The art of asking | Amanda Palmer

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Pei-Lun Liao Reviewer: Juliana So

(Breathes in)

（吸氣、吐氣）

(Breathes out)

So, I didn't always make my living from music.

我唔係一直都靠音樂維生

我喺一間傑出文科大學畢業之後

For about the five years after graduating

from an upstanding liberal arts university,

大約有五年時間

this was my day job.

我日頭嘅工作係咁（笑聲）

(Laughter)

I was a self-employed living statue called the Eight-Foot Bride,

我曾經係一個扮「八呎新娘」 活雕像嘅自僱人士

and I love telling people I did this for a job,

我鍾意同人講我做呢份工

because everybody always wants to know,

因為每個人都想知道 演員現實生活到底係咩

who are these freaks in real life.

(Laughter)

Hello.

（笑聲）哈囉！

I painted myself white one day, stood on a box,

我有一日將自己塗白，企喺一個箱度

put a hat or a can at my feet,

喺腳邊放一頂帽定一個罐

and when someone came by and dropped in money,

當有人走近，抌錢落去 我就會遞上一朵花

I handed them a flower --

and some intense eye contact.

然後同佢哋有熱切嘅眼神交流

如果佢哋唔收咗朵花

And if they didn't take the flower,

I threw in a gesture of sadness and longing --

我就會喺佢哋慢慢走遠嘅時候

露出悲傷同埋渴望嘅表情

as they walked away.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

So I had the most profound encounters with people,

可以話，我同人有著最深層嘅接觸

especially lonely people

尤其同嗰啲睇起嚟 好似幾個星期都冇同過人傾偈嘅人

who looked like they hadn't talked to anyone in weeks,

and we would get this beautiful moment of prolonged eye contact

我同人喺城市街道上面 有著漫長而美妙嘅眼神交流

being allowed in a city street,

and we would sort of fall in love a little bit.

我哋感覺好似有啲鍾意對方

And my eyes would say --

我嘅眼睛會話︰ 「多謝，我睇到你嘞。」

"Thank you.

I see you."

And their eyes would say --

而佢哋嘅眼睛就會話︰ 「從來冇人睇到我，多謝你。」

"Nobody ever sees me.

Thank you."

I would get harassed sometimes.

有時候我會被騷擾

People would yell at me from their cars.

有啲司機會對我大喊話「搵工啦！」

"Get a job!"

(Laughing) And I'd be, like,

（笑聲）

我嘅反應係︰「呢份就係我嘅工。」

"This is my job."

But it hurt, because it made me fear

但係呢件事令我好傷心

我反問自己我做嘅嘢 係咪唔似職業

that I was somehow doing something un-joblike

and unfair, shameful.

唔正當、唔光采

I had no idea how perfect a real education I was getting

我之前唔知道 企喺呢個盒上面用音樂搵食

for the music business on this box.

可以有咁深刻嘅教育意義

And for the economists out there,

經濟學家，你哋可能有興趣知道 點解我嘅收入係可以預計

you may be interested to know I actually made a pretty predictable income,

which was shocking to me, given I had no regular customers,

我知道嗰陣，我自己都嚇咗一跳

因為我冇固定嘅客人

but pretty much 60 bucks on a Tuesday, 90 bucks on a Friday.

但我通常星期二賺 60 美金 星期五賺 90 美金

It was consistent.

每個禮拜都係咁

And meanwhile, I was touring locally and playing in nightclubs

而且，我同我嘅樂團 Dresden Dolls 會喺本地巡迴演出

with my band, the Dresden Dolls.

同埋喺夜總會表演

This was me on piano, a genius drummer.

呢張相影我喺度彈鋼琴，我係天才鼓手

I wrote the songs, and eventually

我寫歌

最後我哋嘅收入 足夠我唔再需要做活雕像

we started making enough money that I could quit being a statue,

and as we started touring,

而當我哋開始巡迴演出

我唔想失去呢種 同人直接眼神交流嘅感覺

I really didn't want to lose this sense

of direct connection with people, because I loved it.

因為我愛上呢種感覺

So after all of our shows, we would sign autographs

所以喺每一場表演結束之後 我哋都會幫歌迷簽名

同佢哋擁抱，同佢哋交流

and hug fans and hang out and talk to people,

and we made an art out of asking people to help us and join us,

我哋求人加入我哋、幫我哋手

and I would track down local musicians and artists

我仲會搵嚟本地音樂家同藝術家 喺我哋表演場地出面表演

and they would set up outside of our shows,

and they would pass the hat,

同埋幫手籌錢

亦都會請佢哋 同我哋同臺演出

and then they would come in and join us onstage,

so we had this rotating smorgasbord of weird, random circus guests.

