This post was written by Sarah Rees

As the Penang Island Jazz Festival prepares for its ninth year, Sarah Rees caught up with its enthusiastic director Paul Augustin to talk history, money, and why the line-up doesn’t matter.

“WE’VE HAD PEOPLE call us months ago from the UK, Singapore, and Indonesia to tell us they’re coming to the festival,” says Paul Augustin, with the twinkling smile of a man in his element. “They don’t even want to know who’s playing; they just want to be there.”

Festivals may dot the world and the music scene, but quantity can never lessen their intrigue, and it is, in Paul’s opinion, the unique atmosphere that makes them irresistible. Festivals have become a routine of Penang-born Paul’s life, and his list of attended events and their locations sound more like a Lonely Planet library list than an existence. “You never really see the places you go,” he admits with a shrug, “but you meet such amazing people.”

As Paul disappears into happy anecdotes about famous musicians and festival directors he has shared jokes and coffee with, I consider that those with a passion for music must be a special breed, but Paul is quick to correct me. “You must remember in the 60s, there wasn’t anything else to do. You listened to the radio, and musicians played because they loved the music, and had to pay their dues in the pubs and clubs before they made it anywhere.” Music was just another, unexceptional part of his childhood. “My cousin was in a band and I thought that was pretty cool,” he remembers, “but music was just everywhere.” As a teenager, Paul taught himself to play the guitar, and then stumbled into playing bass guitar when a school rock band was short of a player. “I had no idea what it was, really,” he chuckles, “but I gave it a go.”

An Idea takes Root

It would be easy to assume that this casual, earring-wearing 50-something approached organising the Penang Island Jazz Festival – now entering its ninth year – in much the same way, but that would be to do him a disservice. While his musical interests bubbled and developed throughout his adult life – he played in all manner of bands and venues – Paul was hard at work organising huge events, and had the opportunity to work with the corporations responsible for bringing such artists as Alanis Morissette, Bon Jovi, and George Benson to Malaysia.

“My partner and I were doing all this stuff for other people,” he explains, “so in 1996 we just decided we would do it ourselves, and started our own business.” The commissions trickled in, but soon Paulbecame aware that pleasing clients was not the same as satisfying himself, and he began brewing the idea of a jazz festival of his very own.

Festivals had come and gone in Penang, and when Paul fl oated his idea to a close friend, he was declared crazy. “He didn’t think we should do it!” Paul recalls. “He said if we did, he would get me all the sound equipment for free if we paid for transportation.” This was all the persuasion Paul needed, and after a year of hard work, the very fi rst Penang Island Jazz Festival burst forth on the island in 2004.

“We lost so much money,” Paul says, laughing sadly. When a sponsor came forward, out of the blue, to offer some support for the second year, Paul was reinvigorated, and though the journey has been a challenging one, the festival is now approaching its ninth edition and attracts a larger audience each year.

Keeping the Spirit Alive

His rose-tinted dream of beloved bands and jolly evenings on the beach may have been submerged in the harsher reality of needing to a festival that makes money, but Paul’s passion for the music and the experience remains unscathed. “Jazz is about evolution,” he says ardently, “it is creative, and the content is always changing. I get so excited when I hear something new, or someone doing something different. That is the rule in jazz; you must be different or be better.”

This indefinable genre allows for all manner of bands and sounds to fi nd a place at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, and attendees are guaranteed a weekend packed with music that will challenge and inspire. “The festival is a networking event; bringing people together and inspiring youngsters to be creative,” Paul says.

Penang-the-place does not get overshadowed by the music, and the location is part of what makes the festival so desirable. “There is something about Penang that just makes people relax,” Paul says dreamily. “There are beaches, and everyone is in the mood for a party.” The people of the island are also key, and Paul makes sure the main stage line-up always features a Penang-born or Penangbased performer, while the fringe stages are reserved for local bands.

Once the festival is all over, Paul’s own journey of discovery will be far from over and there will be no time for a rest. “My daughter gives birth in December,” he says, “so there is going to be no time for relaxing!”

Relaxing doesn’t seem to be too high on Paul’s wishlist, however, and his contented smile and his merry anecdotes show that, despite the challenge and stress of organising a festival, he is a very contented man.

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Source: Penang International October-November 2012

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