Leading up to the inaugural Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit, we’re running a series of Q+A interviews with the festival’s artists. Check out what two local performers have to say about their sets.
Mark Casson of David Bowie tribute Wham Bam Bowie Band
Mountain Xpress: Do you have anything special planned for your set at the Mill Room?
Mark Casson: As well as performing the Ziggy Stardust album in its entirety and most of the Hunky Dory record, we will be performing “Where Are We Now?,” the first single from Bowie’s new album, The Next Day, released earlier this year. Of course there will be plenty of hairspray and make-up, too!
Since it’s almost Halloween, do you have a favorite scary song? Personally my favorite scary song has to be “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. My favorite scary Bowie song is “Bewley Brothers” from the Hunky Dory album.
What do you think Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie would think of Mountain Oasis? As an innovator of electronic music in the 1970’s (especially on “Low” and “Heroes”) I think Bowie would be impressed that a festival dedicated to this style of music is happening in our mountain town, and I think Ziggy-era Bowie would certainly relate to the creative freedom of expression that the Mountain Oasis festival embodies.
The Wham Bam Bowie Band plays the Mountain Oasis launch party on Thursday, 9:30 p.m. at the Mill Room. More info here.
Kipper Schauer, aka DJ Kipper:
Mountain Xpress: How do you plan a four-hour late-night DJ set for people who have already been partying all night?
Kipper Schauer: It’s a very interesting conundrum. You have to be intriguing enough to get people excited, but you can’t come out swinging with intense, in-your-face, high-energy tracks. But you definitely have to build up to that apex or otherwise people’s energy level will drop off. My hope is to have a set that escalates throughout the night until we come to a frenzy, and then we begin to discretely descend into a beautiful late night lullaby, or a preamble to the dawn.
Since it’s almost Halloween, do you have a favorite scary song? I remember a lot of music videos that scared me when I was a kid, but music has never been something especially scary. If we’re talking about music that gives you chills, music that is scary-good, Kavinsky’s new track, “Odd Look ft. the Weeknd” and its remix by A-Trak are both scary-good songs, especially if you listen to them back to back. It’s like jumping into a cold shower after a hot sauna.
Do you think the local lineup does a good job of representing Asheville’s music scene? I’m a big fan of the artists on the local lineup. There are a few names I wish had made it on to that lineup, but I hope that in future years Mountain Oasis will incorporate more local acts into the festival in order to bring focus to the thriving music scene we have in Asheville.
DJ Kipper performs on Friday, midnight-4 a.m. at The Mill Room. More info here.
Photo from The Asheville Post
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