TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Glowball Music Festival, founded by Sonia Calico, is an ambitious new music festival that seeks to redefine the electronic music scene in Taiwan.
“Sorry if I sound a little hoarse or hungover, but I was giving out shots in the Xinyi District till 2 a.m. last night,” Sonia said on a video conference call with Taiwan News on Sunday afternoon (May 19). Sonia ensured clubgoers knew about the upcoming festival, trading whisky shots for likes on the festival’s Instagram account, and a few for herself.
A veteran Taiwanese music producer and DJ with more than a decade of experience, Sonia rose to fame with the all-female electronic punk rock group Go Chic. She later pursued her own craft, holding down residencies and late-night venues in Taipei like Final and Korner.
Starting with the SYNERGY Festival in 2022, she has organized electronic music festivals that represent her musical interests, which is music outside the narrow definition of electronic dance music (EDM).
She said, “I want to introduce regional grooves or sounds into dance music. For the parties, I have been producing and what I like, they all have an element of regional rhythms such as Brazilian baile funk, afrobeats, or Amapiano from South Africa, and even Southeast Asian rhythms. I want to blend cultural influence into the music and find artists that represent these sounds."
At the start of her music career, Sonia said she was influenced by Western music and answered questions about being a Taiwanese musician. She began to think about her role as a musician and the message she wanted to convey.
She later learned her vision was much broader than her music, as she wanted to create a larger, immersive experience for the audience. “I told people I would run this festival for eight years, and I want to make it different from a club night or a different experience, I want to deliver a message in a different way that is not just a single gig," she said.
Sonia believed she needed to go beyond her circle of friends and fans to deliver her vision. With less than two weeks to go, the vision that began in her mind is now a sprawling music festival on two outdoor stages and one indoor space at Taipei Music Center with an estimated audience of 1,000 attendees.
A visual experience
“There are no lyrics for electronic music, as it needs to be more of a visual experience to allow the audience to feel the groove and catch the vibe. We thought we had to include more elements in the festival to make it more inclusive," Sonia said.
Coordinating all dancers, musicians, and visual performances at the festival can be a big challenge. Sonia said her core team is just five members working around the clock.
“This is the art form that I love, so I don’t think of it as work,” she said. Sonia will also perform with a 10-person dance group called Les Petites Choses Production.
With each artist requiring a complicated audio-visual set-up, two outdoor stages were needed, with artists performing at alternate times to cut down on stage changeovers and disruptions.
One featured artist is China’s Howie Lee (李化迪), who brings a mixture of martial arts to his electronic music performance. Lee also arranges visuals onstage, a mix of dystopian imagery, sensual color, and shocking laser beams.
Meanwhile, Lady Shaka from New Zealand will offer mainstream beats drawing upon traditional Maori influences with a high-energy performance that will rock the dance floor. A regular at international festivals, Lady Shaka's YouTube streams show her irresistible energy and charm.
“Lady Shaka is blowing up everywhere, and her performances are quite crazy. She has a great vibe, and I really like her set,” said Sonia. Furthermore, Lady Shaka firmly fits under Glowball Festival’s core mission of mixing electronic beats with regional flavor and rhythms.
Intimate indoor space
While outdoor spaces will be dedicated to large visual productions, an indoor venue at Taipei Pop Music Center will host a vogue ball competition from 1:30 to 6 p.m. A special guest, B. Ames, from the U.S., the producer of music used for countless RuPaul Drag Show contestants, may make a special appearance in addition to a scheduled performance on the outdoor stage.
“We will use Livehouse D at the venue, which has a maximum capacity of about 200 people. The space has to be intimate for vogue balls, which is sort of a tradition for the events, and we will also build a runway," Sonia said.
According to Sonia, there are ballroom vogue events in Taipei every weekend, and typically they occur in the late afternoon as the audience is not the same as the party-loving clubgoers. Such events include a panel of three judges and a commentator discussing the intricacies of each performance, such as hands, catwalk or duckwalk, spins or dips, and floor.
Each competition, called “the ball,” is like an old-school dance battle with twists, such as signature moves and categories. For example, one category “realness” involves contestants in traditional male streetwear or athletic clothing. Other categories can be sexually suggestive.
Performers in the ball can be loosely organized into different vogue houses, which are tight groups of 4-5 dancers or more. A DJ typically performs the music for each contestant, who may have practiced a routine to similar music.
Aside from the music, attractions include alcoholic beverages from the event’s brand partner, Monkey Shoulder. Six food vendors will be on-site, such as Bar 53, Tacos and Tap, and others, offering everything from Mexican food to braised beef rice, cold sesame noodles, and egg cake.
The Glowball Festival runs at Taipei Music Center on Saturday, June 1 from 2 to 10 p.m. For tickets, click the following link or visit the festival’s Instagram page.
