Carlos Seixas is the producer and creative director of the World Music Festival (WMF), of Sines. A musical event that celebrates 17 years of existence with great success with the national and international public and betting always in a great quality programming, which takes place between 23rd and 30th of July, and that shows in its programming this year 47 artists from around the globe.
What is a world music festival?
Carlos Seixas: The term world music, if we think as a concept or gender is false, because it encompasses all genres and not just one. It is an attitude and what does this mean? Especially not to make any distinction between popular music worldwide, of all countries and all of them have the same treatment and the same direction. The term itself appears in the 80s in the city of London, came up with some independent record companies who had the need to find some way to promote the music they produced and in a world where today the music industry is mainly dominated by the anglo-saxon sound level in the North, not the South of Europe, they needed that there was a distinction in the record shops in order to sell something. The world has changed and that what is needed is to set the world music as an attitude and that's what we felt that the Sines festival is, as there are hundreds around the world.
How comes the idea?
CS: The Music World Festival of Sines (WMF) began in 1999 with the idea that music was not a musical genre, so it appeared in his first edition with jazz, rock, ethnic, organic and electronic music, we mixed always all kinds, but there is a fundamental issue that is quality. It is also the diversity that we dare to do it and I'm very happy it is to show that even though I consider world music. The Sines WMF depends on the town hall and when it starts a festival of this nature, it cannot make an event of this kind thinking that success is short-term, ever. Things to be done well for years we have to be persistent, demanding what we showed in the production, the quality of the artists and the public and is a bit like a marathon, not only 100 meters away and we did it all these years.
What has changed in these 17 years a festival of this size?
CS: Not much has changed, I still do the programming, the management of production and the town hall remains the organizer and always have the enthusiasm to make this festival has a huge path and quite long, what has changed? If at the beginning there were many who doubted whether in Sines community, both in his own city council, now all agree that is one of the most important intangible assets of the region. Sines had a picture from the 70s, very negative, an industrial park, oil and pollution and while still there, right now this picture is much more toned down and the people who will face the space see it with other eyes. As I said recently one of the most important assets of Sines right now is the festival because it has a value for the very important local economy and not only for the city, worldwide culture has a huge economic importance, the creative industries it is one of the greatest assets of communities.
And the audience followed this evolution?
CS: Yes, of course. The public at first was people of the region, with some young people from Lisbon, this time, we did a public study by a serious and capable organization, they found out that 12% of people come out for the festival. More, the audience that 17 years ago it was very young is still very young, because currently are the children of these young people who were there, there is a very great enthusiasm either the community or the public, and this will be renewing a way sensitive, most are between 25 and 30 years old, many of them always thrilled with the news and new sounds discoveries. It is true that for 17 years now information has become global, everybody goes to the Internet to see a group of the Solomon Islands in a short video in "youtube", for example. But there is a need to fight a little against the festivals that are authentic fairs, where there is a mass of live music, when they go to these great musical events that exist throughout the world, on a stage is a group who you like to see and then spent half an hour there is another in another stage that also you appreciate and one of the things from the beginning always been against it ever pass concerts while others occurs, why? Because people do not go there to quickly view a band playing, then go see another and do not know the work and what the artist has to give, everything has to be shown, is not a single hit.
In terms of programming you always are looking for different groups and little known is that the brand of the WMF Sines?
CS: Yes, note the festival is successful forever, never thought of this event type autopilot. Most of the artists participating in the Sines WMF are abroad, are from America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, because one of the things that was important to show the Portuguese and have this idea is to show the unknown, the more we know the other worlds more familiar is to us. I have no great concern to show Portuguese music, because it is there and we always have the opportunity to see it. I constantly all year seek for new artists, I travel to several countries, not by a playful matter is hard work and sometimes I feel tired. There are times when I go to the Alentejo and I'm incommunicado for a few days, because I'm tired and need silence.
What goes in search?
CS: Looking for good music and new things. Come to a festival like the "Roots of the Altlantic" is also important, because you have to see how this event this and see some new things, such as "Petit Noir" I have never seen live.
The festival began in space and currently expanded, how many people on average spend by stage?
CS: It started in the castle and this space has a limit of 7000 people, it has been growing and has reached a point that the castle does not harbor more, only throwing down the walls and expanded to the avenue. Another thing that is important to us is that the public who does not have access to the castle, because the last two-three days is sold out, that no one is without seeing the concerts, because outside the walls have from the start a sound system and screens for people who do not arranged ticket, or who cannot afford to see it live. Normally, we estimate that 12 to 15 thousand people a day going to the festival. At first the first three years it was free, then he started with two euros, went to 5, we reached 10 euros and currently is 15 euros, but we are talking about a program that this year, for example, has 47 artists from around the world all continents and and that amount does not pay even half, only the castle.
Besides music there is another type of initiative?
CS: We have parallel initiatives from the beginning we favor the juvenile public, especially children, for example, every day at 11 am, when adults are asleep, because the festival ends at 5 or 6 six in the morning, there is always workshops with the musicians participating in the festival, talk show where with the instruments, therefore, from the childhood to adults have an opportunity to see all this, then we have exhibitions, films, conversations with writers, but this is all part of a framework that I think that is important is the educational service.
