The time is at the end of April, and the location is Taichung Senmienyuan. The luxurious camping site in the mountains has transformed into a music festival with four stages. The next day at noon, Tizzy Bac is rehearsing, and the men and women in the camping area have gradually woken up. Those still with energy are listening to the band while some are cooking on portable stoves, and others sit in a daze waiting for the hangover from the previous night to subside.

I’m neither drunk nor listening to the band; I follow the promoter to tour the venue, introducing eco-friendly utensils and tea vendors. Shortly after the interview, the promoter coordinates on-site photography to take pictures of the interviewee. The last scene is outside the camper with a large empty dining table covered in dust, with just a copy of the "Diamond Sutra" casually left as if it were placed there after being flipped through in the morning; it is just a copy of the "Diamond Sutra" as if fate had arranged it.

This description comes because the interviewee happened to touch on Buddhist philosophy and meditation while discussing the music festival. The staff beside them added, half amused and half exasperated, that the day before, there had been heavy rain, and they had to discuss backup plans. Unexpectedly, the interviewee replied that this is all the universe’s cycle, and the most important thing everyone needed to do was to meditate. "We said, boss, don't be so romantic. It’s best to meditate; the car is stuck inside. Do you think just thinking about it will make it come out? But look, it really is good weather now."

The boss discussing meditation is Shen Guangyuan, who formed the Red Ant Band around the 1990s and founded the friendly dog record company. He is now most known as the organizer of "Spring Wave Music Festival." Since it started in 2006, after 2015, it expanded to mainland China, and the festival returned to Taiwan in 2021, combining luxury camping under the slogan "the most healing music festival," and it has consecutively held mountain, seaside, and even island editions. When you Google his name, it’s hard to miss his marriage story and the debts incurred while making records, yet meeting him now, he shares glowing stories of welcoming international artists and partners with roasted suckling pig the night before.

When asked where the healing theme of the music festival originated, Shen Guangyuan said like a preacher: "Because I close to being a practitioner myself, I know that this destiny means that the pandemic is just the beginning of the entire earth entering a new cycle of fortune. After this pandemic, for the next ten to twenty years, we will actually enter a fiery world. What does this mean? It involves wars, food crises, inflation, climate instability, earthquakes—this is what Buddhism describes as the end of the Dharma age." When asked why he started practicing, he said he was too idealistic, exhausting a family fortune of over a billion and has been running a record company and organizing the Spring Wave for decades, having experienced several difficult moments. "During the hard times, I needed to seek spiritual strength and began to practice; now it has slowly become an indispensable part of my life. I almost meditate every day, and 21 days before organizing the Spring Wave, I started studying the "Diamond Sutra."

Which line in the "Diamond Sutra" is most useful? "Past mind cannot be obtained, present mind cannot be obtained, future mind cannot be obtained. To be honest, during the pandemic, we were unable to hold any events for our company, yet we still had to bear several million in operating expenses each year. After two or three years of this pandemic, I really couldn't hold on anymore. So about the year before last, I made a wish to the Earth Store Bodhisattva, saying that I hope I can continue to carry on the Spring Wave." He drew on Buddhist teachings, making a vow to the Bodhisattva, asserting that what he would do next was not for himself, but to benefit sentient beings and care for the earth. "After making this wish, I was fortunate to find a new source of funding, which is why I am alive to this day."

Regarding the congestion issue last year with attendees entering the Spring Wave, or the reactions caused by the music festival's performance bans, he still has responses and solutions. But now looking back at the healing theme and environmental awareness in the Spring Wave press release, to me, it has become a verse—returning utensils is a merit dedicated to the cause, neither arising nor ceasing. Neither pure nor defiled. Neither increasing nor decreasing. The venue also provides a 'tea offering action' for attendees to bring their own water bottles for free refills, accumulating merit with appreciation and gratitude. After the interview, the photos were taken, and returning to a lower form, Shen Guangyuan gifted me a copy of the "Diamond Sutra" from the camping table, saying it is a fateful connection.