所以我哋有唔同嘉賓上臺

And then Twitter came along,

後嚟，Twitter 嘅出現 令事情變得更加神奇

and made things even more magic,

because I could ask instantly for anything anywhere.

我可以喺任何地方提出任何要求

So I would need a piano to practice on,

譬如話，我需要一部鋼琴練習

and an hour later I would be at a fan's house.

一個小時後 我就喺歌迷屋企彈琴

This is in London.

呢度係倫敦

世界各地都有人將自己做嘅食物 送到我哋後臺

People would bring home-cooked food to us

all over the world backstage and feed us and eat with us.

同我哋一齊食

This is in Seattle.

呢度係西雅圖

如果我臨時決定搞 一場即興嘅免費演唱會

Fans who worked in museums and stores

and any kind of public space would wave their hands

咁喺博物館、商店 或者公共場所返工嘅歌迷

if I would decide to do a last-minute, spontaneous, free gig.

都會向我哋揮手

This is a library in Auckland.

呢度係奧克蘭一個圖書館

On Saturday I tweeted for this crate and hat,

星期六我推文 希望有人能夠提供木板箱同帽

because I did not want to schlep them from the East Coast,

因為我唔想將物品 由東岸帶到嚟呢度

and they showed up care of this dude, Chris, from Newport Beach,

最終嚟自 Newport Beach 嘅 Chris 回覆咗我

為我提供咗呢兩樣道具

who says hello.

I once tweeted, "Where in Melbourne can I buy a neti pot?"

我曾經推文問墨爾本邊度有得買洗鼻壺

And a nurse from a hospital drove one

一位喺醫院工作嘅護士揸車

right at that moment to the cafe I was in,

直接將佢送到我坐緊嘅咖啡店

and I bought her a smoothie

於是我請佢飲冰沙

and we sat there talking about nursing and death.

我哋傾到護士同埋死亡

And I love this kind of random closeness,

我就係鍾意呢種親近人嘅感覺

which is lucky, because I do a lot of couchsurfing.

而且好好彩

因為我成日有得喺人哋屋企過夜 我先至可以親近人

In mansions where everyone in my crew gets their own room

喺大屋裡面，我哋每一位成員 都有自己房間，但係冇無線網絡

but there's no wireless,

and in punk squats,

喺龐克迷佔據嘅廢棄房屋裡面

everyone on the floor in one room with no toilets

所有人瞓喺一間房嘅地板上 冇廁所，但係有無線網絡

but with wireless, clearly making it the better option.

明顯後者係更好選擇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

我嘅工作人員曾經揸我哋嘅廂型車

My crew once pulled our van up to a really poor Miami neighborhood

去邁阿密一個非常窮嘅社區

and we found out that our couchsurfing host for the night

然後我哋發現

嗰個借我哋瞓一晚嘅主人 係一個18歲、仲住喺屋企嘅女仔

was an 18-year-old girl, still living at home,

and her family were all undocumented immigrants from Honduras.

佢哋成家都係洪都拉斯嘅非法移民

And that night, her whole family

嗰晚，佢全家都瞓梳化

took the couches and she slept together with her mom

佢同佢媽媽一齊瞓，好讓我哋可以瞓床

so that we could take their beds.

我瞓喺嗰度諗

And I lay there thinking,

呢啲人擁有嘅嘢咁少，公平嗎？

these people have so little.

Is this fair?

And in the morning,

第二朝，佢媽媽教我哋整墨西哥薄餅

her mom taught us how to try to make tortillas

and wanted to give me a Bible,

佢仲想送本聖經畀我

and she took me aside and she said to me in her broken English,

然後佢將我帶到一邊 用唔咸唔淡嘅英文同我講：

"Your music has helped my daughter so much.

「你嘅音樂幫咗我個女好多，

Thank you for staying here. We're all so grateful."

多謝你留宿呢度，我哋好感激。」

And I thought, this is fair.

然後我諗，咁樣就公平啦

就係咁

This is this.

A couple of months later, I was in Manhattan,

幾個月之後，我去咗曼哈頓

and I tweeted for a crash pad, and at midnight,

我推文希望搵一個過夜嘅地方

I'm on the Lower East Side,

午夜時，我嚟到下東城區

and it occurs to me I've never actually done this alone.

然後我突然意識到 我從未試過一個人借宿過

I've always been with my band or my crew.

我一直都係同我嘅樂隊一齊

Is this what stupid people do?

係唔係傻瓜至自己一個留宿？（笑聲）

(Laughter)

Is this how stupid people die?

