"This ain't no Planet of Sound!" ~ Frank Black, THE PIXIES
I got the idea for this project while living in Taiwan in 2004 as a way to show off a few of the great bands I saw. The name came about as a way of showing appreciation to a legendary indie band, namely the Pixies, and applying it to the various sounds you can find when living on the island of Taiwan. Partially influenced by rock journalism, ethnomusicology and my own experiences as a student of anthropology, I originally started by documenting my personal experiences of seeing local Taiwanese indie bands first hand. The current Island of Sound consists of more concise, trimmed down profiles with much less anecdotal material than when I first started out 6 years ago. As a directory-type resource, my hope is that this site will be useful to foreign visitors looking for places to check out and touring bands looking to play shows. However, the project is also historical in many aspects and shows the development of the Taiwanese indie scene since its beginnings, so information on defunct bands, closed venues, failed record labels is also included. This is mostly to show that these projects weren't in vain and that younger musicians have something home-grown to build on and not just the latest trend coming out of NY or London.
My work on the site has slowed down and I have moved in other directions, but I still feel tied to it somehow and will keep Island of Sound online for as long as I can. Of course the scene is ever expanding and there will always be new material to add, so I am happy to accept outside ideas and contributions. So if you're living in Taiwan and would like to do something with Island of Sound, just write me an email. I also offer space for advertising, but only for things related to Taiwan including tours, music sites, new releases, etc. Message me for rates!