Feature Interview | Student-Led Halloween Livehouse: Sparking Creativity and Infusing New Musical Vibes into Campus
  • 2023-10-26
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Event Motivation: Student Planning, Infinite Creativity

This year's festivities at SHBS for Halloween night brought about a radical change in the school's traditional celebration, propelling the campus atmosphere to new heights with a remarkably different Livehouse music festival. Student-led, this event was brimming with creativity and endless possibilities.

 

Days before the Halloween celebration, Jack Wu could be seen at the arts square, meticulously measuring and discussing the venue layout with teachers and peers. Having been a part of previous Halloween events, Jack found that the previous music events, while enjoyable, still had potential for improvement. He expressed his thoughts to the responsible teacher, Grace, and voluntarily took charge, aspiring to create a higher-quality and more appealing school event, setting a more positive image for the school.


Jack's vision wasn't just fueled by his love for music; it was also rooted in his accumulated experience from similar events. He understood that some schools hosted large-scale music festivals but lacked student autonomy. He wished for the SHBS livehouse to diverge from professionally organized events, being entirely led by students, displaying a unique youthful spirit.

"I hope to achieve the best outcome with the least expense," Jack stated, expressing his heightened expectations for the school's performance while maintaining careful resource management. He mentioned their experiences during the conceptualization and formation stages, emphasizing the significant involvement of student union members and hip-hop society in the event planning, collaborating to discuss event locations, program content, and more effective ways to engage the audience.


This year's livehouse for Halloween showcased greater diversity in the program, expanding from the previous singular hip-hop style to various musical genres. The recruitment range also extended across the entire school. Through rigorous program selection, they handpicked 21 out of 60 programs, ensuring the festival's quality. " The stage and performances at the livehouse might seem somewhat modest, yet it was a gathering of various talents."

Preparation Stage: Challenges and Innovation Coexist

During the preparation process for the livehouse, the team encountered multiple challenges but managed to overcome each difficulty through innovation and collaboration.

 

"Truthfully, this was quite a challenging task," Jack admitted. During the planning process, their first challenge was that everyone was starting a music festival from scratch for the first time, lacking experience. Nevertheless, they gradually attracted more students to join, solving preparation issues through collective discussions and trial-and-error.


In the face of limited resources, the team devised innovative solutions. They suggested using pyrotechnics to create the desired auditory “punchline” for the music show, adding a unique audiovisual effect to the event. Additionally, in light of inadequate lighting effects, they experimented with using colorful lighting. Despite some difficulties in adjusting the lighting, they successfully created an ambiance for the music festival.

"Our most successful aspect was nurturing the maturity of the team." Jack believed that this year's music festival saw remarkable progress in terms of teamwork and processes. By mobilizing within the clubs, finding like-minded students, and exploring ways to pique student interest, they eventually unified a group of students to collaboratively plan and execute this musical performance.

Future Prospects

Based on this year's successful Halloween Livehouse, Jack proposed an array of expectations and plans for next year's music festival, particularly focusing on venue and program enhancements. Bruce, the Student Union President, proposed an interesting idea: to use ambient lighting in the indoor sports venue to create a genuine livehouse effect. He hopes to achieve the goal of excellent audio reception and a unique stage atmosphere for the music festival.


Regarding the choice between an indoor or outdoor music festival, Jack consulted foreign teachers for their opinions. Some teachers felt an indoor music festival would be better, while others considered an outdoor event more enjoyable. Addressing this, Jack emphasized the critical need for summarizing and integrating experiences to achieve better outcomes in next year's event.

Reflecting on Livehouse's success, Jack also touched on the role of teachers. He believed that the event's success was due to the teachers fully empowering the students, offering suggestions without interfering with student decisions. This collaborative approach has sparked the students' planning capabilities, fostering their independence – qualities that are highly sought after in the future job market. The school plans to continue providing more opportunities for students to independently plan, injecting more resources and support into their creativity and vitality."

访谈 | Jack Wu(G10), Flora

翻译 | Flora

排版 | Jang

配图 | Photography Club