into listeners’ eardrums. At one point Clio’s sister called them during the set and Clio picked up, put the phone on the keyboard, and continued playing. The set was loud, earth-shatteringly loud.
While I was absent for most of Yaoguaai’s set, I appreciated the quantity of Bladee in it and the Playboi Carti remix created in collaboration with Barosielle.
In an unexpected turn of events, the order of the artists switched around at the last minute, and the headliner was up next. The inventor of extreme rap music himself, Hellghillies, took to the stage. The up-and-coming Cleveland rapper and champion of sludge enchanted the crowd with his unforgettable lyrics and contagious energy. Hellghillies’ one-of-a-kind feats of songwriting included masterpieces about Amish animal abuse and the game of basketball. He ordered the crowd to form a mosh pit, and screamed to pick someone up if they fell. Fans ran back and forth, chanted, screamed, and threw themselves into each other in an affectionate slush of collisions.
By Hashdrowned’s set, the cold had nearly won its battle and only about ten people remained. The performance was small and intimate, consisting of just Dora and her guitar. The music was folky and vulnerable and raw. At one point she addressed all of us by name. It was late; one got the impression that the crowd was cold and sleepy, but remained out of love for music and loyalty to Sludgefest.
The final triumph of Sludgefest was Autism Cubed, a cover band of Autism Squared. One of the band members, Indigo, was also one of the Sludgefest organizers. The crowd, now reduced to just 7, did not do the band justice. There would have been a mosh pit if it were not so frigid outside and sparsely attended at that point. The performance was imbedded with a magic that was reminiscent of the Philly DIY music scene. By the end of the set, I felt like me and my peers had witnessed something rare and beautiful, from start to finish.
There are many layers to the magic of Sludgefest. From the outset, the fact that such a large number of people are willing to dedicate their time and energy to such a grotesque concept as sludge is quite endearing. The way the Oberlin music community manifested itself in this specific event was unique. There was a very blurred line between performers and audience. I observed more dedication of the crowd to staying and returning than a typical show would have, and a lot of flexibility on the part of the artists. The fact that the festival happened at all is miraculous considering how disorganized and last minute it was planned. But it paid off in the end to create an unforgettable music festival.
What is the moral here? Friendship, love: these things are temporary. But sludge? Sludge is forever.