WOW Musical Director talks to the CoffeeBar Kid

WOW 2018 - Photo by Tim Gruar

The CoffeeBar Kid catches up with Kiwi music legend Paul McLaney who is returning for a second year as Music Director for World of WearableArt. McLaney’s career has spanned acoustic music as a solo artist, rock and pop with Gramsci and ambient electronica The Impending Adorations. He is the Director of Music for the Pop-up Globe. We first talked to McLaney when he was MD during the World of Wearable Art in 2018 Once again he'll bring together a medley of talented Kiwi musicians spanning genres from drum and bass and electronica to symphony, jazz and blues to create music for each Section of the Show.

Note: Music in this interview was found, sampled and mixed by Tim Gruar and not from WOW 2019.

WOW 2018 - Photo by Tim Gruar

THE COMPETITION
World of WearableArt (WOW) combines an international wearable art competition with a spectacular stage show.  For over 30 years New Zealand’s single largest theatrical production attracts entries by designers from all around the world working at the cutting edge of fashion, art, design, costume and theatre, alongside students and first-time entrants.

THE AWARDS SHOW
For three weeks every year, World of WearableArt showcases the best of these creations in a spectacular show that takes over New Zealand’s vibrant capital city of Wellington in an explosion of creativity.

THE EXHIBITIONS
The National WOW Museum in Nelson, New Zealand, houses a collection of the most extraordinary garments selected from World of WearableArt’s past season and currently houses the 2018 World of WearableArt Exhibition, with over 60 finalist garments on display.

WOW 2018 - Photo by Tim Gruar

The World of WearableArt Awards Show is divided into six Sections:
three recurrent Sections, and three specific to 2019.

AOTEAROA has its own deep sense of place. This Section draws on that to celebrate
who we are as people and what makes us proud. From our rich cultures to our landscapes,
from our independence to our inventions, designers show us New Zealand and New
Zealanders as they see us.

OPEN is a world with no thematic boundaries, designers have complete freedom to
explore and create their own design. The only limit is their imagination.
AVANT-GARDE is a world that is experimental, radical and unorthodox; a rebellion
against the norm.  Daring to defy the boundaries of fashion, designers create work that is
cutting-edge, rejecting the ordinary and nurturing originality.

MYTHOLOGY is about other worlds and dimensions; fantastical stories of fearsome
monsters and creatures, gods and goddesses, demigods and supernatural humans.
Designers gather their inspiration from a vast treasure trove of tales. Dark and mysterious;
exuberant and outlandish, ethereal and dreamy.

TRANSFORM Designers were challenged to create a work that changes in form,
nature and appearance. To play and innovate with different mechanisms to reveal
unexpected aspects of their garment. The transformation can be playful and humorous,
striking or startling.

WHITE represents a spectrum of emotions, white can be associated with peace, light,
love, perfection, purity and spirituality. In some parts of the world, white can also
represent death and mourning; in others it is associated with angels, good health and
time. Inspiration may be found in sheer simplicity, sculptural boldness, intricate detail or
experimenting with layers, light and shadow, proportion or scale.

WOW 2018 - Interview with Paul McLaney (Musical Director for WOW 2018)

This year's WOW show has been musically directed by Paul McLaney. He talks to Tim Gruar (AKA The CoffeeBar Kid) about the process of making music for one of the most iconic events in the arts calendar.

He tells Tim that the music is a little different this year as each section will feature the talents of an individual New Zealand composer covering a wide range of genres. His role is to facilitate, steer and direct those compositions into the body of a consolidated show. In a recording and performance career spanning 20 years, Paul’s music offerings have spanned the acoustic music of his solo career, the rock and pop of Gramsci, and the ambient electronica of The Impending Adorations. “The WOW Awards Show lives outside a strict narrative arc, and to my mind that suggests a sort of dream state logic where multiple aesthetics and suggestions are made. I believe that’s a huge part of its success – it really is like a dream from which you don’t want to wake up.” - Paul McLaney In a recording and performance career spanning 20 years, Paul McLaney’s music offerings have spanned the acoustic music of his solo career, the rock and pop of Gramsci, and the ambient electronica of The Impending Adorations. Added to this is his ever-expanding body of work for the theatre. There is a common thread: “I believe that the essential ingredient for a piece of music to work is empathy. One mind speaking to another, and for there to be a consensus of thought and feeling in that conversation. It follows then that within this there must be a fundamental truth that is communicated honestly.”

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“To take art off the wall and out of the static display. To adorn the body in wildly wonderful ways. To celebrate creativity in a lavish and unique on-stage spectacular that will inspire us all." Dame Suzie Moncrieff, WOW Founder

The original WOW concept was founded and created by Dame Suzie Moncrieff in 1987. The first WOW Awards Show was staged in rural Nelson as a promotion for a rural art gallery for an audience of just 200 people. Dame Suzie, who was a sculptor at the time, had the vision to take art off the wall and exhibit it as a live theatrical production. In its third year, the WOW Awards Show moved into Nelson’s Trafalgar Centre, establishing itself as a must-see annual event, before moving to Wellington in 2005. By the end of the 2018 show season, almost 770,000 people will have seen a WOW Awards Show. After 30 years, Dame Suzie continues to be a driving force behind WOW, acting as a guide and mentor to the wider creative team.

https://www.worldofwearableart.com/