Tonight I was lucky enough to head on down to the AWE, and catch on of the live music performances happening throughout the exhibition. Phemie Alcott is a real life singer/songwriter who has been entertaining audiences in SL for some time now, and armed only with her guitar was keeping the audience enthralled with her soulful music and lyrics. Phemie is very influenced by other female artists like PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, and Joni Michell, and very much wears her influences on her sleeve, including performing a cover of Amos' song "Winter" in her set. Also, since the event was at the Writer's Exhibition, she also performed a song where she had taken a poem by an sl poet, and then put it to music, much to the delight of the crowd. Once she had finished entertaining the throng in attendance, I managed to grab her to have a quick chat about what it's like to be a performer in SL:



Voodoo Buwan: So, what inspired you to start performing your music in SL?
Phemie Alcott: Well, when I first signed up I had noooo idea what this place was about and then someone told me to check out a show so I did and was fascinated by it. I watched shows for like 4 or 5 months alone just watching and listening and then realized that I could do this myself cuz I have been singing since high school..
Voodoo Buwan: Have there been many challenges getting yourself set up and established inworld?
Phemie Alcott: Hahaha…yes…I got a six-channel mixer and figured everything out myself and read Jaycatt's article on streaming which was very useful. I'll never forget the first time I tried to stream…laughing…but once I got it going it was fine…except getting a good balance sonically.
Voodoo Buwan: And have the gigs been easy to come by, once you got the technical stuff out the way?
Phemie Alcott: at first I just blanket IM'd venue owners...some were really nice and gave me a chance right away and others were not so responsive but mainly I've achieved my gigs through word of mouth and just being persistent.
Voodoo Buwan: You mentioned that you have been singing since high school. Do you perform in rl?
Phemie Alcott: I sang for four years in a very serious rock band in the nineties and did pretty well and then quit for a myriad or reasons and then stopped writing & singing for about 7 years and SL has inspired me to start again. I do not have a RL band now..just my career in SL.
Voodoo Buwan: So, apart from the fact there there are computers between you and your rl audience, what kind of differences are there between performing rl and in sl?
Phemie Alcott: that's a great question. You kind of have to rely on chat a bit to feel if there's energy in a crowd as opposed to being in a live room. You have to close your eyes and just believe that people are interested in listening...but the really cool thing is that there are some very intimate moments I've experienced performing in SL that I don't believe you could have in a live room. People really tell you what they think while you're singing which is a unique experience and very cool. You can feel if a crowd is into you or not…
Voodoo Buwan: So, what advice would you give to any other budding musicians thinking about making the leap into performing in SL?
Phemie Alcott: You have to practice and work at it just as much as in RL. I don't like it when I go to a show and the artist is unprepared, unpractised and just sloppy. I would like SL to have a reputation for good quality performers and there really are a ton of them to be had. I think learning a wide range of songs is good too. Stick to your style and don't try to be anyone else. And DON'T get a big head...I hate it when people get cocky just cuz they are getting attention or feel like they are some SL star...grrr...respect the music...that's what it's about.

Tomorrow marks the start of the Autumn Writers' Exhibition (AWE), a fortnight long event organised by a group called Written Word, centred around the fantastic Cookie sim (Click here to visit). Throughout the festival, which has been put together to spotlight writing in all it’s forms, by the many talented residents of SL, there will be events ranging from explosive fireworks displays opening and closing the event, magic shows, writers performances, music acts, lectures, plays, and even book launches (including one being released by some bloke called Voodoo Buwan, who’s launching a collection of his inworld interviews).

To try and find out more about how this whole thing came into being, I managed to corner the organisers, Jilly Kidd and Hastings Bournemouth, who have put together this non-profit organisation and literary festival, to find out the inspiration behind this mammoth undertaking, and get a little peek behind the scenes at the organisational level of this landmark event.

Voodoo: How did Written Word @ Cookie come about?
Jilly Kidd: Well, when Thinkerer Melville started organising Cookie, he wanted to create a parcel for writers. He asked me to organise it and I asked my good friend Hastings to join me as a partner. He did the build, all the tents, stages and dance floors, and i started getting the writing community together. That has been my dream since I came on to SL in January. i asked INKsters to join in too as they're the biggest writing group and I gave them free space where they've built a beach club for events and socialising. Thinkerer provides it for free and so do we.
Voodoo: So, very much a community spirited collaberation?
Jilly Kidd: Yes. We really work as a team on Cookie

Voodoo: The Autumn Writer's Exhibition is your first big event.... what sort of response have you had?
Jilly Kidd: The artist spaces filled in a few days. We were amazed
Hastings Bournemouth: There would have been more people, if we'd had the space. It was very popular... We've squeezed in a few more people where we can... but it ended up being a lot bigger than we'd originally planned
Voodoo: So, this really seems to be something people have been waiting for? Why do you think it took so long for someone to do this?
Jilly Kidd: One reason, I suppose, is that all of this takes so much time, so not many people would want to do it. I've just really loved it all
Hastings Bournemouth: It was an interesting challenge! And I liked the idea of getting a lot of writers together.
Jilly Kidd: When i came on to SL I looked for a writing community but it was all divided into separate writing groups. I loved this one - the Blue Angel open mic. I really wanted to get the writing community together on a larger scale and connect the groups

