Talking Taiwan

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Did you know that there’s an annual flower show in New York featuring Taiwanese culture and orchids from Taiwan? Actually, I didn’t know this until one of my listeners reached out to me and told me about the upcoming Taiwan: A World of Orchids exhibit at the Queens Botanical Garden. Since I’m based in New York, I feel it’s my obligation to promote and inform people about all of the Taiwan-related events going on in New York. So I spoke with Pauline Huang, Chairwoman of the Queens Botanical Garden’s Board of Directors, who personally spearheaded the Taiwan orchid exhibit, which is now in it’s fourth year. I was really impressed by Pauline’s personal commitment to the Queens Botanical Garden and her follow through to make the first Taiwan: A World of Orchids exhibit happen back in 2014. Talk about “putting your money where your mouth is.” The Taiwan: A World of Orchids exhibit is coming up August 18-20th at the Queens Botanical Garden (43-50 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355). Listen to this episode to learn more about the music, art and culture of Taiwan that you’ll experience at Taiwan: A World of Orchids.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: How Pauline not only spearheaded, but gave her personal assurance to make the first Taiwan: A World of Orchids exhibit happen in only 2 months time The music and art you’ll experience at the Taiwan: A World of Orchids exhibit Why Pauline believes it’s so important to give back to your community How Taiwan is one of the top three countries that exports orchids What sets Taiwan apart from other orchid producing countries How you can buy a Taiwan orchid to take home for yourself   Related Links: Qeens Botanical Garden Website: https://queensbotanical.org/orchids/ Queens Botanical Garden Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/queensbotanical/    

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Last year was the first year that there was a Taiwanese Waves concert at the Central Park Summerstage and it was smashing success! Thousands of people were introduced to Taiwanese musicians Anpu (also known as Deserts Xuan), Wonfu, and Sunset Rollercoaster. This year Taiwanese Waves has been invited back to Summerstage. Recently, I sat down to talk with Mia Min Yen, the founder and organizer of Taiwanese Waves. Mia spoke with me about the origins of her love of live music, how she was finally able to bring Taiwanese Waves to Summerstage, how the musicians featured this year (Fire Ex, Dadao Huang & Berry j, and Sangpuy) are representative of the cultural diversity of Taiwan, and her vision for the future of Taiwanese Waves. Taiwanese Waves is not only a great showcase for Taiwanese musicians, but also the only Summerstage concert series lineup to feature Asian musicians. Taiwanese Waves will be at the Summerstage on July 29th from 6:00-10:00 pm at the Rumsey Playfield in New York’s Central Park. To learn more about Taiwanese Waves, visit: www.TaiwaneseWaves.com Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: Where the name Taiwanese Waves comes from How Mia was finally able to bring Taiwanese Waves to Central Park’s Summerstage Where Mia’s interest in live music and bands came from How she curates the Taiwanese Waves concert series A preview of some of the musicians who will be performing at this year’s Taiwanese Waves What’s Mia’s future vision for Taiwanese Waves Mia’s other love of photography and where you can find on her Instagram Related Links: Taiwanese Waves website: www.TaiwaneseWaves.com Taiwanese Waves Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/taiwanesewaves/ Support Taiwanese Waves by purchasing a commemorative, limited edition Taiwanese Waves key ring here: https://goo.gl/8R2vPm YouTube clips of each of the musical artists that will be performing at Taiwanese Waves: Summerstage website: http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage/ Mia Min Yen on Instagram: www.instagram.com/miaminyenphotos      

