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Whisp Ampan, owner of the hugely popular Aussie venue Colour Of Whispers is a woman of substance. She is a woman of positive influence and meaning, a woman who is held in high regard by not only the performers who play at her venue but by patrons, hosts and other venue owners within the SL live music industry. To my absolute pleasure Whisp agreed to be interviewed for Droppin The Stream to discuss all things music.
Harlow: Can you tell us how you got involved in the world of SL live music and what made you decide to start your own venue?
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Whisp:Bright Oh ( Performer in SL) had some previous venues that melded Art with Live music. The live music was mainly confined to his band SOAR performing. I was an avid fan and had hosted Bright /SOAR at other venues. In 2011 Bright asked me to managed his third iteration of The Colour Factory. He gave me free reign in who I booked and what I did. I absolutely loved The Colour Factory (I was manager for TCF 3 and TCF4). The venues themselves were completely unique and still would be today. ScarIetti LavaI was the designer and resident artist. Throw in Bright's own creative flair and quirkiness and you get a magical environment that held the unexpected.
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It was one of the first venues in Secondlife to have both Art exhibits and live music. The Vision statement was: THE COLOUR FACTORY:
Where music and art combine, wash over each other, clash, collide, inspire, provoke, soothe and entwine in ways that shouldn't be defined.
Our aim was to establish a community of performers and fans that support and encourage each other. A place that is filled with energy and creativity. TCF is to be a place of experimentation, learning, mentoring collaboration,and imagination!
And that's what we did. I take great pride that we were able to kick start many performers careers and support so many. We were one of the first Venues to do so in a mentoring and encouragement capacity. We allowed for rehearsal spaces, coaching on performances and just impromptu jam times.
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I will forever be grateful to Bright for giving me the opportunity.
Harlow: Who is Whisp Ampan, how did she come to be in SL and what keeps her coming back?
Whisp: Whisp is an Aussie girl, Living in Sydney. I am a music and people lover, although quite the introvert in real life. I love all the creativity in sl, from the arts, to buildings and landscapes and the clothes!!
When I joined there had been some media coverage regarding Sl..both of it's sins and it's creativity..I was tempted by both! I stayed, as I met the most amazing people who have become life-long friends and the music scene is my passion and hobby in life.
Harlow: Colour of Whispers or COW as its more affectionately knows is and extremely popular venue. How long have you been operating and what do you attribute its success to, what is it that you think makes COW the place that it is?
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Whisp: After 5 years managing TCF we decided to close it. It was a really sad day for us, but the memories we have are wonderful. I decided to open my own venue and called it Colour of Whispers as a nod to my Colour Factory roots.
I had always preferred outdoor venues so decided to make it very Australian in theme. My own little Billabong. C.o.W has been running 6.5 years now so all up I have run a venue for 11.5 years.
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I took what I had learned running TCF and supported talented new singers as well popular ones on the grid. My aim was to have a place where the audience was as important as the performer. By this I mean, I wanted a place people felt relaxed and there is interaction and a sense of fun. A welcoming place, A place that you can get to know each other and interact with the performer as well as the crowd. I try to encourage local chat and dialogue with the performer. For performers I believe I am very supportive of them; understanding of RL influences that may impact if they can perform, gratitude that they share their talents, I try my best to get a decent audience for them and pay a decent fee.
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I don't go for gadgetry of greeters, dance pads, event boards and the like. I think they are just distractions and frankly I find having to click away stuff when I land annoying. I have a board up if you want to grab an LM or join the group and will direct folks to it once a set. I like people to feel they can stand or sit wherever they want rather than set spaces and try to provide different levels and spaces to do that. I try and be a personal as I can be and will send a new visitor a IM to welcome them.
Harlow: Here's one that I always struggle with, TIPPING. As a blogger it can cost me a lot of lindens if I go to 3 or 4 shows a day, or a week. Tipping the performer, the venue and the host it all adds up but they are all important. What ratio do you think or in what order do you think people should tip. I personally struggle in tipping a performer a large amount if they are already being paid to perform as opposed to someone who is playing for tips.
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Whisp: Yea, I have the same struggle Harlow!!!! I wish I could be more generous than I am, but man it adds up! For me the relationship between the venue and performers is symbiotic. As one of my profile picks states" Both need each other, both as important as the other. If you tip the performer, you should tip the venue. I encourage you to always show your appreciation by tipping the venue you visit. Even if you can only afford $L5, every little bit helps. If you do not have any Linden's to give, throw a TP and introduce a friend to the live music scene. Let's unite and help our venues and live music survive and thrive.
I just want to make a point here, that I believe there are three types of venues not two. Most think of fee paying and tip only. Tip only implies the venue pays an insignificant amount to the performer. While for me the third category are those venues who give a very generous payment (I am suggesting L1000 +).
Hosts are a tricky one for me, as it actually depends on what they do. Are they just greeters? Do they spam groups and advertise on Face book? Do they post in the events? Do they organise replacements for cancellations? My tip for hosts will be based on what I know they do and how well they do it! I would give equal tips to the venue and performer and a lesser tip to the host.
"My aim was to have a place where the audience was as important as the performer."
Harlow; You have been in the SL music industry for many years and have no doubt seen many performers come and go. Is there anyone in particular that over the years has clearly stood out from others, and if so what has made THAT performer special to you?
