Tomorrow in Xinyi District (信義區), winter will be banished. Friendly Dog
(友善的狗), the team behind Kenting’s highly successful spring-break event — Spring Wave Music Festival — is throwing 2009 Taipei New East Party Life: Spring Wave (春浪台北). And not only is this new urban outdoor party going to take place in Taipei’s most cosmopolitan district, the venue also boasts a capacity of more than 3,000 people and the bill includes three of dance music’s hottest acts, Lange, Infusion and Miss Nine.
The Vinyl Word caught up with Friendly Dog’s director Shen Kuang-yuan (沈光遠) to find out why he’s undertaking such an ambitious project.
Vinyl Word: What’s so special about Spring Wave?
SGY: Since 2006, we’ve been doing the party in Kenting. Kenting is the most beautiful holiday destination in Taiwan and it’s all because of that. It’s a great thing for those who go there for vacation to be able to participate in a party like Spring Wave, which combines elements of nature and electronic dance music.
VW: You’re a pop producer. Have you always been into electronic dance music?
SGY: Actually, I wasn’t into electronic dance music until after throwing these [Spring Wave] parties.
VW: Taipei has never held an outdoor party like this before. How much time did it take for you to plan? What kind of difficulties did you encounter?
SGY: It took us about 4 months to plan. The biggest difficulty was finding an outdoor venue in Taipei’s most high-end neighborhood and then negotiating with Taipei City Government to get approval to hold the party until 3:30am.
VW: Why did you choose Lange, Infusion and Miss Nine?
SGY: Spring Wave has always emphasized the quality of the music and sound system. We wanted to find someone who could represent trance, so we found Lange. And through a friend of mine, we found Infusion — a rock/electronic dance music act. We also wanted to find a female DJ who plays good music so we got Miss Nine. And, of course, there should be someone who could best represent Taiwan, so we got SL [劉軒, aka Xuan].
VW: Aside from the music, what else can partygoers expect?
SGY: Our creative stage theme — with the special visual effect, it will look as if the DJs are surrounded by drops of water, light and shadow. In addition, throughout the night there will be dance performances every 40 minutes, not to mention the alfresco VIP booths and the fine food and drinks. It’s going to be a good time, I promise. [In case of inclement weather, large tents will be available.]
VW: Will you take Spring Wave to any other cities?
SGY: Next year we’ll have the fifth Spring Wave in Kenting, and we’re also planning on doing it in Beijing.
2009 Taipei New East Party Life: Spring Wave (春浪台北), tomorrow from 9pm to 3:30am at A10 square beside Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Xinyi District, Taipei City (台北市信義新光三越旁A10廣場). Tickets are NT$900 presale, available at 7-Eleven, or NT$1,100 at the door. On the Net: www.spring-wave.com. For more information, call (02) 2356-9888.
This interview and has been edited and condensed.
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