With the sun high, the wind blowing through the mountains, I turned the scriptures: "If someone gives away the seven treasures of three thousand great thousand worlds to make offerings, would the merit obtained by this person be much? Subhuti said: Much indeed. World Honored One! Why so? This merit is not of the merit characteristic; thus the Tathagata speaks of often is much merit."

Below is the dialogue between Chui Music and Shen Guangyuan:

Chui Music=Chui
Shen Guangyuan=Shen

Chui: Previously you mentioned that the Spring Wave should go international, is bringing KREVA and Nulbarich from Japan part of that plan?

Shen: The Spring Wave has been established for 17 years, and this event is the 38th. From early Taiwan’s Kenting, we then went to Singapore, Hong Kong, and by the end of 2015, we began entering Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Hangzhou. Throughout this journey, I had a dream that in the future, Spring Wave could have a stage for Japan and Korea, and I thought to start with Japan since I have more connections there.

What you are seeing now is Spring Wave, the first time in 17 years that we have truly invited an international artist, which essentially means we have now properly activated this matter. And I think that the dream I just spoke of will come to fruition in the future.

Chui: In previous interviews, you emphasized that when you first created the Spring Wave, you didn’t want to reference any of the large international music festivals that our average music fans might recognize or had even seen. So why did you want to organize a music festival?

Shen: This traces back to 2006 when I had some friends in Kaohsiung Kenting who asked me if I wanted to organize an event there. I had a good impression of Kenting because I studied at Kaohsiung Medical University and formed a band called Red Ant. Our band occasionally went to Kenting, where I'd feel very happy as if all my worries had disappeared, and I had this dream about how great it would be if Red Ant could hold a concert in Kenting.

When I formed the Red Ant, this dream wasn't realized; later, Red Ant disbanded, and I entered Rolling Stone Records to learn how to become a music producer. I organized events and brought artists to do campus concerts, thus having experience in small performances. Later, I visited Kenting Ranch at Kenting Dajian Mountain, where friends encouraged me to meet with the landowner, and we decided to organize a music festival.

That was in 2006, and from the decision to the performance, there were merely 70 days left—time was tight, and there weren’t any mainstream artists, only indie bands and electronic DJs. It wasn’t until the second year that I began inviting more mainstream artists, starting in 2008 with artists like Fan Xiaoxuan, Chen Sheng, Zhang Zhenyue, Huang Xiaohu, and Chen Yixun. Over ten years in Kenting, Spring Wave invited Mayday four times, and one year it was both Wu Bai and Mayday.

Chui: How did the Spring Wave in Kenting come to an end?

Shen: As Spring Wave grew bigger, the Kenting management believed having events twice a year with over ten thousand people created too much noise and waste. They began negotiating with the Pingtung County government to relocate Spring Wave outside of the prime area, to use Pingtung Airport. However, the airport was a twenty-minute drive from the main area, leading to worse traffic during the festival. Thus, in the last two or three years, ticket sales drastically declined.

Subsequently, some efforts by the Pingtung County government have also led to discrepancies in understanding. They believed that Spring Wave earned a lot of money and thus introduced legislation in the council to charge an environmental cleanup protection fee, asking for 50 NT dollars per person, counting general tickets and VIP tickets, which meant a possible $600,000 for ten thousand people! Plus, Wu Ling parking lot would need to be paved with a bridge to allow for heavier vehicles to pass. So aside from the usual taxes and protection fees, they wanted bridges and road improvements, leading us to feel that the Pingtung County government had many requirements.

The real determination not to continue was in 2014 when they raised that 50 NT dollars to 95 dollars, and they were unyielding in negotiations with upper-level authorities.

Kenting is a beautiful place, but once pristine, when it comes to music festivals, hotel prices skyrocket, and short taxi rides suddenly cost 680 NT dollars. Everything goes up; both the government and local residents are milking the situation. I feel music festivals shouldn’t exploit consumers but should instead serve music lovers. These circumstances led me to feel that I didn’t want to continue organizing there.

Chui: After leaving Kenting, how did Spring Wave develop overseas bases?

