Interview: Alec Mead of The Way Collective
With this whole Showbox thing, we get to meet some pretty interesting people. I recently met Alec Mead, who is doing something very different than most musicians in Ottawa. He’s involved in an emerging collective called The Way, and is passionate about what Ottawa’s creative types have to offer. I chatted with him about what it’s all about, and how it fits into the larger Ottawa music community.
The Way is doing something different than most musicians in Ottawa. Can you explain what the Way is, and what its goals are?
The Way is an idea. Our goal as a collective is to promote awareness of certain facts, most of which we are still learning, the ever-expanding group of artists that use mediums to express themselves. My belief is that we are all of the same, and when we are expressing ourselves – we are relating. We want people to feel included and able to participate and fulfill their ideas.
What kind of musicians have partaken in the events so far? What is the atmosphere like?
Most of the musicians we work with are typical (whatever that is), but some are not. Yosuke was a mentor to us, he traveled India and Australia and lived with us for a year, he played on the street of the market busking with a hang drum and was able to teach us many things. Then he invited his buddy Byung Hee and we toured Canada.
Can you tell us what touring across the country was all about, and if you have more plans to do so again?
We left with almost no money, a tank full of gas, some amps that worked with rechargeable batteries, and some solar panels. We went to an eco village to learn about the ecology of Canada, and how diverse it was. Then we headed off to the west coast and hit most major cities and were invited into people’s homes. Attracting Zen-like people we were able to not only survive but thrive with the locals of each place. We will be doing a bigger tour with some booked shows this summer, and we are building a crew and looking for the right vehicle to take us.
In your mind, what are some of the good qualities of Ottawa’s arts and culture community. What is Ottawa missing?
Ottawa is rich with people who care about the world – we care about change and we care about each other. What it’s missing is some funding. There is not very much interest in the voice of our city to be heard globally, and as a multicultural center of our globalized society we have a lot of simple conclusions. Ottawa is on its way to being a very strong place for music because we have music from every part of the world. We listen and jam often.
For those new to The Way, what can they expect if they come out to one of the events like those held at Pressed Café?
They can expect that we are doing things differently. “Process over product” is a credo that I think applies to most of what we do. Once the process is optimized, the products will naturally be better. We have alot of different mediums like live painting and some dancing to express what people are capable of and what bring us together. Also we made some name tags with quotes from great people from the history of our world. For example, “And remember no matter where you go there you are”- Confucius
We will be doing more and more with the Ottawa community in many different ways. Seek us and we will be found.