Preview
VOLTAGE CONTROL
Thursday, June 3
Cantos Music Museum
Machines don’t make music, people do.
It’s a sentiment Michael Weicker shares with other local electronic musicians. Weicker is an internationally known recording artist who goes by the name of Weep, O’Mine Eyes, but if you live in Calgary, chances are you’ve probably never heard of him.
Weicker has been trying to get the word out by forming Electronic Music Calgary, an organization and website dedicated to promoting local electronic musical talent. Because Calgary venues have been reluctant to showcase electronic musicians, Weicker has taken it upon himself to organize a series of concerts.
"We really can’t come up with a straight answer on why Calgary is the way it is," Weicker says, referring to the current lack of local support for the electronic scene. "It’s like there is this apathy here. I don’t think we’re faring as well as other cities in Canada. Toronto has stuff going on, so does Montreal. You’d expect those larger cities to have more of an audience for it, but Winnipeg and Edmonton have more of a scene than we do."
Weicker is fully aware of the stigma attached to electronic music. People assume that it’s highly computerized or mistake electronic music with electronica. Weicker laughs while explaining that when he tells people he’s an electronic musician, they often think he’s a DJ. Although musical comparisons can be drawn between electronic music and techno, the two are not synonymous.
Simply put, electronic music is anything made using technology (analog or digital), typically synthesizers, samplers and drum machines. Electronic compositions are more orchestral in their approach and are similar to the music heard in film scores. Musicians usually incorporate acoustic elements (like cello or other stringed instruments) to create a layered ambient sound.
Electronic musicians tend to be a solitary bunch and like to work alone in home studios. They rarely get an opportunity to play live because their equipment is arduous to pack and transport to shows. One of the reasons for starting the concert series was to introduce local musicians to one another.
"When I started this, a lot of us had never worked with or heard of each other. They’re like me – working in their realm," he says. "They’re not listening to a lot of music and they’re just trying to work on their stuff and get it out there."
Weicker is working in conjunction with the Cantos Music Museum, a local hidden gem housing a treasure trove of instruments in their permanent collection. The first concert in the series will be held during the Olympic Plaza Cultural District’s First Thursday’s promotion and free tours of the Cantos Music Collection will be made available to the public. The concerts will be held in the Cantos Music Room and tickets can be purchased at the door. Voltage Control is the first musician scheduled to perform in the showcase.
"(These shows) give people exposure to the bands that are in Calgary and we build from there," says Weicker. He is optimistic about the concert series and hopes to eventually gain enough public support to warrant the need for an annual Calgary Electronic Music Festival.
"I’d love to see it become something as large as the folk festival. I look at Detroit, for example – it has a huge electronic festival that attracts about 1,000,000 people. So I’d like to see something like that for Calgary – that Calgary could be known as the electronic music capital of Canada." |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.