The Valencia Voice got the chance to chat with the man behind Orlando Calling, Melvin Benn, and to ask him a little about the event this year and the possibility of Orlando Calling next year.

What are your expectations for today?
My first hope was sunshine, and I got that.
My second hope was costumers, and I got that, too.
My third hope is great performances from all the bands and I’m sure that’s coming actually.
We are really looking forward to the day.

What made you choose Orlando?
Well, a number of reasons. I wanted to create a festival in the southeast, cause there is no festival in the southeast of any note.
I wanted it to be in the fall and the southeast is good for that because of the weather.
And the mayor of Orlando was just incredibly enthusiastic about creating a festival here.
That really was the start point.

How did you decide the Organization of the show?
We started with the headliners and then you try to build each day to complement the headliner in a way because they set the tone for the music on that day.
Obviously the Killers are today, Saturday, so there is a strong alternative feel to the day. There is a little bit of country, there is a little bit of hip pop, there is a little bit of roots obviously, but it all compliments the alternative music that ‘The Killers’ perform. For tomorrow we have Bob Seger and Kid Rock so it was built to complement that style of music. So essentially we have two days that a lot of people will embrace, but clearly some people will just have a strong preference for one or the other.

What about next year, can we expect you again?
I haven’t even started this year and you are already asking about next year. I’m thinking about next year during the course of this weekend. We’ll see where we get to.