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: I first learned about Treya, an up-and-coming musician with an amazing voice about two years ago, when she was profiled on TaiwaneseAmerican.org. From then on she was definitely on my radar to have as a guest on the Talking Taiwan, but somehow the timing was just not right for it. As I waited for the stars to align, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing her perform live several times. Now it’s time for me to have her on Talking Taiwan as a guest, and the timing couldn’t be better as Treya is in the midst of a Pledge Music campaign to raise funds for her first album. She’s running a sort of crowdfunding campaign, which I happen to know a thing or two about. So I am really thrilled to be able support her at this time, and to let others know about her huge talent. On top of all this I have the distinct honor of being the first on record to have done an audio interview with her! Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: Treya’s thoughts on Taiwan and being Taiwanese and American Her musical inspirations and influences Treya’s music writing process and her sources of inspiration How she deals with writer’s block Working on her first album and her Pledge Music Campaign and what she has planned for it How you can support Treya’s Pledge Music Campaign and what she is offering at different contribution levels Her thoughts on musicians independently producing their own music   Related Links: To learn more about Treya, visit her website: http://www.treyamakesmusic.com/ To support Treya’s Pledge Music campaign visit: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/treya Treya on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/treyamakesmusic/ Hello Taiwan: http://www.hellotaiwan.us/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: It’s that time of year again here in New York City. Spring is upon us, and as the weather warms up you’ll find street fairs popping up all around the city. I’ve already run into a couple of them. If you have ever been in the city at this time of year, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to miss it when you come across blocks and blocks of a wide New York City avenue that are closed off to traffic, and bustling with pedestrians instead. You’ll smell the aroma of mouthwatering foods wafting in the air, and see a variety of vendors hawking their wares. Imagine a massive flea market and a block party all rolled into one. In the summer New York City is known for its free, open air, outdoor, public events with all sorts of cultural offerings ranging from classical music performances in Central Park to screenings of blockbuster movies at one of the Hudson River Park piers. Most notable for the Talking Taiwan podcast and our listeners, is the Passport to Taiwan, an outdoor festival dedicated to celebrating everything related to Taiwan. The festival takes place every May in Union Square Park and is a chance for the public to experience Taiwanese culture. There are arts and crafts demonstrations, community organizations represented, the ever-popular Taiwanese food stalls, and live music performances. Passport to Taiwan has been going on for 14 years and last year an estimated 10, 000 people were in attendance. The Hello Taiwan concert series was born out of the Passport to Taiwan and brings musical artists from Taiwan to New York to perform at the festival. This year’s Hello Taiwan musical artists are truly representative the ethnic diversity of Taiwan. Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ysanne Spevack, the producer of this year’s Hello Taiwan Tour. Ysanne herself is an accomplished musician who works with up-and-coming musical artists. I was really impressed with how she has embraced Taiwan and the Taiwanese music industry, which she compared to the U.K.’s. That’s high praise indeed! This year’s Hello Taiwan Tour runs May 24-29. Learn more about Hello Taiwan in this episode of the Talking Taiwan podcast.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: What is the Passport to Taiwan The origins of Hello Taiwan and the Hello Taiwan tour The musical artists who will be performing at Hello Taiwan: Gina Can, Sean Huang, and Biung Taiwan’s music industry and how it compares to the U.K.’s Hello Taiwan tour dates Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan’s equivalent of the Grammys Ysanne’s advice for aspiring musicians   Related Links: Hello Taiwan Website Link: www.hellotaiwan.us/ Hello Taiwan Facebook Page Link: www.facebook.com/HelloTaiwanRocks// Music videos featuring musicians performing in the 2017 Hello Taiwan Tour: Sean Huang (singing to a woman dressed in a cockroach costume), Gina Can and Biung: Link: http://www.hellotaiwan.us/2017.html Treya's Pledge Music Campaign is now LIVE http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/treya   To purchase tickets Link to purchase tickets to the May 27th Hello Taiwan concert at Joe’s Pub featuring Sean Huang, Gina Can, Biung and Treya https://www.joespub.com/Tickets/Calendar/PlayDetailsCollection/Joes-Pub/2017/H/Hello-Taiwan/   Talking Taiwan Episode 45 About the 13th Annual Passport to Taiwan Passport to Taiwan website Learn about Taiwan in New York Link: www.p2tw.org/ Ysanne’s personal website http://www.helloysanne.com Ysanne’s company website for Cherry Plum Media http://cherryplum.media

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: When Gus, the producer of Talking Taiwan suggested that I do an interview with David Frazier, co-founder and Festival Director of the Urban Nomad Film Festival, which first started in Taipei in 2002, I was intrigued. And after speaking with David about Urban Nomad, I found myself wishing that I'd be in Taipei at the time of the festival! We talked about how the Urban Nomad Film Festival is more than just a film festival. In the past it has featured poetry readings, live bands, exhibits, parties, and a host of other interactive events. At a glance, the Urban Nomad is part film festival, part music festival. But it is more than that. The goal of the festival's organizers has been to create a community-oriented event. David explained that the festival was inspired by punk rock’s DIY ethic, and described the Urban Nomad Film Festival as participatory event and “a live art project.” Learn where the name of the festival “Urban Nomad” came from, the fascinating evolution of the festival and what it takes to run a festival like this. The Urban Nomad Film Festival is definitely something worth checking out if you’re in Taipei in the spring. To learn more, visit their website: www.urbannomad.tw Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: How the festival has evolved since it first started in 2002 Where the name of the festival “Urban Nomad” came from What the Urban Nomad Film Festival is What it takes to run a festival like the Urban Nomad Film Festival The people and supporters of the festival Highlights from past Urban Nomad Film Festivals The New York connection to the Urban Nomad Film Festival The types of films that premier at the Urban Nomad Film Festival   Related Links: www.urbannomad.tw (Urban Nomad Film Festival website) www.facebook.com/UrbanNomad.tw (Urban Nomad Film Festival Facebook page)