Shen: Coincidentally, in the eighth year in Kenting, I had the idea that it wasn't just about Taiwan; any Asian city that sells more than ten thousand tickets is worth going to. So I went to look at Mainland China. At that time, the market there was still immature. Although there were Midi Music Festival and Modern Sky, it was heavily monitored and lacked freedom. So I firstly went to Singapore and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was successful, but the Singapore event failed. This relates to the market size. Although the population is similar, Hong Kong speaks all Mandarin, while Singapore has a higher cost of living. The cost to hold a event in Kenting was nearly doubled in Singapore, but ticket sales were only around three or four thousand. After two years of consecutive losses, we decided to painfully give it up.

Later, in 2014, the music festival market in Mainland China entered a second phase and began to mature. We decided to start Spring Wave in Shanghai in 2015. I think hosting a music festival in Mainland China is more challenging than in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Singapore, as there are too many variables regarding "people" and if changes are needed, it takes a lot of effort to manage.

In the first year in Mainland China, we had a local partner who brought us in, so they provided the capital, while we planned the program well. However, this partner started running into issues with paying the artists, wanting to take on a huge amount but without enough capabilities. So later, we didn’t work through an agency and did everything ourselves.

Chui: What is the origin of the name "Spring Wave"? I remember there was always controversy over it clashing with "Spring Festival." And how do you think "Spring Wave" distinguishes itself from other music festival brands?

Shen: Prior to Spring Wave, there was already Spring Festival, which I had participated in once or twice. Later, when I decided to go to Kenting, I had two thoughts about the name. The first was to connect it with the concept of "spring"; or to start anew entirely.

According to the Kenting management law back then, events could only be held during the first week of April each year; that was the only week open for events. Not just Spring Wave and Spring Festival but various big and small activities. Later I decided to go with the first as it related to the time; “wave” makes sense since Kenting is beside the sea, echoing the interaction between the music stage and the audience; of course, it also implies a carefree and liberating meaning.

As for the characteristics of Spring Wave, I first believe, because I came from a background as a music producer, I demand high standards for sound and understand the musicality of performing bands very well. Over the years, when chatting with friends who organize music festivals, like the boss of KKBOX, who said that now a music festival has to accommodate many bands. But I don’t think that way; with 60 or 80 bands, many things can’t be taken care of well.

Previously, when I was in a band and didn’t get performance opportunities or care, once I became a platform myself, of course, I had empathy, wanting to take good care of everyone. So, it wouldn’t be possible to have 60 or 80 bands. We prefer to do things a little more exquisite, emphasizing the sound system. Of course, I select a mix of A-list big names and some new variants, and I personally select them by listening to their music and doing my homework. For example, I spend four to five hours on a weekend researching and watching their live videos.

Chui: After the Spring Wave returned to Taiwan, why did you start emphasizing "healing"?

Shen: I believe going to a music festival is a journey. Music lovers gather here, and the environment is crucial. If what you see outside is all buildings and concrete, it doesn’t have the feel. I’m used to seeing trees, mountains, and water; it brings a sense of spiritual purification. The Spring Wave music festival has taken a round from Kenting to abroad, and after restarting post-pandemic, it began doing mountain lines, sea lines, integrating with nature.

Talking about healing, we are determined to create the most healing music festival in all of Asia. I want to discuss with you what this concept of healing is. Because I am close to being a practitioner myself, I know that this destiny means the pandemic is merely the beginning of the earth's entry into a new fortune cycle. After this pandemic, for one or twenty years, we actually enter a fiery world. What does this mean? It involves wars, food crises, inflation, climate instability, earthquakes—all things that are described in Buddhism as the end of the Dharma age.

To put it simply, humanity has entered a more difficult era. Yet I believe that the universe is compassionate, giving you the opportunity for recovery, and that’s why we need healing! When human hearts are focused on how to rise, develop higher technology, earn more money, and suppress others— if human thought is directed toward chasing materialism, it will harm the environment, and the earth will retaliate. Only if the mentality of all earthlings shifts towards loving others, caring for others, and protecting the earth—if we stop endlessly chopping trees and creating ocean garbage, can the earth heal.

Earth and humanity rise and fall together. What I really want to do with Spring Wave music festival is to make it the most healing music festival. Even if we may only hold one event a year, future plans include possibly four or five international events, and I hope to bring this spirit to everyone participating.

