We are just six days away from the fourth annual Governors Ball, a (semi) new festival that’s held on NYC’s Randall’s Island. Are you headed to the fest? Do you wish you were? Keep an eye out all week because Allston Pudding will be providing previews, tips, and tricks for all things Gov Ball.

Governors Ball’s 2014 lineup includes big names from Outkast, Jack White, The Strokes, Spoon, and Interpol to Allston Pudding favorites like SKATERS, Diarrhea Planet, Kurt Vile and MUCH MORE! Did I mention that we’re really excited to see The Strokes?

Kicking off our festival coverage is an interview with Governors Ball co-founder Jordan Wolowitz (who is super proud to be a New Yorker and is also excited about The Strokes), read below!

Allston Pudding: What makes Governors Ball stand out in today’s festival scene?

Jordan Wolowitz: It’s obvious but I think what sets us apart is that we are in New York City. You know? It’s the greatest city in the world, it’s the biggest city, it’s the media capital! There’s no other big festival like this here, so we’re separated from everyone else right off the bat.

AP: Are you from NYC?

JW: Yeah! I was born here. I lived here until I was about 20 and then moved to Connecticut.  I moved back here in my twenties and started my own company.

AP: So being New Yorker yourself, there’s a lot of pull to bring New Yorkers to the lineup then?

JW: Yes! Definitely. We try to put a lot of emphasis on it. This year we have bigger [New York] acts like the Strokes, Vampire Weekend, Interpol and TV on the Radio. Then we’ve got smaller acts like Haerts, Luscious, and The Drowners.  We definitely put an emphasis on representing New York bands.

AP: What’s the vibe for the festival this year?

JW: We started Governors ball as a small one day festival that featured 12 more alternative acts and then we grew incrementally. In our second year we expanded to two days with 12 acts each day. Then grew even more in our third year.  We like the vibe of being an authentic, local New York City music festival even though we’ve grown a lot. We want to have the character of being very authentic versus something that’s corporate and run by a huge national promoter.

The vibe will always be amazing music, no genre is off limits, and we want really interesting artist relationships that people have never seen before. We’re always going to have interesting food and beverage villages whether it’s craft beer or wine vendors alongside the best New York City food trucks. We want this to be a very immersive, all day experience rather than having folks just show up for the headlining towards the end of the night.

AP: Were there any festivals that you’ve attended that you were particularly inspired by?

JW: My business partners and I grew up as huge music fans and have been working in the business and have had great opportunities to attend a lot of festival around North America both as fans and as [industry professionals]. Whether it’s Bonnaroo, or Outside Lands, Osheaga, Coachella, or Lollapalooza – these are all festivals that we’ve taken inspiration from.

AP: I had the pleasure of attending last year’s “Mud Ball” and I know a lot of folks were complaining and I’m sure it gave you a bunch of headaches to work through logistically but….I have to say, it was a pretty magical experience.

JW: Thank you! Really the only thing out of our hands that we just can’t control is the weather. When a tropical storm is passing through you just have to do your best to prepare and make the best of your situation. Our team worked as best as we could to remedy the situation and I think we did make the best of difficult circumstances.

AP: Amidst the chaos you able to take a step back and just take in the fact that it was just a dirty, messy, silly time to be had?

JW: Oh yeah! Sure we were frustrated that we couldn’t just make it 75-degrees and sunny…I mean we’ve attended Bonnaroo like I said, we’ve been to Austin City Limits, everybody has got to have their horror stories. We’ve been there before, bands have been there before, we had bands from the UK telling us it was just like Glastonbury!

AP: What advice would you give to a first-time festival goer?

JW: Luckily you have a lot of free water stations at Gov Ball, so you won’t need to bring water, you’ll just need to bring a bottle and you’ll have no problem staying hydrated all weekend. Honestly, I’d tell you to bring a backpack for everything you might need. The sun might go down, it might get chilly, you’ll want to have a shirt or something you can throw on at night. Otherwise we try to do our best to provide anything a fan would need so just get a good night of sleep, stay hydrated and get ready to have a really great time!

And then from a musical perspective, take this opportunity to go see a band you wouldn’t normally otherwise. That’s the beauty of these big and diverse contemporary festivals, we want to expose people to music they wouldn’t see on their own.

AP: Rumor has it that Gov Ball has been reaching out to The Strokes since Day 1 and you finally got them! So looking to the future, who is on your “Gotta Get ‘Em” –list?

JW: There are a few people we’ve reached out to and the timing just hasn’t been right. Frank Ocean is one of them.  Robyn is a really cool artist who hasn’t come through here in some time. There are a bunch but those are the first two that come to mind.

AP: Just to wrap thing up, going back to the Food Truck situation, can you just tell me…why is Asia Dog so damn good?

JW: *exhales* Oooh, I don’t know, they are incredible. Man. But also if you like lobster you gotta go for Luke’s Lobster Rolls, that has to be my all time favorite. Not too much mayo, not too much seasoning, it’s just perfect. If you’re coming this year, you gotta make that happen.

Stay tuned to Allston Pudding for more Governors Ball 2014 coverage.