Not content with simply managing Asia’s undisputed Queen Of Pop - and One Movement Music Showcase Festival artist - Tata Young , Myke Brown will participate in the MUSEXPO Asia Pacific aspect of One Movement to impart his knowledge of all things management and mentorship. Andrew McMillen connected with Mr Brown from his home in Thailand for an insight into his scheduled One Movement appearance.

Andrew: Myke, you’re bringing Tata Young to Australia for the first time in October. What are your goals for her appearance at the One Movement for Music showcase festival?

Myke [pictured left]: I think our goals with these kinds of events are always the same. That is, to bring her music from the East to the West, and put her on a platform that is multinational. I think our expectation is no more than that. We continue to try to be on international platforms that have artists from around the world, and we’re extremely excited about being in Perth, and being part of One Movement. Tata is very honored to be part of that, but I think the only message we’re trying to bring is we’re going to bring what we normally do and hopefully we’re able to share that with everyone.

In your mind, what makes a good artist or band manager? What skills and personality traits are required to succeed in that kind of role?

I think the most primary thing goes back to the very basics, an extreme amount of understanding and patience. In the States, when I traveled around different acts, there was a real simple, common thread there. You came from the same culture and you understood, on the language basis, what was going on. Sure, there was miscommunication from time to time, but basically, you were on the same page.

In Asia, you hop over one country and you’re in a completely different language. When you sit in a room, doing a show somewhere, if you’re a band manager you have to be able to communicate on not only language levels but cultural levels. Sometimes, you just can’t go to the boss. You’re looked down at; you’re circumventing that person and giving them no respect. All of these rules have to be understood. To understand these rules, you do have to be extremely patient to be an artist in this realm, more so than in the States or parts of Europe; you really have to approach things very carefully and very patiently. I think, for both parties, that’s probably very important.

One thing that is probably on top of that is respect for the culture, how they do things, and then trying to have the patience and understanding to go along with it. It’s just a monumental task for a lot of people. For those who understand, they do move slowly and they don’t bark out orders. They move through it like water.

Tata [pictured below right] is one of the biggest names in the Asian music market but she’s not established in Australia. How do you go about planning for when you bring unfamiliar acts to a country like Australia?

Bringing any new act into any new market is always tough. Australia will also be a challenge. We feel we’re very well prepared. We do plan on releasing in Australia this year and it will probably sometime after the One Movement festival. Actually, we have the wheels in motion currently. I think this will be a bit of a taste for the Australian audience to see Tata, a sneak-peek preview. That’s how we’re handling the market right now. We’ll have Tata come in and we’ll hope for the best.

I’m supposing you’ve been to a lot of music conferences during your career. As a delegate, what do you aim to gain from these kinds of events?

I don’t really feel like I go there to gain. On this particular one, One Movement, I don’t see that I can shed light on everything, but maybe just a hint of light on the way Asians think and the way westerners can do business in Asia. Sure, everyone goes to the conferences to gain some knowledge.

I always like going there because first of all, it’s always fun to do the Asian thing, which is meet people, then meet them again, and over a period of years they become your friend, and at some point maybe we can do business together. It’s the element of trust that we all strive for, and most westerners will try to strive for that through the hardships or the test of doing business together. Asians will do it the other way; they’ll trust first and then do business. I guess what I would get out of conferences is I hope that whatever I can contribute to it can help at least one person, which would be wonderful. I would hope to gain some friends, and be able to shed a little light.

One Movement’s tagline is “Artist, Industry, Fan United.” What’s the one thing you think needs to change in order to unite the music industry with its artists and fans?

To me, it looks like there should be more glue than that. That’s my initial impression. I think one of the key things is cultural understanding. From my perspective, from my seat, that’s what I really would like to see more of. Having something like One Movement put together internationally, sometimes people only think about Western bases. I see understanding everyone’s cultural differences as the glue to answering that question. I think once that’s understood, I believe that everything else will come together. Without that glue of cultural understanding, I think the music industry will just keep going on with what it’s doing.