[報導] Echo sends lasting...
原文：http://www.chinapost.com.tw/dream/2013/12/16/396074/Echo-sends.htm
Echo sends lasting reverberations throughout local indie music scene
By Ted Chen , The China Post
December 16, 2013, 12:16 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- “I have always wanted to be a rocker,” said Wu Po-chang (
吳柏蒼), singer and frontman of “Echo” (回聲樂團), one of the most
influential bands in the independent music scene in Taiwan.
The band was formed by Wu and a group of like-minded friends who shared a
love of 1990s alternative rock and Brit pop while studying at National Tsing
Hua University and honing their sounds at the school's music club. In 2000,
what began as a summer project to take the stage as the resident band of a
local pub quickly became a life-long pursuit of making rock music. “We did
not have an answer ready when the pub owner asked for our band name, and off
the top of my head I said 'Echo,' which was the name of the music club at the
university,” recalled Wu.
The name remained, with the band releasing three additional studio albums,
numerous singles, EPs and a compilation DVD of live performances since its
founding.
Wu, however, said that members of the band stood at a crossroads following
the release of their first album “Driving the Senses” (感官駕馭) in 2002.
The LP was published by the now-defunct but seminal Crystal Records (水晶有聲
出版社), the label that fostered Taiwan's independent rock, punk and
alternative music scenes for more than a decade. The album became the label's
bestseller of the year, and propelled the band's profile and prospects to new
heights.
Despite achieving stellar results with their debut album, which garnered both
critical acclaim and commercial success, the members of Echo were forced to
face a different sort of reality head-on as their student days approached
their end. Shortly after graduation, the band went on hiatus, with some
members entering mandatory military service and some pursuing graduate
studies and other career paths.
In the end, Wu's passion for music prevailed, and he dropped out of graduate
school in the U.S. and returned to Taiwan to once again serve as Echo's band
leader. After a lineup shuffle, Echo began touring in force to promote their
second album, Bastille Day (巴士底之日), taking the stage 87 times throughout
Taiwan.
At the same time, Wu began to adopt a more hands-on approach to all aspects
of the band. With the closing of Crystal Records in 2003, many indie bands no
longer had the support of their respective labels. Fortunately, many industry
veterans were ready to help him every step of the way, from production,
recording, and mastering to album distribution, said Wu.
A New Age in the Music Industry
Around the same time, Wu's musical ideals changed. “I realized that the
spirit of the indie rock scene is not all about being rebellious and raging
against being misunderstood,” said Wu. According to Wu, the music scene in
Taiwan, much like the rest of the world, had begun to change profoundly in
the 2000s following the advent of the Internet, which enabled a
never-before-seen convenience in digital content sharing, resulting in
declining CD sales throughout the industry.
In response, the band embraced the marketing paradigm of the day, inviting
the public to download its second album for free. Following a year of
preparation, Wu launched iNDIEVOX in 2008, a web-based platform tailored to
the independent music scene. In addition to providing concert ticket sales
services, the website also serves as a community hub for music fans and is
also Taiwan's first online store to sell music without the cumbersome
limitations of digital rights management (DRM) schemes. Fearing piracy, few
major labels dared to consider adopting the practice at the time. Originally,
the site was designed to focus on promoting the works of Echo, but Wu later
negotiated digital distribution deals with independent labels, who were
surprisingly receptive to the practice, he said. Eventually the practice was
adopted by major labels, including those on Apple Inc.'s iTunes platform,
which went DRM-free in 2009. iNDIEVOX has since become an invaluable resource
for independent artists and record labels by offering vertically integrated
industry services often unavailable to smaller-scale non-mainstream
operations.
In 2011, Wu began to oversee the daily operations and management of
StreetVoice, a web based platform founded in 2006 by a former executive at
Magic Stone Records (魔岩唱片). True to its name, the platform offers a
setting in which to cultivate the source of Taiwan's independent music scene
— the streets — where artists can publish or otherwise showcase their
creative works. The platform incubates many of Taiwan's emerging artists, and
organizes a number of concert events to showcase their talent.
Recounting his own experiences, Wu remarked that Taiwan's music scene has
improved markedly from a decade ago. There are many more music festivals and
concerts available to bands, with numerous performances staged on a weekly
basis at live houses throughout Taiwan, offering music fans more alternatives
than commercially oriented mainstream offerings, said Wu.
As the frontman of a band formed in a students' club, Wu advised all young
and aspiring artists to commit at least a year or two in their pursuit of a
career in music, or they might regret not taking the plunge at some point
later in life. In addition, Wu also urged young artists and musicians to
focus more time and effort on creating new works during the formative early
years of their careers. “Maybe I spent too much time partying during those
days,” he said with a chuckle.
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