- INSIDE SHAMBHALA -

For those of my readers who don't know what Shambhala is (I'm assuming there aren't many who don't, seeing as my blog is clearly populated by people with great taste in music), it's one of the biggest electronic music festivals in Canada, and one that has grown over the past few years to be the most influential event on the electronic music calendar.

Here's a little taster of what Shambhala is all about...

 Now that you're adequately pumped up about this incredible festival, it's time for a little inside scoop.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be able to have a phone conversation with Corrine Zawaduk (Ms. Shambhala herself.) She is a very cool lady indeed, and had a lot to say about this year's Shambhala, Shambhalas gone by, and just who she can't wait to see...

 

1. How is this year’s Shambhala going to be different to all the other years? I hear it is going to be the biggest festival yet…how do you approach expanding the festival while retaining the small, intimate vibe?

We've done a few different things with the downtown area this year. We've created this whole centre around base camp and base camp is where the Shambassadors are housed. We were worried that as we got bigger and more popular that we would lose some of the charm that really made us unique. So we created this special Shambassadors team. They are the ambassadors of the festival. They're there to help people orient through the shows and let people know what our ethics and values are. And now this whole idea has really started to develop, so now this is going to be next to base camp. It's going to be like a tea house casual area. 

It's because we do the dance floors so well and over the top and beautiful that we thought... what do the people value other than music? We all enjoy all being one on the dance floor but there is also self expression and meeting friends, so were trying to give that Yin and Yang type thing, it's going to be beautiful! It's a massive timber frame building.

2. How did you first become involved with Shambhala? Give us a bit of history on your love affair with electronic media culture.

This festival is actually held on my family's farm and it's been part of the show since the beginning.We started by doing small shows in Nelson BC, we had the whole rock star mentality with a lot of bands. We didn't really dig the scene in our local area so we started putting on shows of our own, we had a lot of friends that were spinning records. So instead of having that rock star mentality, instead we decided to take it to the farm. have it like we're all in your living room and hanging out and playing tunes with each other. Year one of Shambhala was our first attempt at do a multi-day show and 15 years later we're still here.

We always loved all types of music, and as someone coming from a dance background the electronic music scene seems like there's no end to the music for me. I always liked people into music and art, so when you surround them with music and help them be part of the creative expression, you have a community. Wherever you have electronic music, you find that community feel.

It's really interesting now when you have people that are starting to do fusion stuff with the guitars and drums and starting to incorporate more live music into what they're doing, and I'm always looking for the next thing and whats cool. I always felt that music is a recycling of everything old. Hip Hop is almost a reincarnation of 20's dance music. I'm always wondering what people are doing next, whats the next best thing?

3. I know it must be a little like choosing between your children, but can you let us in on some of the acts you’re most excited to see this year?

Definitely Pretty Lights, I've always enjoyed him so I'm excited to see his set. I also always look forward to my husband's set Science of Defiance, that's always a big moment for me. But so many of our friends are in the DJ crowd like Fort Knox Five, Mat The Alien and more. I can't wait to see the whole crew again, I love it when we're all together. Although I'm always really busy so Pretty Lights and Science of Defiance are probably the only two I'll actually get to see!

4. Most memorable Shambhala moment?

Probably when we put a 6 foot disco ball on the bottom of a hot air balloon and shot a 40 Watt laser at it, that was probably the coolest moment. I wasn't even a musical moment but it was the pinnacle of 'hey I have an idea' and thinking that it may work. Getting the laser and the ball and combining it with the crowd and the mountains, it was a sign that you can do anything that you want. We create magical moments everywhere we go, so that would be the highlight. Also when Adam Freeland played a few years ago, that was a big one for me, the set was so magical with the the stars and setting. We were up on the top of Pagoda and it was such a beautiful moment.

The Disco ball is probably the big one though.

5. If you had to live in one aisle of the supermarket for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Produce... I'm a farm girl and if I had my way I would probably spend my days in a garden. So 'farmer me' says produce.

6. How do you feel about the increase of Dubstep in mainstream culture? You must have noticed a huge increase in fans from when the festival first began?

I wouldn't even say just Dubstep, I would say with electronic music entirely. When we first started none even really knew what Electronic music really was. It's totally revolutionized and changed. I guess that's why I really want to focus on what makes us [Shambhala] special and how to make sure that we retain our flavour, even though the mass media is really grabbing hold of what we do. It has changed a lot and we're constantly thinking about it.

I'm pleased about it because its like once upon a time rock and roll was the devils music and eventually becomes popular and mainstream. I feel like electronic music has been cast aside as marginalized music and is now being embraced by the mainstream. And so in one way its kind of nice to have something be recognized as legitimate music and special. On the other hand it's also a bit worrisome, because it's like taking something that you've built and grown and honed and worked with, and now mass media has got its hands on it--and who knows what it wants to do to it. I know a lot of the artists feel overwhelmed by the amount of attention they're getting now as well--Lorin [Bass Nectar] is a good friend of ours, I've run into him at shows, and he used to just come in the crowd with us and hang out, and he can't do that anymore because now he's a rock star. We pride ourselves on community, so that feels a little bit weird. It's going to be an interesting few years for electronic music I think.

7. For all my readers who are heading to Sham for the first time this year, what are three things they shouldn’t leave home without?

 Sunscreen, a pair of wool socks and a really fun outfit or piece, like a wig or scarf or something. If you go there without a fun costume I think you might feel a little out of place.

8. Are there any ways in which people who can’t attend the festival can keep up with the awesome things going on at the festival? Will you have a live Twitter/Facebook/YouTube feed going on?

No, we're not doing a live feed but we are pretty active on social media so we'll be tweeting and Facebooking throughout the festival. You can always follow me on Twitter too. So no live feeds at the moment but we do have videographers this year so we're looking to put some of those videos together in the fall just to really show people what's happening, BUT we're also thinking about maybe taking the show on the road. Rather than showing a live feed, we have actually been debating about whether to bring the show to you!

9. Would you ever consider hosting Sham in additional locations around the world? How much does the incredible Canadian landscape contribute to the magic?

I really think it's the community that we come from that's really helped bring those flavours to the festival, so I do believe that's really important. When we talk about touring we think of a taste of Shambhala, so it wouldn't be full big festival, but maybe a one night show with the best of? The Canadian scene is funny--I think Canadians have a reputation in the world for being genuine, lovely, creative people, and I think that is a really important part of who we are, and I would think that if we ever toured internationally it would be important to identify what makes us special, and to make sure we held onto that. 

Having said that, there's nothing like the whole camping thing. I think Canadians quite used to going out into the bush and building a fire and being at one with nature, so I don't know how that would work if we went to Thailand or something, but we'll see.

10. If you could choose anyone, dead or alive, from any time in history, who would be your dream Sham headliner?

Personally--and this is really personal--I would love Bjork. I thnk it would be really cool to have a Bjork performance at Shambhala. I know she's not even electronic music but she's really creative. She plays with music and plays with sounds and I just love people who embrace the creative edge and aren't afraid to try something new and go out there and do it. People who have so much love and passion for it [their craft] that they've just gotta go out there and get involved. Yeah. I'd have her!