ELVIS.T on the Tribulations of INTRO

Ahead of INTRO 2010 this Saturday, we spoke to DJ ELVIS.T about the early stoppage of last year’s event – and why he doesn’t see the same thing happening this year – as well as what we can expect on the weekend.

INTRO 2009 was one of last year’s best parties, but was stopped early by the police – how big a disappointment was that for you?
The biggest disappointment isn’t that it was stopped 20 minutes early (before moving indoors for the after party) – it was the cancellation of the after party sucked big time. But I can’t blame the police for taking urgent measures to make sure “people don’t get stepped over and die.” It was disappointing, but it also felt like a wake-up call. Doing what Acupuncture does in Beijing has always been like that – you have the wildest dream, you try your very best to make it happen, and if you work really hard it can happen. But Rome wasn’t built in a day. There are bound to be hitches. It would have been too perfect to have pulled off an event like that flawlessly at the first attempt. I told myself to stay positive, that it was a good thing that it happened at the first INTRO. That way, we know what to work on to make future INTROs better.

How did you respond to people who blamed Acupuncture for the festival’s early ending?
People had every right to complain. They paid for their tickets and were promised a free “INTRO by Night” after-party, after “INTRO by Day” ended at 11pm. That’s why we offered refunds.

How did most people react to what happened?
A comment left on Acupuncture’s Facebook page summed up the general reaction: “The day was so surreal it felt like a dream, I couldn’t believe this party was happening in Beijing … until [the cancellation] brutally reminded me, THIS IS CHINA.” But INTRO 2009 was the first electronic music festival in Beijing, so nobody – not Acupuncture, not the authorities – had any experience on how to deal with that situation. So blame us, but don’t lose heart. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start – it has to start somewhere – and that’s the most important thing for us. The Acupuncture Records crew is a bunch of adventurers and idealists – we’re not investors calculating risk and return.

Looking back one year later, do you think the incident left any lasting damage to Acupuncture’s reputation?
Tricky question. I think maybe the negative of “disappointing ending” and positive of “at least they had the guts to try it at all” balanced each other out.

And what steps have you taken to make sure the same thing won’t happen this year?
This year’s after parties are arranged at different venues around the city – confirmed locations now include Lantern, Lan and Coco Banana – so the same thing can’t happen again. Actually this was the original plan last year too, but it didn’t work out with the venues. This year people seem to have more confidence in the festival and, as I said, it can only be better this year.

However, we feel it’s very important to make sure people realize this is a festival, not just a party. Last year, a lot of people heard “electronic music” and automatically thought “nighttime party,” so they didn’t come out until late, which was a shame. It’s one of the things that shows electronic music is still treated as a “second-class citizen” in the world of music here. A festival is a different concept. The core event is the day session, dancing under blue skies and beautiful sunshine – that’s the key.

Have you seen anything on your overseas travels that you’ll try to bring to INTRO 2010?
Of course there are things to learn from our overseas counterparts, mostly on the technical side like staging and setup. But when it comes to the other aspects, China is such a different market and we just have to figure things out all by ourselves.

What’s happening at INTRO 2010 then?
We have almost 40 artists performing this year, on three stages this time, adding more variety to the music compared with last year.

In your wildest dreams, what will the scene be like at INTRO this year?
It gets packed at 2pm, 10,000-plus people dance from noon until the end. After parties around the city all get packed too, and the whole of Beijing, every part of town, is partying day and night, partying in the name of INTRO. Hmmm, this is actually quite realistic – not a wild dream at all!

For the full INTRO schedule and tips on how to get there, see yesterday’s post on the Beijinger blog.