INTERVIEW
(Conducted by
Alissa Walker on 10/27/03)
It's
great to have a Northern Cali diva in the mix. What's great
about SF right now, and what are you looking forward to
with your relocation to Los Angeles?
Especially
now that I am moving out of SF after being here for eight
years, I am seeing all the unique things about this city
that I hope to bring with me wherever I go. I feel like
SF is DIY University...you can make anything happen here.
You can find your niche and a community to support you,
no matter what. It's Freedom City.
In the
time that I've been here, SF has been through a lot - we
experienced the boom and bust of the e-economy most especially
in the music and nightlife world. Right now the landscape
of music and entertainment is a lot less populated and more
sparse, with less regular events to go to, but I feel like
a lot has gone back to where it was in the mid-nineties
- really cool one-offs at amazing lofts and undergrounds.
Plus people have to put a little more energy into making
events special to draw a diverse crowd that's interested
in more than just a DJ in a corner, you know?
I love
the way people support each other in SF, there is a real
sense of community and collaboration. Even within the niche
scenes people collaborate and share resources, because there
is a smaller audience to draw from people are aware that
a strong scene is built from working together and not against
one another. SF has been so kind to me. This place has been
an incubator for my soul, my style, my voice. When I look
down at SF from an airplane I just see this beautiful, multi-faceted
gem that I have gotten to know so many aspects of.
Los
Angeles, The City of Angels - has challenged me in it's
own way. I grew up in LA during high school and discovered
my passion for dance music and DJ culture through clubbing
and raves in the early-to-mid 90s there. I have lots of
friends and family in the area, so I am lucky to be returning
to a place where I already have strong roots. I have a very
focused intention to dive into the music licensing game
in the film & TV industry with my new company Beatsync
in LA. I really want to create a bridge from all the amazing
independent music I have access too, to broaden the possibilities
of these sounds reaching a bigger audience, and getting
musicians paid (so they can all quit their day jobs, hahaha)!
I'm just really excited to tap into the high-production
environment of LA, where ideas and money are flowing. I
also have a lot of passion to connect women in the industry
together through Electric W.O.M.B. so we can all help each
other come up!
XLR8R
kicks ass! What have you worked on with them?
I recently
completed a huge project for XLR8R's 10th Anniversary this
year - an event series entitled "The Living Magazine"
which we presented with Adidas Originals in SF, LA &
NYC this summer - for which I orchestrated a unique showcase
of live music, style, art and technology for one night in
each city.
I'm
proud to have worked in helping expose more people to this
amazing independent endeavor, having been the Director of
Marketing & Distribution at the magazine for three years.
Among my other duties, I've been able to produce a number
of events for XLR8R over the years, from one-offs in SF
to our presence at huge industry gatherings like WMC in
Miami, CMJ in NYC to MUTEK in Montreal and MIDEM in France.
One of my favorite jobs here is producing INCITE - our custom
compilation of music that comes with each subscriber issue.
We cover such obscure music sometimes, it's great to give
people a taste of what we are talking about! It's always
a thrill to know you are able to turn people on to new artists
& labels, that can help give them clues on where to
look for more music like that in the future.
There
is an amazing network of independent artists, labels and
companies that XLR8R champions from issue to issue, and
I've really learned how powerful it is when these folks
all support each other as a niche economy. It's also important
to note that larger companies that support the magazine
through advertising don't drive the editorial at all...XLR8R
really has it's own voice, it's own opinion. Especially
in contrast to the mainstream media that we are exposed
to at every turn, I think it's really important to have
integrity in that area, and not always let the buck drive
tastes. It's about quality at the end of the day.
You're heading up Electric W.O.M.B., which is like a United
Divas for the music and media world. Tell us about it.
Electric
W.O.M.B. is a new organization for women artists, businesses
and professionals of the music & media industry. It
began as simply a way to get women in the SF area together
to start a dialogue and network in support of each other's
success in business. Jessica Risling-Sholl (co-founder)
and I knew so many amazing women artists and professionals
who didn't know each other! Their demand for creating a
regular forum of discussion was undeniable, so we continued
with a series of "Pro-Panel Forums" which pulled
veteran leaders from various aspects of the industry (like
marketing, studio recording, pr, magazine publishing, club
booking, film, etc), allowing them emerge as leaders for
other women who previously had no access to the invaluable
knowledge gained through each of their own experiences.
It's a really magical and sacred thing to have women in
a room together like that. It's a safe environment, and
there are no stupid questions, you know?
We have
a great core team in SF as well as a fiscal sponsor Independent
Arts & Media who essentially is our "non-profit
umbrella", helping us build a plan to present simultaneously
as a grant proposal to raise funds that will fuel our growth
in the coming years. Seeds of Electric W.O.M.B. have already
started to grow in Chicago and Atlanta. After a year of
doing our exclusive forum events in SF, we just had our
first public fundraiser in October showcasing all women
musicians, artists and organizations supporting indie arts
like the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences
and our partner the Bay Area Video Coalition - it was a
great success. Any chance to acknowledge women by having
their expression be of central focus to an event or production
is precious. It's time to re-establish the balance and help
each other get integrated into all aspects of the industry
as a whole.
Our
plan is to build a solid base of events and services that
will keep communication between women in the industry growing
around the world, and to eventually launch programs for
mentoring and referrals, as well as a scholarships to fund
women's music and media projects year-round. We really believe
that we can help build momentum and add some spark to women-centric
art and media - just like Pinknoises.com, Sister DJs, Female
Pressure and United Divas of course, who all share similar
visions. We've only just begun!
I
love that the theme of integrating music and media is consistent
throughout all your endeavors. Your work with BeatSync focuses
on things like deriving corporate identity through music,
reaching specific audiences in advertising, licensing tracks
affordably and utilizing emerging artists. Are these things
that could help save the music industry?
Thanks!
Well, I don't know about "saving" the music industry
- more like, helping it evolve! The old ways of doing business
are crumbling. The DIY ethos of an independent "cottage
industry" like electronic music is the growing norm.
It's many-to-many publishing & distribution instead
of one-to-many. It really is a new revolution enabled by
technology.
I'm
totally obsessed with how to educate people on the music
I love and just get it out there - every project I've ever
participated in or started (especially all the radio programming)
had something to do with that intention. Let's face it,
you're still not going to hear innovative electronic music
on regular radio! As a community we've had to find other
avenues to expose this sound to new people. Who knew artists
and tracks would break on car commercials? However, I think
we can go further. Music is a great marketing tool but you've
got to remember the soul, the spirit and voice of the music.
What is it saying? Music is so powerful, it can enhancing
any experience and any message. It's an absolute privilege
to be the selector - no one knows this better than the DJ!
We have
a growing catalogue of independent artists & labels
that we are representing at Beatsync. We passionately believe
in the rights and value of artists which you can see reflected
in our contracts and deals. The artist comes first. We're
really excited to create a bridge for the work of these
artists to the media production world going on in LA and
beyond.
What would be your dream DJ gig?
Oh there
are so many factors that I can dream up! An amazing soundsystem,
500 dancers, sick visuals, guest vocalists...how 'bout a
tropical location!! But really, when I think about it my
dream DJ gig will be the gig when I play a bunch of my own
music that I created myself. It'll be soon!