傻瓜係唔係咁樣死？

And before I can change my mind, the door busts open.

等我仲未嚟得切改變主意，門就打開咗

個女人係一位藝術家

She's an artist.

He's a financial blogger for Reuters,

個男人係路透社財經博客嘅作家

and they're pouring me a glass of red wine

佢哋幫我倒紅酒，畀我沖涼

and offering me a bath,

and I have had thousands of nights like that and like that.

我有過成千上萬個類似經歷嘅夜晚

我成日喺人哋屋企梳化過夜 亦都成日人群衝浪

So I couchsurf a lot. I also crowdsurf a lot.

我認為喺人哋屋企過夜同人群衝浪 其實係同一件事

I maintain couchsurfing and crowdsurfing

are basically the same thing.

You're falling into the audience

因為你都係將你成個人 交託畀觀眾，信任佢哋

and you're trusting each other.

I once asked an opening band of mine

我曾經問一個為我哋開場嘅樂隊

if they wanted to go out into the crowd and pass the hat

願唔願意走到群眾當中 傳頂帽畀人去籌錢

to get some extra money, something that I did a lot.

畢竟我自己經常咁樣做

And as usual, the band was psyched,

同往常一樣，樂團已經準備好

but there was this one guy in the band

但係其中一位成員話畀我聽 佢冇辦法說服自己咁做

who told me he just couldn't bring himself to go out there.

It felt too much like begging to stand there with the hat.

佢覺得攞著頂帽企喺嗰度 感覺實在太似行乞嘞

我意識到佢有「公平嗎？」 同「快去搵工作！」嗰類嘅恐懼

And I recognized his fear

of "Is this fair?"

and "Get a job."

與此同時，我嘅樂隊越嚟越受歡迎

And meanwhile, my band is becoming bigger and bigger.

We sign with a major label.

我哋同一間大型唱片公司簽約

And our music is a cross between punk and cabaret.

我哋嘅風格兼具龐克同卡巴萊

It's not for everybody.

但唔係所有人都會鍾意

Well, maybe it's for you.

唔係，或者你哋會鍾意（笑聲）

(Laughter)

我哋簽咗約

We sign, and there's all this hype leading up to our next record.

然後有一大堆新唱片宣傳活動

And it comes out and it sells about 25,000 copies

開賣後嘅幾個星期，賣咗二萬五千張

in the first few weeks,

and the label considers this a failure.

但唱片公司認為係失敗

I was like, "25,000, isn't that a lot?"

我嘅反應係︰二萬五千張唔係好多咩？

They said, "No, the sales are going down.

佢哋嘅反應係︰唔係 銷售量下跌，所以係失敗

It's a failure."

And they walk off.

之後佢哋走咗

Right at this same time, I'm signing and hugging after a gig,

但當時即興表演至係完咗 我同歌迷簽名、擁抱

and a guy comes up to me

一個男仔走埋嚟 遞張十蚊美金嘅鈔票畀我

and hands me a $10 bill,

and he says,

佢話：「好對唔住，

"I'm sorry, I burned your CD from a friend."

我由朋友嗰度複製咗你張碟。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

「但係我睇過你嘅部落格，

"But I read your blog, I know you hate your label.

我知道你憎你嘅唱片公司，

I just want you to have this money."

我只係希望你攞返呢啲錢。」

And this starts happening all the time.

呢類事情開始不斷發生

I become the hat after my own gigs,

每場表演之後，我變成嗰頂籌款嘅帽

but I have to physically stand there and take the help from people,

只係我必須企喺嗰度，接受人哋嘅幫助

and unlike the guy in the opening band,

相反唔似開場樂隊咁 我練喺度收錢過好多次

I've actually had a lot of practice standing there.

講「多謝、多謝」

Thank you.

And this is the moment I decide

喺嗰個時候，我決定 將我網上嘅音樂轉做免費

I'm just going to give away my music for free

online whenever possible,

so it's like Metallica over here, Napster, bad;

就好似，Metallica 喺呢邊

Napster 呢邊

Amanda Palmer over here,

Amanda Palmer 喺呢邊

and I'm going to encourage torrenting, downloading, sharing,

我雖然鼓勵 點對點檔案分享、下載、分享

but I'm going to ask for help,

但我都想人幫我

because I saw it work on the street.

因為我喺街上見到求人呢種方法行得通

So I fought my way off my label, and for my next project

所以我用自己嘅方法擊退咗唱片公司

with my new band, the Grand Theft Orchestra,

同埋為咗我同我嘅新樂團 Grand Theft Orchestra 嘅下個計劃

I turned to crowdfunding.

