In this Q&A, DubMC interviewed Scott Prairie of A Moving Sound, a band based out of Taiwan. Prairie shares his strategies for making the most out of attending and showcasing at the annual world music industry conference, WOMEX.
1. Why did you decide to attend WOMEX?
It’s part of the relentless quest for exposure, at least for an emerging group like us. Something like a salmon swimming upstream, trying to find that connection to resources that will help the music art to live, grow and keep going. Also it’s a chance to meet all the people I have been talking to by e-mail.
2. What are your goals while you are there?
First, to stay calm. It’s such an important opportunity for us and so much is happening there, so one goal is to relax and do a good show. The next step is to follow the plan that I have been working on for months. Many people, like agents, have said, “Let’s wait and see your show at WOMEX.” So I’ve worked out a schedule/plan when to do meetings, what panels to see and when to walk around the trade fair and meet new folks. Also I sent an e-mail out to some names researched from the WOMEX database and a few invited me to meet with them. (A few others were mad because our computer malfunctioned and we accidentally sent three to some people….sorry if you, the reader, were one of them!)
3. How and why did you get partners at home (Taiwan) involved in your WOMEX showcase? What are you able to give to each other through this conference?
I am fortunate to be in Taiwan. It was an unplanned strategy that I met my now wife and music collaborator in New York. (Having a band with your wife requires a whole other set of questions.) We have gotten grants to tour from the Taiwan government, which seems to recognize the value of arts and culture in strengthening their international perception. It would have been a lot harder in New York. This time we are collaborating with an arts organization called TAIA that is hoping to increase their international identity. We will give them a good show and a band with an international reputation to boost their image and we get to go to WOMEX as a result of their corporate and government fundraising.
4. What has your strategy been for making the most out of the WOMEX appearance?
Let’s call it the “earth and spirit” approach. On the earth level, it’s like farming; you have to do everything humanly possible to tend your crop. Send out the e-mail before, coordinate with your important contacts, do lots of promo like flyers and we will do a dance demo at a few booths (including Link TV), network, make calls, don’t be scared to reach out for help. I did a fundraising campaign to friends, fans and family to cover costs. Some artists feel like an artist shouldn’t have to do business. At first, it certainly is difficult. But I found that by going through the process of presenting ourselves and reaching out again and again to sometimes very busy people, that the core of what we really are and the unique aspects of what we have became clear. It’s kind of like a claiming process.
The second part is the spirit; by this, I don’t mean religion. I feel for approaching WOMEX and for approaching the whole tenuous process of living as an artist in this modern world you have to have faith and you have to make space to listen to and connect with your intuition. A great song (or great performance) doesn’t come just from following a formula or well constructed plan. A great song comes when you have done everything you can to make a container in your life for creative energy to come in. Like Leonard Cohen says, we don’t choose love, love chooses us.
5. What tips do you have for other world music bands heading to WOMEX or other music industry conferences?
Don’t look at it like you are going to “get discovered” there, at least in the case of newer groups like us. Start working right now to get your music to people and patiently but persistently seek their feedback. Of course, you can’t force anyone to like it. Maybe if they don’t, you can ask them why and either take their feedback or think about who would be a more suitable person to ask. From there you network, asking suggestions about who else you might present your music to that could help build your support structure, which seems to me to come down to; labels, agents, promotion and presenters.
6. What scares you the most about going to WOMEX?
Honestly, I’ll admit to the relatively irrational fear that at the moment of truth, when the performance starts, I’ll turn into dinosaur fingers and not be able to play my instrument and ruin everything! I guess it’s because the show is so important and we’ve been working so hard to prepare for it. Actually, though I am somewhat new to the particular Chinese instrument (zhong ruan--like a wooden banjo held vertically) that I play some of the songs on, I have been performing music since I was a child so I’m pretty good. Also I play with these kick ass Taiwanese musicians and my beautiful star quality wife…..this is who everybody will be watching, so if I miss a note or two no one will notice! Also, I am blessed because our showcase is early in the WOMEX schedule (Thursday at 10:30 PM offWOMEX tent), and so I won’t have had time to meet many people. I haven’t met most of the “important people” who I hope will come to our show, so I don’t know what they look like. Even if I look out and see them in the crowd, I won’t know who they are until after.
7. How is your pitch coming along? Tell us your sound bite pitch for labels, agents, and concert presenters.
I feel like the best presentation I have is giving quotes. I also like to tell people (especially booking agents and labels) that we will be on The Discovery Channel this December, in a program created by Lonely Planet, which will be seen by 500,000. I worked hard to get our group’s CD and performances in front of some respected people and places so I like to let them speak for us:
Tom Pryor, music supervisor for National Geographic’s On Line World Music Site, past editor of Global Rhythm Magazine says, "A Moving Sound is one of the most original outfits working in the world music arena today, an inspired marriage of Taiwanese traditional sounds and Western pop experimentation that forges an important new musical dialogue."
The New York Public Theater says, “Based out of Taipei, Taiwan, A Moving Sound offers up a unique and exciting new development in the progression of both traditional and contemporary Chinese music. A Moving Sound's music explores the outer regions of the avant-garde while remaining firmly rooted in the rich, earthy aesthetic of ancient ethnic music and dance from the Far East. The band utilizes traditional Chinese instruments and melodic themes combined with modern compositional concepts and spirited experimentation to produce music that is joyous, evocative and enchanting."
8. What are you most excited about going to WOMEX?
It really feels like a culmination on one hand and a handful of potential beginnings on the other. We have worked so hard to make the CD, the CD package (it was designed by a Grammy nominee from last year, the first ever from Taiwan), the web site, all the networking, the tour preparation. Now I feel like, “OK, here it is…” as I give the CD to a lot of the people I respect a lot and who have the resources to help get us out into the world. The exciting thing is having a chance to share what we have done with the international world music community. I’m leaving in about 18 hours from the time of writing this, first to a festival in Prague called MOFFOM then WOMEX, so it’s all starting to feel pretty real!
DubMC.com is the brainchild of Dmitri Vietze and is sponsored by rock paper scissors, inc., world music publicity firm.