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Whisp: Gosh, that is sooooooo hard to nominate one! The talent on the grid is simply amazing. I even hesitate to name only a couple, because I will be writing to you and saying...Harlow...can you add this one!!
Harlow: Do you think there are egos in the SL music industry, be it performers or venue owners?
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Whisp: There are egos everywhere in life!! I don't do well with arrogant people so tend to avoid them. Fortunately, I can say, that the performers I have are just divine!! They appreciate me and are humble and good people.
Harlow: From what I observe owing a venue isnt all fun and games, its more like hard work. What is a day in the life of a venue owner like and what are some of the challenges that you have to face?
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Whisp Luckily I do not get too stressed these days after doing it for so long. Last minute cancellations are always a pain as the available pool of singers in the early morning is so much smaller than at other times. The inability to change events within 2 hours of the scheduled time now is a major PITA!!
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Apart from scheduling, event posting and advertising, venue set up, dances etc...it's about supporting the performers you have professionally and personally. I am not a remote venue owner. I like to get to know my performers and am close friends with them. For me it is also getting to know your audience ( as I do the hosting as well).
Harlow; Griefers seems be making a comeback, disrupting venues and performers and even targeting some performers regularly. What do you make of the mentality of these people and what can a venue owner, performer or patron do to stop this harassment once its started?
Whisp: Griefers have a brain of a 10 year old boy or at worse are sadistic people! The only thing you can do is ban and report. I will not tolerate anyone publicly shaming or abusing someone be it a performer or patron.
Harlow. Music is all about memories. What kind of music do you like? Do you have a favourite band or song that makes you smile and sing out loud every time you hear them or it, or even one that makes you cry ?
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Whisp: It is easier for me to say what I don't like! lol. I am not overly keen on Jazz and Techno stuff. I love Adele, Pink, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay. Sl Music scene has in fact open my ears to many different singers ( sl and rl ones). I credit Jack Dryden to converting me to Country and some British bands! Most who know me know I love to dance so an upbeat song will always grab me, but I am a sucker for ballads too. Hedy Patrucci can often move me to tears (Both of joy and sadness) with her soulful ballads.
"Let's unite and help our venues and live music survive and thrive."
Harlow: There are several Aussie venues in SL with more opening up recently. Most are in the SL AM hours on different days of the week. Do you all support each other or do you find that there is a sense of rivalry amongst venues? Also, you all seem to have a lot of the same performers playing. How hard is it to find new or different performers to what others have playing?
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Whisp: Well not all are "aussie lol" but early am venues. I love the fact that many of the early morning venue owners/managers visit each other's events. It helps build that sense of community and we do reach out to each other. To me it is really important that I support other venues and singers at different venues, afterall, I am not just here for CoW, I am here for the live music!
A sense of rivalry comes about mainly from new comers who do not quite yet understand the community. The available audience is much smaller and so is the pool of performers. This has advantages and disadvantages. Its a wonderful community. friendly and supportive. The disadvantage is, it can only support a limited number of venues, if you do not want the audience to dwindled to 7 or 8 people because it's split. Fortunately, most venues who run at that time recognise this and we work together to balance out. It really does impact when 3 or 4 venues run at the same time. It's so disheartening to see an audience of 5 or 6 for a performer.
To avoid this it takes collaboration from venue owners and the performers too. I know this is a sticky issue for some. Its about staggering the events to one or two venues during the time slots so that the smaller audiences that are around in those hours are spread evenly and help the performer and the venue in being viable. It's unique to those early hours. I have seen venues come and go based on the schedules of events across those hours.
Harlow: Over the years you must have given some performers their first "break" into SL live music. Who are some of the performers that you have had play at COW when they have just started out and how does it make you feel to see them go on to establish themselves in the SL industry?.
Whisp: oooo that could be quite a list... let me try and remember:
Hedy Patrucci
Leeon Fang
Vanissa Bellios
Vinalyn
Ben Barker
Ryon Hancroft
Down Under
JPeabody
David Dawson
Rico Dee
StayAwayJoe
Frank( on his return to SL)
Jack Dryden
Zoolander
Shady
Froezz Moonites(am hours)
Arra
Andy Jung
There's a few more, but they were often performing outside am hours and I grabbed them into the mornings or they had been performing at a venue or two and I grabbed them in their early days Like Holly, Putri, Vanellope, Tillen, Sarita, TrickyLicks, Lexi FreeSpirit, Lisa Brune, Mar Biddle, Mark Seery, Phoenix J, Tiberius, Thera, Saintess, Wolfie Moonshadow, Stickle Back, Mel Cheeky, Pippa, Bubbles, Rebecca Kajirad. I have bound to have forgotten someone!
I absolutely love seeing them succeed!! For most of the performers I have helped there remains a special bond, even if they no longer perform at the venue.
Harlow: In closing what advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own venue?
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Whisp: Firstly....be prepared to spend money not make it!! A live music venue is not profit making and it takes real life cash investment to keep it going.
Secondly, do your research on times and performers. Be considerate of what is already operating and try and find a niche time that will work.
Thirdly, Start by being a host first to see how it all works and that will give you a good background in managing.
Fourthly: Be present..It's a community not a business!
Final Comment. I feel truly blessed that I have and had many wonderful performers wanting to sing at my venue. For me it is such a privilege.
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