Voodoo: Which particular events at the festival are you personally most looking forward to?
Hastings Bournemouth: Me? Well the one I'm doing probably, which is the inaugural writers' circle! It’s happening on Wednesday I think, and is a place for people to gather and share their writing. We’re centring it on fiction but could be whatever people bring along.
Voodoo: And what are you looking forward to Jilly?
Jilly Kidd: i'm really looking forward to the Meet the Author show. The author is Wayne Hoffman talking about his novel Hard, which is about gay life in NY in the 1990s. I'm also really looking forward to the original singer songwriters. Thumper Boucher is fantastic and Djai Skjellerup.
Voodoo: Sounds like there's a wide variety of stuff to look forward to
Jilly Kidd: Most people are looking forward to the fireworks and we have fundraising for Amnesty International. There will be fundraising during the Media Alliance event as they introduced the Amnesty speaker on human rights, Jim Roberts, plus the magician Tuna Oddfellow will be donating all tips from his show to the cause. We will also keep supporting Amnesty International after the event

Voodoo: So... I guess the only other question is what's next for you guys?
Jilly Kidd: Well I want to take the exhibition to other places too and give writers more chance to share and display their work for free. Johnny Austin has said we can have an exhibition at the Joysco Convention Center, so people can see writing can be shared and performed in different ways. That will be called the Writers on Tour - WOT. On Cookie we have a few plans. I want to encourage hobbyists but also help others get to performance and publication stage. We have videos being made and contests monthly, L$5,000 for fiction in November and the same for a one act play in December, and the sim gives writers the chance to perform and film that writing. We'll have workshops for fiction and plays, the poetry reading on Mondays, Meet the Author show on Sundays, and I'm encouraging translation and writers in languages other than English. Plus just having fun and meeting up.
Hastings Bournemouth: When the exhibition is over, we'll be thinking of what to build too - the tents and huts are temporary, for the exhibition. We want to make it interesting and unusual, the sort of space that people will want to visit, and will encourage all these writers to keep coming back.

Voodoo: Well... best of luck with the exhibition, and all your future projects

What's your Achilles heel in SL? You know the kind; the place you ALWAYS go either to hang out or to spend money? One of mine is DE Designs. A wonderfully, beautifully different clothing shop in SL. With a real sense for fantasy, gothic 3D designs DE catches my attention each and every-time.

DE is approaching its 3rd birthday (I know this from the fan group!). With a new outfit planned for the birthday (previews on the blog).

I had the privilege of speaking to DoC Eldritch the owner and sole DE artist.

Trin - DE Designs is approaching its 3rd birthday, can you tell our readers the highs and lows of the last 3 years?
DoC - The high for me is what I have learned personally as far as creating these designs. Taking the 2-D aspect of clothes in SL and making them look as 3-D as possible. This has also allowed me to get into doing more art work. Something I had never done before. When I get im’s from someone saying how much they enjoy and outfit, or how they love a background, that’s my high. Lows, hmmm, I try my best not to get down about things. There are going to be those days when SL isn’t running right, something happens and you get dozens of im’s, someone “sets” you off so to speak or everything just piles up at once and I have to step away. You’re going to have those days in any business be it SL or RL. You learn how to deal with situations, take a breath and focus that energy in what you enjoy doing. It’s easier said then done at times.

Trin - What was your inspiration behind DE?
DoC - For the most part I wanted DE to be somewhere anyone could shop for clothes. Regardless of your appearance and or preferences, I had something to fit. As far as the designs, it really all depends on my frame of mind in a given week to be honest. Some weeks I want to create complex Ladies and Men’s matches, while other weeks I rather do a trendy or formal design.

Trin - Do you do all work on the outfits including promo pictures etc?
Doc - Yes I do. In the last year in particular all my backgrounds have been drawn in Photoshop. A lot of times it may take me just as long to draw the background ad as make the outfit but it is something I enjoy doing now. I have always done all of my ad’s however since day one.

Trin - Roughly how many outfits do you have and what is your favorite style of clothes for designing?
DoC - Its over 1000 I know. I’m not really sure on an exact number however. At this time I enjoy doing the Fantasy style the most.

Trin - Do you have any fashion experience in RL?
DoC - None at all, most of my items lean towards an art, fantasy and or gothic old world look however.

Trin - What does the next 3 years hold for DE Designs do you think?
DoC - Hard to say, I take things day by day. I have expanded somewhat into other things outside of SL but I won’t to the point where it affects me creating for SL. Hopefully there will be more options within SL to expand creations, such as in the last few years with Flex and Sculpt options. A couple more clothing layers as well as another face layer would be great.

I personally adore DE Designs and turn into a child at Christmas when I go there. Its never out of my cache! Check it out in world here and the official blog here.