It’s been a busy 18 months for Belfast, Ireland singer, songwriter, and guitarist Ciaran Gribbin (aka Joe Echo) since deciding to move on from his band Leya and into a solo career to explore this ‘restless musical imagination’. Ahead of his performance at the One Movement Showcase Music Festival, Joe answers three questions for One Movement Word; we forgot to ask his favourite song, but his verbose responses more than make up for its absence.

What do you hope to gain from the One Movement festival and conference?

This will be my first trip to Australia and I’m really excited at being asked to play at such an important and prestigious festival and conference. I think my main goal for playing the festival is to build relationships within not only the Australian music industry but the fast growing Asian market which I know this conference will reach. Both my management team and I see Australia and New Zealand as a great market for my music.

I believe that Oz has a great network of live gigs so my main goal will be to get a live agent on board with the view to coming back to Oz and possibly New Zealand to promote my debut album next year. In Ireland I’ve supported many Australian artists including Powderfinger, Pete Murray, Eskimo Joe and Gotye so I’ve played to many Australians before and I know just how up for it they are.

But I’m also looking forward to hopefully meeting and talking to many of the legendary industry figures attending. The list of delegates really is quite amazing.

Which artists’ showcase sets are you most looking forward to watching?

I’m really looking forward to seeing Kate Miller-Heidke. I was given her album recently and its really fresh sounding. I’m a sucker for a good melody and this lady has got bucket loads!

I hear Wagons are a great live band and really fun to watch so I’ll be there in the front row.

It’s such a great line-up and I’m really looking forward to being surprised. I love discovering new bands and singers and that’s what’s great about events like this.

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

I think live music will always be the glue that keeps the fans and the artists together… and now more than ever. Music fans need more from the artist. I’m a fan of many bands and I want my artists to stand up and say something with their music.

Artists always need more help from the industry. We are in a transitional place at the minute in the music world… the Internet has enabled the music fan to gain as much music for free as he or she wants. That’s a good thing in many ways but its also a bad thing. The question is how can we all make a living from our music?

I think the solution to the problems we face lies with the Internet, and educating people that if they want to hear new music coming through then they have to make a contribution to the development of the artist. That can come through supporting new music at the live gigs.

As an artist I’m aware that the DIY method can work and I’m not 100% sure yet exactly which route I’ll take but what I do know is I’m lucky to have is a team of very experienced professionals around me and with hard work I’m confident I’ll be able to keep progressing in this very exciting business of making music while making a few good new friends along the way.

Long may it continue!

Joe Echo plays the Breakthrough Stage at 4.10pm on Sunday, 18th October 2009 (full timetable here). Catch up with him on Facebook, read his tour blog, and watch the short film below to get an idea of Joe’s approach to music.