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: I love talking to entrepreneurs and small business owners. It’s always interesting to learn how they started and have continued to build their businesses. For this episode I had the pleasure of speaking to Michael Forncrook about how he started a craft beer business in Taiwan. We spoke at great length, and what a lot of listeners don’t know is that we do most our podcasts long distance, via Skype. For this interview I was in New York, and Michael was in central Taiwan. It might not come as a surprise that we’ve the occasional technical glitch, but it happened a record number of times during my interview with Michael. We actually had to hang up and reconnect four times! So I want to thank Michael for sticking it out with me and for supporting Talking Taiwan. We had such a fascinating conversation about a range of topics including what type of beer is healthier, the steps to brew beer at home, gypsy brewers, and advice for expats wanting to start a business in Taiwan.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: How and why PB Craft hosts beer brewing classes Beer brewing in Taiwan and Asia Michael’s company PB Craft The B2B agricultural food marketplace, that Michael is developing. He describes it as the Aliba or B2B Amazon for food products and beverages Can beer be considered healthy and what kind of beer is healthier? The benefits of beer spas How to brew beer at home Unique craft beer flavors What is a gypsy brewer? The craft beer industry in Taiwan and Asia. The challenges of running a business with your spouse Advice for expats interested in starting a business in Taiwan Entrepreneurship in Taiwan   Beer Brewing Steps:   Related Links: http://www.pbcraft.com (B2B beer and beverage consulting and materials supplier) http://www.diybeersupply.com.tw (B2B online store) http://AgriGoGo.com (new BB Agriculture Marketplace) 金鼎軒自釀啤酒 DIY Beer Supply Home Brew Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/%E9%87%91%E9%BC%8E%E8%BB%92%E8%87%AA%E9%87%80%E5%95%A4%E9%85%92-DIY-Beer-Supply-Home-Brew-483634355030591/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Ed Yen is a Taiwanese music producer, music executive, entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, audio engineer, theater designer, film score, commercial composer, A&R manager and vocal coach. He is the Executive Producer of Taiwan Music Express and CEO Of GCA.

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:   For this episode of Talking Taiwan, I stopped by the CMJ 2014 Taiwan Music Express press conference to interview Dwagie (大支), one of the hip hop artists who will be performing at the CMJ Music Taiwan Night Showcase in October. Dwagie is known for writing about social issues and most notably has collaborated with the Dalai Lama.   Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   Where Dwagie’s name comes from and what it means Dwagie’s early musical influences How Dwagie grew up listening to the music of Nas How Dwagie will be collaborating with Nas How Dwagie has met and worked with the Dalai Lama Many of Dwagie’s songs are about social issues like Facebook and the Sunflower Movement Why Dwagie writes songs about social issues Dwagie has written songs about stray animals and is a vegetarian Dwagie’s experience and involvement with the Wild Strawberries Movement and Sunflower Movement How the Sunflower Movement has impacted Taiwan’s society Who Dwagie will be collaborating with next Dwagie’s advice to aspiring musicians   Related Links: To view all related links for this article, click link below: https://talkingtaiwan.com/tt050-dwagie/  

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Around the time of the Sunflower Movement in 2014, which was a protest in response to Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou attempting to force passage of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (a trade pact between Taiwan and China), the Taiwan Voice Facebook page quickly became a major source of news about the movement. Students and activists occupied Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan (Taiwan’s parliament) from March 18-April 10, 2014. Sophie Ping-Ya Hsu spoke about how the Taiwan Voice Facebook page got started, her involvement in it and its impact.     Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode: ·       How the Taiwan Voice Facebook page got started ·       How Taiwan Voice started in part to support the students who occupied the Legislative Yuan on March 18, 2014 ·       Sophie’s background and connection to Taiwan ·       How Sophie got involved in the Taiwan Voice and met the others in the group ·       How the Taiwan Voice Facebook page was getting a thousand likes per day ·       Sophie’s contribution to running the Taiwan Voice Facebook page was as an editor, she scanned through Chinese-language social media posts for information and news ideas, to coordinate with English translators and to post to the Taiwan Voice Facebook page ·       Sophie recruited people to help run the Taiwan Voice Facebook page ·       The core group that started Taiwan Voice Facebook were 10-15 individuals ·       Initially news and information related to social justice issues were posted to the Facebook page without any filtering ·       How Taiwan Voice made an impact in creating awareness about Taiwan over social media ·       How Taiwan Voice helped to gather momentum from abroad for the Sunflower Movement ·       How Taiwan Voice was a quick source of news about Taiwan   Related Links:   Taiwan Voice Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanVoice   Sunflower Movement: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Student_Movement   Legislative Yuan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Yuan   Ma Ying-jeou: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Ying-jeou

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin: Eric Tsai and Jenny Wang on Outreach for Taiwan talk to host Felicia Lin about Outreach for Taiwan.