Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2013

What began as the dream of American expat Emilie McGlone to harness the energies of Japan’s music scene toward sustainable development is now a ten-year reality. Metropolis heard from Parties4Peace founder McGlone as its celebrates its first decade with parties in multiple cities, beginning in Tokyo with a special event featuring noted producer Jay Haze alongside a bevy of local talent.

Tell us about the evolution of P4P over the decade.

Parties4Peace began in the year 2003 as a dream project in Japan to raise funds for important international grassroots projects that I was working on at the time in Latin America. After our first successful event, we began producing parties in Tokyo to help raise awareness about new projects that needed funding with NGO’s based in Japan, and soon moved on to various international cities such as Santiago, Caracas, Miami and New York. With each event, artists became more interested and wanted to support Partis4Peace by volunteering their time and talent to help us raise the necessary funds to help support international educational programs, sustainable development projects and youth-focused initiatives.

What makes you most proud during that time?

I think the most exciting project we have run successfully for the past five years is our PATAGONICA artist exchange and environmental campaign. In 2008, we began the PATAGONICA project as a way to raise awareness about the need to protect the pristine nature in Patagonia, Chile alongside the local environmental non-profit organization, CODEFF.  Through our parties, we have raised thousands of dollars to support the initiatives of the organizations in Chile and have also helped to create a community, known as the “Patagonica Collective” around the parties that we produce in Chile and Tokyo. More than 10 artists have traveled with us between the two countries, helping to raise awareness about this important issue and fund the environmental campaigns that will eventually help change the policies in a positive direction to protect the valuable natural resources of the Patagonia region.

What have been some of the toughest challenges?

My biggest challenge is always my schedule.  I work as the International Coordinator of Peace Boat, an International NGO working to promote peace, sustainable development, human rights and respect for the environment through educational programs organized onboard a chartered passenger ship that travels the world on peace voyages. Since I began working for Peace Boat in 2004, I have traveled to more than 100 countries and visited numerous international projects around the world, which is wonderful for the development of Parties4Peace. However, it is a challenge to organize events as I am often traveling and not in any particular city. I felt that Parties4Peace would sometimes lose traction while I was traveling for more than three months abroad, although I would often organize parties from the ship via email with club owners, DJs, promoters and artists. I think my travel schedule continues to be a challenge, but it is also a great way to connect with the communities that we are helping support with our events.  Of course it’s always a challenge to run a non-profit production team, as everyone is a volunteer and sometimes you have to work extra hard to inspire people to really dedicate their time for a good cause.

How do you see P4P developing in the second decade?

After throwing parties for ten years in the name of Parties4Peace, we have now created a new form of partying that people have come to know and respect. I would like other promoters and artists to use us as a platform to help give back to local communities and make a positive difference in the world. We are looking for partners who would like to work with us on a regular basis and donate a percentage of the profit from their events to Parties4Peace so that we can continue to work on the important international projects that we have started throughout the years. Our newest initiative is the Music & Art Peace Academy, which seeks to provide young artists, musicians and producers from around the world with experiences and resources that further enhance and develop their creative talents. MAPA invites aspiring young creators to participate in global voyages onboard the Peace Boat to engage in workshops, lectures and hands on learning opportunities alongside professional artists.

Dance music has recently had bad news in the form of overdoses in the US and UK. Tell us about the tension between positive and negative energies in the dance music community.

I think there are always positive and negative sides to any issue, and in particular with the party scene, you can find people from all walks of life. Many people enjoy the music and can stay up all night drinking or dancing with their friends, however many people also come looking for something more, and it’s not always a positive outcome.  Parties4Peace seeks to create a positive atmosphere where people are invited to engage with others and appreciate the music while making a positive difference through their participation in the event.  We hope that we can help balance the negative aspects of the party scene and show another face of the dance music community that has so much to offer to the world. We aim to inspire artists to volunteer to play our events and form part of the larger international community working to promote a culture of peace through dance and music.

Nov 1, Club R Lounge. Info: www.parties4peace.com