I believe the greatest healer is the ocean, and does music heal? Of course it does! Good food is healing, and so is alcohol. For instance, this time we created a fourth stage for world music, featuring many artists related to spiritual healing, like Zhang Xiaowen and YK band. When someone arrives at Spring Wave, they will be immersed in a performance.

I tell my team that in the earlier days, we only had the ability to put together a program, but now the concept has changed. Every stall you see, whether it's selling beef noodle, curry, or handmade bags, we see all of them as performances. So saying Spring Wave has four stages and 40 programs is wrong! We have thirty-some food stalls, sixty handmade stalls; for me, each Spring Wave actually has 200 performances. The person cooking beef noodles is also an artist; they are also diligently cooking something good for you.

For these two days of camping, over a thousand people absorb the energy here, listen to amazing music, and I believe their energy will have changed markedly when they return home.

Chui: When did you start approaching practice? Is it related to your life circumstances?

Shen: I should say it started from my mother's influence from a young age, but my focus on entering practice came from doing friendly dogs and organizing the Spring Wave; it has been very hard all along. I am quite idealistic; originally, my family left me a fortune of over a billion, which I nearly exhausted. Thus, I have experienced many ups and downs in life; during my most difficult times, I couldn’t even raise 200 NT dollars for my son’s birthday gift.

I’ve gone through such days and also lived in luxurious villas worth tens of millions. Yet looking back, if everything had gone smoothly until now, I might have become a very stubborn playboy. Having endured these tough tests has helped me understand humility. I used to think I was great, but after experiencing these setbacks, I slowly feel like I am very small.

During the most challenging times, I needed to seek spiritual strength and began to practice, now it has slowly become an inseparable part of my life. I meditate almost every day, and 21 days before organizing the Spring Wave, I began studying the "Diamond Sutra."

I told my colleagues that meditation is a serious practice. A few days ago, there was heavy flooding with mud everywhere, yet you should imagine that every stage and every corner of our venue is being dried under the sun; every performance stage starts smoothly. You can even visualize what every performer looks like and how the audience feels. I call this “pre-vision.” When you foresee it, at this high frequency in the universe, it’s already in motion; it’s already doing the calculations; that will actually impact and turn it into reality.

If you do not foresee it, it won’t happen; if you make a pre-vision, it will happen. That’s just how it is.

Chui: Which line in the "Diamond Sutra" is very useful to you?

Shen: Past mind cannot be obtained, present mind cannot be obtained, future mind cannot be obtained.

To be honest, during the pandemic, we couldn't hold any events, yet we still had to cover several million in operating expenses each year. After two to three years of this pandemic, I genuinely couldn't hold on any longer. So, I think it was the year before last that I made a wish to the Earth Store Bodhisattva, saying I hope I can continue to carry on the Spring Wave.

I made a vow to the Bodhisattva that in my remaining years, everything I do—including the Spring Wave, signing new artists, and making music—is not about making money to stuff in my pockets. I said I want to benefit sentient beings and care for the earth. After making that vow, I was fortunate enough to find a new source of funding, which is why I am still alive today.

Chui: Regarding external criticisms of Spring Wave, such as last year’s entry congestion and consumer dissatisfaction, can these also be resolved with a meditative attitude?

Shen: For this, I wouldn’t use a meditative attitude to resolve it. Last year, what we were most criticized for was the traffic, with people stuck for over three hours just to enter, missing the first two shows, and the restrooms being too few. When I saw so many criticisms, I felt this was our fault; we shouldn’t have made Spring Wave participants feel this much difficulty. So I discussed with our team about how to improve.

For example, the reason for congestion was that there was only one road in, so this year, we planned the rear parking lot well, allowing ticket checks to happen at the parking lot before entering, dispersing fifteen thousand people. This does require manpower and equipment, which will increase costs, but this money must be spent. Port-a-potties are sufficient in the venue itself, but since everyone is accustomed to using the restrooms beside the main stage, we need to increase that capacity.

