Article by Kevin Young and Lucy Liu
Photo credit Xue Liang
Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York hosted a press conference concerning the 2014 CMJ musical festival’s Taiwan music express segment. This segment is annual showcase that invites artists from Taiwan to perform here in New York City. GCA Entertainment, a Taiwanese entertainment agency is solely responsible for ensuring this show’s success along with their sponsors. This year pop songstress A-lin, soulful rock musician Luantan Ascent, and rapper Dwagie all diverse artists in their own right will represent Taiwan’s musicality. DJ Charles Young, a Taiwanese-American will be mixing the music of these three artists in addition to his staple EDM tracks to really get the crowd pumped. Sponsors for this show include AsianInNY, the Taiwanese Economic and Trade Office, XIEXIE a tea brand, and Kuo Yuan Ye a pastry chain. Both sponsors and special guests spoke about the show’s history and prominence as part of the CMJ music festival.
Adam Klein, CEO of CMJ
Adam Klein the CEO of CMJ made remarks regarding the Taiwan music express segment. “What’s really interesting is how the Taiwanese segment of the show has grown each year. It’s grown in stature within CMJ. This year’s showcase is phenomenal. I’m not surprised it’s sold out.”
He then directed his speech towards the three artists stating, “I know all of you are established in Taiwan. But we are excited to be giving you a U.S. stage as you will eventually break out into the U.S. market. If you look at the history of artist who have performed at CMJ you will find almost all of the industry’s top artists. I have no doubt you three will be joining that list.”
Ed Yen, CEO of GCA Entertainment
The CEO of GCA Entertainment, Ed Yen was more than happy to speak about the goal of this annual showcase. “The goal of this project is very simple. At the end of the day after these artist perform we have achieved a global collaboration between the U.S. and Taiwan,” said Yen, “I encourage western artist to collaborate with Taiwanese artists. It benefits both parties to get exposure to a new group of fans. This also promotes cultural exchange.”
Charles Young
DJ Charles Young, a New York native spoke about collaborating with these artists. “This performance will be a great opportunity for me to learn about Taiwan’s popular music and it was a honor to be able to remix it into my own project,” said Young.
Overall anticipation for CMJ Taiwan music express was invigorated throughout the press conference. Interest was sparked at the mention of Dwagie’s new music video for his song refuse to listen which features American rapper Nas. This New York stage is only an opening platform for these artists to eventually branch out into the western market.
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