Article by Yvonne Lo
Photo credit Emily Cheng
CMJ Taiwan Music 2013 Showcase kicked off October 15th with an official press conference held at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) at 1 East 42nd Street with welcome remarks from Deputy Director General of TECO, Alex Fan and Director of Taipei Cultural Center, Susan Yu. CMJ’s CEO Alexis d’Amecourt and GCA Entertainment’s Founder/Creative Director Ed Yen also attended the press conference to introduce the history of CMJ festival and the details of this year’s Taiwan music showcase. MusicDish’s founder Eric de Fontenay was the MC for the press conference.
DJ Noodles, Joanna Wang, Miss Ko, Alex Fan (Deputy Director General of TECO)
Director of Taipei Cultural Center, Susan Yu
“Taiwan Music 2013″ at New York’s CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is hosted by the Taiwan Ministry of Culture Bureau of Audiovisual and Music Industry Development (BAMID) and organized by Taiwan-based GCA Entertainment, Taiwan Music 2013 will present three top Taiwanese acts at Webster Hall on October 18th featuring award-winning singer-songwriter Joanna Wang, the 1st female rapper winner of Golden Melody Awards Miss Ko and 2006 DMC Taiwan Champion DJ Noodles. The showcase will introduce New Yorkers to a broad range of Taiwanese music, from indie pop to electronic and urban sounds. The night will also feature collaboration performance from DJ Noodles and special guest Brooklyn-based CMJ-charting rapper Rabbi Darkside.
Rabbi Darkside
On October 16th, CMJ will host the panel “How Taiwan is Using Concert Collaboration to Bridge Markets” at NYU’s Kimmel Center from 3:30-4:30pm. The panel will focus on the interactions and differences of the music scenes/industries in Taiwan and the US, and the implications for American artists wishing to Enter Asia’s growing music market.
CMJ's CEO Alexis d'Amecourt
GCA Entertainment's Founder/Creative Director Ed Yen
MusicDish's Founder Eric de Fontenay
The panel will be followed by a networking event called “Meet Taiwan Music” organized by MusicDish and Hip Hop USA at downtown Manhattan’s Gonzalez y Gonzalez (192 Mercer St). The event will connect New York’s music industry with the Taiwan delegation and artists. There will also be a short Q&A session where the audience will be able submit questions regarding Taiwan’s music sector and opportunities for collaboration.
Background information on the three featured artists:
JOANNA WANG
JOANNA WANG
The award-winning Taiwanese artist is a singer-songwriter, composer and music producer. The multi-talented musician grew up in Southern California and is one of the few female singer-songwriters that can perform in both Mandarin and English. Joanna released her debut album “Start from Here” in 2008 as a double-disc set, one in English and the other in Mandarin. The album reached #1 in Taiwan, and won numerous awards throughout Southeast Asia including 2009 Golden Melody Awards Best New Artist nomination.
MISS KO
MISS KO
The 1st female rapper winner of Golden Melody Awards is considered “the Missy Elliot of Taiwan”. Miss Ko started writing songs while attending high school in Brooklyn, which led to further studies at Five Towns College, where Wyclef Jean and Maroon 5 also gained their fame. In 2009, Miss Ko released her first album in New York titled “Industry Makeover”, and received attention from top French magazine Tetu for her international potential. After returning to Taiwan, she vowed to use music to find her roots; and with help from the Taiwan underground hip-hop sensation SoftLipa, she quickly gained recognition and led to her first Mandarin album “Knock Out” in 2012.
DJ NOODLES
DJ NOODLES
She is the 2006 DMC Taiwan Champion, the first female finalist in the DMC history and was ranked top 13 at the 2006 DMC World Final. With over 10 years of experience, DJ Noodles has performed with numerous renowned legends, such as DJ Q-Bert, DJ Kentaro, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Premier and Naughty by Nature. She has also shared the stage with Steve Aoki, Diplo and many other pioneers of the indie dance music scene. DJ Noodles has been invited to perform in many countries around the world, including England, Switzerland, Japan, China, Australia, Indonesia, United States, South Korea and more. In 2005, DJ Noodles released her second album “Girls Dem Sugar” under EMI Taiwan, which reached top 10 on the Taiwan album music chart and successfully introduced dancehall music to Taiwan’s club scene. In 2012, DJ Noodles became the first Asian DJ invited to be a resident DJ on Radio FG USA, a division of Radio FG, which originated from France, and is now one of Europe’s largest radio and lifestyle networks dedicated to the electronic music genre.
Dj Noodles, Joanna Wang, Miss Ko
Taiwan Music at CMJ 2013 is supported by the following organizations: Radionomy, Hip Hop USA, HYPE Magazine, Yibada and AsianInNY. AsianInNY has been a proud sponsor for three consecutive years and we are very excited about this year’s sold out Taiwan Music events including all the panel discussion, networking night and concert.
Diana Lee (AsianInNY co-Founder), Miss Ko
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