Our staff is actually quite limited; there are only twelve of us, which makes it hard to manage. So this year, we are treating the venue arrangement as a project and paying another outside company to handle it, planning the layout four months earlier. The team often asks: "The cost for two main stages is several million, but spending several million on peripheral setup, is this right?" But I think the peripheral setup is just as important as the stages, since at a music festival, a lot of downtime must be enjoyed, where attendees can find plenty of enjoyable experiences.

Chui: After returning to Taiwan to hold music festivals, have you noticed any market differences? The performance bans that Spring Wave signed also triggered some backlash from Taiwanese music festival organizers; how would you respond? (Note: 'performance bans' are also called 'radius clauses,' limiting performers from engaging in competitive performances within a specified timeframe to secure exclusive ticketing advantages.)

Shen: After returning from doing festivals across the strait, I feel that the environment is quite different, regardless of the number of music festivals, the audience's state, or the performance quality of bands, all have changed significantly. The early Spring Wave would choose very mainstream singers; post-pandemic, we began doing mountain and sea events, focusing on independent music. Independent music has completely gone mainstream. Look at the band EggPlantEgg that performed last night; in Mainland China, their performance fees are already at the same level as top-tier artists!

Regarding performance bans, when we invited Mayday in Kenting previously, we had performance bans in place then as well—meaning Mayday could not perform during a specific period around the Spring Wave. From 2016 to 2019, when we went to Mainland China, we did this too. A few Mainland artists refused, but all the Taiwanese artists accepted it, because I’m not banning their performances across all Mainland China, just in the Shanghai area, for example.

Over the past two years in Taiwan for the mountain and sea lines, we applied this clause as well, but Taiwanese independent musicians would express it is tough for bands needing to take up various offers. If we ban for two or three months, they would lack income. Some would even demand double the performance fee, and negative opinions would emerge; other music festivals think we are heavy-handed. I want to say that I am not targeting anyone; it’s just that we have conducted ourselves this way for the past seventeen years.

Perhaps Taiwan is relatively small. An artist banned from Shanghai could still perform in Xi'an, Guangzhou, or Chengdu, but that might not work in Taiwan. Therefore, I do believe there is a point to that, and currently, we do not impose a complete ban; it might just be for a few key big names, and we are not inflexible either; we adjust based on Taiwanese conditions.

Chui: Will there be a "Spring Wave Sea Line" this year? What plans are there for the music festival moving forward?

Shen: It’s already set for June in Xi'an, and this year there will likely be several other events planned, even next spring there are plans to expand to other regions. The Sea Line was held in Tainan's Fishing Light Island last year, and after evaluation, our team felt it wasn’t up to par; however, we won’t abandon the Sea Line entirely; we’ll see if a better location comes up.

The mountain line will continue (Senmienyuan) as the environment here is great; this year, the self-assembled tents and luxury camping have sold out. I love walking into the tent area and seeing many interesting things – some people chilling there, some playing guitar, and others even playing mahjong. Every time I see those campers, happy and content, I feel it’s just beautiful.

I also enjoy running to the side of the stage, seeing the first few rows of the audience, who sing along with radiant smiles. I feel this is exactly what I mean; that sense of benefiting sentient beings appears.

Chui: Besides music festivals, are there other things you’d like to do to benefit sentient beings?

Shen: I plan to develop another brand focused on spiritual music beneath my friendly dog project. However, my managers have cautioned me to think about how to recover the revenue from it.

One can’t always spend money without returns; I’ve already paid too much in tuition. My father and mother are both lawyers. My mother has passed away, but I remember once when she talked to me in Taiwanese, saying, "You were born into a distinguished family in Tainan; the Shen family left at least a billion assets for you. You graduated from medical school; you could easily open a hospital and become a director, with a billion in savings to lead a good life. You could do nothing and travel the world 365 days, enjoying life.”

"You’ve never lived that kind of life; why bother making music?" In the end, she asked, "Do you regret it?" You know, when I heard my mom say all this, tears fell. I told her I have no regrets; even though you see all that money spent, my heart is wealthy. I told her I hope in my lifetime, I can show you that I can earn all that money back, but she passed away before seeing that. Still, I am quite confident that the opportunity to do so will come in the next few years.

Author: Aheng
Date: May 24, 2023
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