This is the first in an interview series I want to do over the coming year called ‘New Forms’. I have a lot of inspiring conversations with creators and people I meet in the industry, so I wanted to start recording and sharing some of them.
It made sense to start with C.Y. Lee. Ive been trying to work out how best to open this post, but the simple version is; where are the other people like him? and how to do I better communicate the immense impact he is having as an individual? He’s been intentionally working on how to fund music projects that look for new answers and ideas for a few years now. While on a recent trip to Detroit, I got the opportunity to sit down and have an in-depth conversation with him about his thoughts on funding and patronage. C.Y. Lee has been a patron of my creative work for a few years, and has co-funded some of the most inspiring artist projects I’ve come across. He’s become a friend, and a mentor at times too, and for a while I’ve wanted to sit down with him to discuss his approach to funding creative projects, many of which are music artists or music-related. And as I look ahead at my next project in the new year, I need to find others to come on board as patrons to bring my vision for the Alone Together exhibition to life, and speaking to C.Y.Lee in this way felt like the logical first step in that journey.
C.Y. Lee is a music lover who’s spent years in corporate tech, and studied at MIT. He’s backing experimental music projects, artist-led work, and efforts to build infrastructure for patronage itself. When I asked what the role means to him, he said it’s about “scaling intent beyond what I can do myself”—finding artists already moving in directions he believes in and asking if they need fuel. This is a conversation about what that looks like, why music lacks conventions for these relationships, and what it might take to change that.
If you want to follow C.Y. :
Instagram
Linkedin
Learn more about In Process, a platform CY is funding for documenting creative work in real time that was created by music artist LATASHA :
https://www.inprocess.art
if you want to learn more about how to become a patron and credited executive producer of my upcoming projects and what that entails you can reach out to me at hello@soundofractures.com
If you prefer to watch on YouTube here is the link, and make sure to subscribe to stay up to date!
