Overview
Shabang isn’t just a client, it’s our origin story.
Respect The Funk is a partner at Shabang Music, Arts & Camping Festival, growing it from a student-run pop-up into a 15,000 person destination festival on California’s Central Coast. From the beginning, we’ve shaped the festival’s DNA, voice, and visual identity, building the story that turned a grassroots idea into a sold-out cultural moment year after year.
Our Role
Co-Founders & Creative Architects
We’ve been responsible for:
- Defining Shabang’s creative identity and tone
- Building the media systems that sell tickets
- Translating community energy into content that compounds year over year
- Running the entire on-site media engine from capture to distribution
- Shabang is where we learned how culture actually converts.
The Challenge
How do you grow a DIY student festival into a scalable, respected, must-attend event — without losing its soul?
As Shabang grew, the challenge wasn’t just bigger stages or better artists. It was:
- Maintaining authenticity while scaling
- Creating content that felt of the community, not promotional
- Turning energy into momentum that lasts beyond one weekend
- Selling tickets without selling out the identity
The Approach
Build the festival like a living brand, not a one-weekend event
1. Identity First
We treated Shabang like a brand with a point of view not an event flyer.
Central Coast authenticity. Handheld energy. Crowd-first storytelling.
Everything grounded in who Shabang is and why it exists.
2. Culture → Content → Conversion
Every piece of content had a job:
- Capture emotion
- Reflect community
- Drive anticipation
- Convert attention into ticket demand
3. Always-On Media Engine
RTF owned the full on-site media operation:
- Multi-cam roaming + stage pit coverage across 5 stages
- 4K masters and hi-speed hero moments
- Same-day edits, daily recaps, sizzles, artist IDs, and partner cuts
- Fast publishing cycles before, during, and after the festival
Execution
Primary Creative Partner & Media Engine
RTF led:
- On-site capture teams
- Edit pods and rapid delivery workflows
- Festival-native storytelling built for short-form and evergreen platforms
- Distribution Strategy
- Priority publishing via Shabang’s owned channels (IG, TikTok, YouTube)
- Partner reposts and artist amplification
- Long-form recaps designed for lasting discovery
- The result: content that compounds.
Results
Festival Growth
- Consistently 10K–12K+ attendees annually, with continued upward trajectory
- Recognized in press as a community-grown festival operating at big-show production standards
- Media Impact
- Multi-year creative ownership and continuity
- High-engagement short-form consumption on social
- Evergreen long-form festival recaps living on YouTube
- Media that fuels each next on-sale, not just post-event nostalgia
Why It Matters
Shabang is proof of what happens when culture leads strategy.
It’s where Respect The Funk learned how to:
- Build identity from nothing
- Scale without losing soul
- Turn storytelling into ticket sales
- Create festivals people feel ownership over — not just attend
- This isn’t just a case study. It’s the foundation of everything we do.
CREDITS
- Created by: Respect The Funk
- Directed & Produced: Nathan Doherty & Gabe Santos
-
Shooters:
Daniel Tirado
Ben Harvey
Connor Morgan
Ryan Corr
- FPV - Cesar Gonzales
- Edit and SFX: Daniel Tirado