Victoria’s
Kathryn Calder is a veteran of the Canadian music scene both as a solo artist and with the bands Immaculate Machine and The New Pornographers. Kathryn’s unique experience in the the arts community secured her the Artist in Residence with the City of Victoria as well as the Chair of the Victoria Music Advisory Committee.
Recently, Rocktographers’ Tyson Elder reached out to Kathryn Calder to shoot the breeze about the the Victoria Music Strategy Survey and get a little more information on what it’s about.
Victorians have the opportunity to help protect and develop a healthy music industry in Victoria. The survey looks into the challenges, opportunities, and common goals which face music creators, industry leaders, and fans in our city.
The Victoria Music Strategy Survey is open until April 13th, 2020. Have your voice heard by filling out the survey here.
Tyson Elder: Hi Kathryn! It’s a little strange to do an interview over e-mail. I’m sure we would both rather be doing this interview at a local coffee shop, but these are strange times we live in. It’s hard not to talk about the impacts of COVID-19 on the music community. How have you been? Are you doing okay with the social isolating?
Kathryn Calder: Hi! Yes, thank you, we’re fine. We’re working from home on the projects we can, pushing back the schedules of projects that need to wait, and staying in touch with family and friends as much as we can.
TE: You’re not only a musician living in Victoria, but the City of Victoria’s Artist in Residence. How did that opportunity come about?
Kathryn: I found out about the position from the previous Artist in Residence, Luke Ramsey. I know Luke from some design and music video work he helped me with in the past, and I had been following his amazing Artist in Residence projects with the City. It looked like an incredible opportunity, so I applied!
TE: Could you tell me about the Victoria Music Strategy and how you are are involved?
Kathryn: The plan to create a Victoria Music Strategy came out of the Create Victoria Arts and Culture Master Plan which involved extensive community engagement and was adopted by Victoria City Council in 2017. We have a strong music community in Victoria, and the music strategy will take all of the community input we receive — plus additional research — and put together a strategy with recommendations for how Victoria can continue to support and grow the music scene here.
Last year, the City created a Music Advisory Committee made up of a variety of music professionals from our community to advise City Council and staff on the creation of the music strategy. I’m involved because I’m Chair of the Music Advisory Committee.
TE: What is the overall goal of the Victoria Music Strategy Survey?
Kathryn: We’re looking for input from as many people as possible from all areas of the music community. We’re encouraging anyone who works in music but also audience members and music fans to fill out the survey so we can better understand our music scene in Victoria, and what we can improve on as a city to support our music community.
TE: Can you tell me who should be answering the survey? Can anyone take the survey? Should it only be musicians?
Kathryn: We would love to hear from anyone who participates in the music community in Victoria in any way, whether they are music professionals or music lovers. We would love to include all levels of experience and as many perspectives as possible.
TE: You’re also the Chair of the Victoria Music Advisory Committee. How do you see this survey helping to support and protect the local music scene?
Kathryn: The City supports the local music scene in many ways, and I think it’s wonderful that we’re developing a music strategy for Victoria. The purpose of the survey is to gather input from the community to inform the strategy. The data from the survey is important because the more people we have contributing, the more complete the picture will be, which will then lead to more accurate information about what areas of the music scene need to be supported, what is working well, and what could be improved.
TE: When the survey is complete what happens? Will the data be available to the music community?
Kathryn: Yes, the data from the survey will go into a report along with some of the other research Sound Diplomacy has been working on, and the report will be made public.
TE: The building of Victoria’s Music Strategy is a collaboration between the City of Victoria’s Music Advisory Committee, Sound Diplomacy and the Music BC Industry Association. What was the inception of the development of a Music Strategy for Victoria? And how did the collaboration come about?
Kathryn: The plan for a Victoria Music Strategy came out of consultations with the community during the Create Victoria Arts and Culture Master Plan engagement process, and began in 2019 as a partnership between the City’s Music Advisory Committee and the Music BC Industry Association.
Music BC received provincial and federal funding for the Victoria Music Strategy, and Sound Diplomacy was brought in to support and help develop the strategy. Sound Diplomacy is a consulting and research company with experience working on music initiatives like ours for cities around the world, but also has a strong connection to Canada. Sound Diplomacy helped develop Vancouver’s Music Strategy and Dr. Shain Shapiro, the founder and president of Sound Diplomacy, is Canadian.
and, when you do, you’ll be entered to win one of seven prize packages, ranging from concert travel packages to merch to show tickets, all redeemable when the world returns to normal.
