Music industry senior Mariesha Klos is following her dream by hosting her own music festival “Uptown Sounds” through her company Klos Enkounters LLC.

Uptown Sounds will be held on April 20 and will feature acoustic sets, performances by Loyola and Tulane bands, local New Orleans band Freedom Speaks and art from Loyola students. The music festival will be held on Freret Street at Dat Dog, The Other Bar and Gasa Gasa from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Klos’s main goal for Uptown Sounds is to gain experience by putting on her own production and utilizing an up-and-coming location.

“This is my first music festival and something I always wanted to do. Since Freret Street has been booming, a lot of things happening and being rebuilt there, it’s a good opportunity to jump on the bandwagon with them and start working on different events, like festivals,” Klos said.

Klos established her company Klōs Enkounters after putting on her own mini-festival on Cinco de Mayo in 2012. The mini-fest was in her backyard and featured performances by five Loyola bands and a DJ.

“It was a success, but completely illegal because I didn’t have a company,” Klos said. “I decided if I really wanted to make this my career and pursue it, I needed to get serious. So I went to the secretary of state and made my own company.”

A lot of preparation went into Uptown Sounds. Klos was in charge of organization, stage management and booking. Klos reached out to Dat Dog and Mike Twillmann, a Loyola alumnus and owner of The Other Bar and Gasa Gasa, for venues to host her music festival.

“I pitched the idea to Mike Twillmann and he was all ‘hell yeah, let’s do it,’ and Dat Dog is really into supporting local art. They were super stoked about it,” Klos said.

Klos is highly regarded by her business associates, who acknowledge her drive in hosting her own production.

“As a former Loyola student I see a lot of value in Mariesha’s event as to help students in the music program right now,” Mike Twillmann, owner and manager of Gasa Gasa bar, said.

Music industry students also admire Klos’s determination.

“Mariesha is an extremely hardworking individual, confident in her ideas, and very personable when it comes to her networking skills,” Carter Lang, music industry senior, said.

Shamara King can be reached at [email protected]