Grace Mc Dunnough about Musimmersion 2

We recently blogged about Grace McDunnough’s Musimmersion 2. Today, we’re back with an interview to give you an insight of the mind behind the songs. Grace also talks about her evolution as an artist since the first Musimmersion. Be sure you read through, because we are offering you seats for a private show!

Grace McDunnough is a well known artist in Second Life, but what can you tell us about the person on the other side of the computer?

You mean like a/s/l? I’m a middle aged chick that lives in Atlanta, but is that really important? I guess what I’m asking is does there need to be anything more to Grace, than Grace? I’m just a person, like everyone else, who happens to be blessed with a job I love, a wonderful family and the chance to explore and share my creative side in environments like Second Life. The person “on the other side of the computer” is the same person you talk to in-world, I’m no NPC (despite rumors to the contrary). Other than that, I love good coffee, laughter, roaring fires on cold nights and dark chocolate, preferably > 70% cacao.

You’ve said that you played your guitar for the first time in years when you first came to Second Life. Is music what brought you to this virtual world, or did you first log in looking for something else?

I’ve had interest in virtual worlds for serious applications (in the form of immersive simulation) since the early 90s, but I came to Second Life primarily to understand the philosophy on user-created content ownership and the attendant economy. When I first logged on in 2005, Second Life was underwhelming to me. I didn’t spend much time trying to figure it out and when I returned in 2006 as Grace, I intended to treat my entire experience like ethnographic research.

I am insatiably curious, and in 2006 the world was small, but enormous at the same time. It felt like you could see everything, but of course you could not and that was part of the intrigue and seduction. I soon found myself consumed, as it were, within the world itself – the people, culture, creation. From that point my focus shifted from economics to community, identity and social constructs, and that continues to be my main interest.

For those of us who missed the first Musimmersion, could you explain the concept?

The concept is relatively simple – take the best parts of Second Life, mash them together and then give it a name that no one can spell or remember (wink). If I had to explain it in a word I would say think “cyclorama” but to me describing it functionally blurs the important points.

Musimmersion is an immersive, live music journey. The idea is founded on my belief that music is actually a transport vehicle and the places you go, the things that you see and feel, and the people you are with, all shape your connection with the music as much as the lyrics and melody. Music tells a story and the best stories are ones where you are really there.

Do you know that feeling when you hear a song on the radio and you are “transported” back to a place, a time, an experience? That is what I try to evoke with Musimmersion; I get to take you to a place visually and shape your experience with my music in a new way.

As an artist, you can leverage experiential factors to highlight music in a way that you may otherwise not imagine. To that end, I limit the seating to 20 people to maintain intimacy. I try to keep the sets suggestive yet open to interpretation, and I physically move people through the experience so that it feels like a journey.

To me, Musimmersion is a new form of musical composition afforded by the very essence of Second Life – people, place, and presence.

At the time, you encountered a huge critical success. What kind of feedback and opportunities did you get from it?

I’m unconvinced that I am a huge success, but thank you for saying so. What I do have is a canvas any artist should crave, and most importantly people who are infinitely patient, caring and supportive and constructively critical. The success I’ve had as an artist allows me to meet a lot of different people and that’s the biggest opportunity. I get calls to gig in a place I’ve never been, for a group I’ve not known, for a cause I support – these are the joys and luxuries that come with being a live musician.

The best feedback I got from the first Musimmersion was from a dear friend. It was a note card, heartfelt yet pointed and without sharing the exact words (that I still have and cherish) it said basically: I hated it, you boxed me in and didn’t give me enough room to understand the songs. I was crushed, humbled and ever thankful all at the same time. How many people take the time to tell you what they *really* think? That’s actually when I knew I was on to something, this person hated the physical concept but was moved emotionally and as an artist often provoking emotion to the point of pointed response is success.

It’s been a year and a half. Would you say you’ve evolved as an artist since then, and in which direction?

It’s only been a year and a half? It feels like at least five years. I think there must be virtual world years, something like dog years, only longer.

I have evolved as an artist tremendously. There is the sheer number of originals I play now, which is up to 29 in total, but mostly I’ve been more willing to take risks and extend myself. I like to wrench meaning and feeling out of music, it’s come to be known as “Graceification”. The term helps alert people that while they may have heard a song, they haven’t heard it like Grace does it – graceified.

I also have much more fun performing now than I used to and that is in large part due to the people that come to listen and are genuinely participating – with me and with each other. My best gigs are ones that feel like we’re all sitting down for a big family style dinner and catching up, telling jokes (okay, one liners), simply enjoying those things I believe are the essence of Second Life – people, place and presence.

Are these changes reflected in Musimmersion 2?

Certainly, Musimmersion is an all original set this time. I took my critic to heart and tried to unconstrain the imagery as much as I could and so far I’ve finished each Musimmersion set with a huge grin on my face.

Are there any other evolutions we should expect, technical improvements maybe?

Musimmersion, other than being about the experience, is a statement about accessibility. What I mean is that it is not heaps of highly specialized scripts or builds, it is constructed from everyday “household items” available to everyone if you are willing to put in some time. As much as I love technology, this platform is far superior in other ways, so to me “improvements” get made when something is keeping me from making an artistic statement.

The technical improvements I made on this production were primarily to the seating and incorporating a default camera position to aide set transitions, but those are boring details.

Let’s get more technical now, if you don’t mind. There’s a lot of work involved in these performances. Do you do everything yourself (build, script, etc.)?

I am a fanatical curator. I build as much as I need, I script when I must, but largely I draw from the vast resources of the talented people in world. I incorporate elements I find inspiring and I think are compelling and appropriate, much like a folk artist.

The production itself takes a lot of thought and careful planning so anything I can do to make the assembly easier or more efficient is good for me. This means I spend a lot of time scouring the grid, and that’s part of the joy of the production.

What do you do these days in Second Life? Has your perception of the platform changed a lot since you first logged in, and since the first Musimmersion?

Most of my time in world revolves around the culture and the creative experience and since that’s not what I came here to learn or experience, yes my perceptions have changed. Since the first Musimmersion, my aptitude has improved but fundamentally my perceptions about what might be achieved here have not.

When you came to Orange Island for Rocking the Metaverse, we spoke a little about the future of music in and out of virtual worlds. One can expect ‘musimmersive’ performances to be commonplace in the next few years. How much farther do you think we can go?

We have merely scratched the surface with truly immersive musical experiences so far, and I believe that we have miles of unexplored territory ahead of us, ideally to the point where music experiences can be as dynamic as your state of mind. Imagine “walking through” a musical arrangement and being able to change it without having to read music, or moving beyond even the confines of this space into a transmedia model where the experience is extended to other platforms and a song now moves from an atomic element of 3:30 minutes to something more like an exploration.

We have a long way to go.

Any plans for Musimmersion 3?

Definitely, my vision for the next production is far different that today’s version and is at this point almost inconceivable. But that’s all the detail you’re getting for now. ;-)

If you need any more convincing after all this, check out this video to get an idea of what an amazing experience Musimmersion can be.

We are happy to announce that Grace has accepted to run a private session of Musimmersion 2 for the Orange Island community. This will take place this Friday, 5 June, at 10am SLT and there are only 18 seats available.

To secure one, all you have to do is leave a comment below and we’ll email you with the details.

June 3, 2009 at 5:35 pm | Uncategorized | 8 comments

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