我至走去群眾募資

And I fell into those thousands of connections that I'd made,

所以我嗰陣只能夠 靠我聯絡過嘅幾千個支持者

and I asked my crowd to catch me.

我當時希望支持者可以支持我

開頭我個目標係十萬美金

And the goal was 100,000 dollars.

My fans backed me at nearly 1.2 million,

但我嘅歌迷最終以 接近一百二十萬嘅金額支持我

which was the biggest music crowdfunding project to date.

呢個係目前為止 最大嘅音樂群眾募資計劃

(Applause)

（掌聲）

And you can see how many people it is.

你可以睇到有幾多人支持

即係大約兩萬五千人

It's about 25,000 people.

And the media asked,

然後傳媒問我：「Amanda，

"Amanda, the music business is tanking and you encourage piracy.

音樂產業落入谷底 ，而你鼓勵盜版，

How did you make all these people pay for music?"

咁你點令到啲人畀錢買音樂？」

And the real answer is, I didn't make them.

答案係，我冇做乜嘢，我只係求佢哋

I asked them.

And through the very act of asking people,

透過求人哋呢個動作 我同佢哋建立關係

I'd connected with them,

and when you connect with them, people want to help you.

當你同佢哋有關係時，人哋就會想幫你

It's kind of counterintuitive for a lot of artists.

呢樣對於好多藝術家嚟講係違反常理嘅

佢哋唔想求人

They don't want to ask for things.

But it's not easy.

不過，提出要求都唔容易

It's not easy to ask.

And a lot of artists have a problem with this.

好多藝術家都面對呢個問題

Asking makes you vulnerable.

「求人」令你變得脆弱

And I got a lot of criticism online,

當我嘅眾籌計劃好受歡迎嘅時候

after my Kickstarter went big,

我喺網上收到好多批評

for continuing my crazy crowdsourcing practices,

話我唔應該繼續搞眾籌

尤其唔應該問音樂人 上唔上台同我哋一齊唱歌

specifically for asking musicians

who are fans if they wanted to join us on stage

for a few songs in exchange for love and tickets and beer,

用幾首歌嚟換取樂迷嘅愛心 演唱會嘅門票同酒精飲品

and this was a doctored image that went up of me on a website.

呢張網上圖片抵毀我，亦都傷害咗我

And this hurt in a really familiar way.

And people saying,

人哋話：「你唔可以再求咁樣嘅幫忙」

"You're not allowed anymore to ask for that kind of help,"

really reminded me of the people in their cars yelling, "Get a job."

而呢句嘢令我諗返 司機對著我大叫「去搵工啦！」

因為佢哋冇同我哋坐埋同一條船

Because they weren't with us on the sidewalk,

佢哋睇唔到我同群眾點樣互惠互利

and they couldn't see the exchange

that was happening between me and my crowd,

an exchange that was very fair to us but alien to them.

呢種互惠互利 對我哋嚟講好公平

但對佢哋嚟講就好奇怪

So this is slightly not safe for work.

所以眾籌唔係一帆風順

呢個係我一班眾籌贊助者 喺柏林開嘅派對

This is my Kickstarter backer party in Berlin.

At the end of the night, I stripped and let everyone draw on me.

派對結束嗰陣 我除衫畀人哋喺我身上畫畫

Now let me tell you, if you want to experience

我話你知，如果你想領會 信陌生人係點嘅感覺

the visceral feeling of trusting strangers --

(Laughter)

I recommend this,

我推薦呢個活動

especially if those strangers are drunk German people.

尤其當陌生人都係飲醉咗嘅德國人

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

This was a ninja master-level fan connection,

呢個係忍者大師級嘅歌迷交流

因為我真正想講嘅係 我好信任你哋

because what I was really saying here was,

I trust you this much.

Should I?

我應該咁樣做？話畀我聽呀

Show me.

For most of human history,

人類歷史上嘅大部分時間 音樂人、藝術家都係社群嘅一部分

musicians, artists, they've been part of the community.

Connectors and openers, not untouchable stars.

佢哋扮演著連繫同開拓者角色 而唔係無法觸及嘅明星

Celebrity is about a lot of people loving you from a distance,

以前，成為名人意味著 有啲人隔著好遠鍾意你

but the Internet

但宜家，網絡同網路上面嘅內容 拉返近明星同樂迷嘅距離

and the content that we're freely able to share on it

are taking us back.

It's about a few people loving you up close

宜家係講緊細細班人 可以近距離見到心愛嘅明星

and about those people being enough.

細細班人已經可以養活到你

So a lot of people are confused by the idea

所以好多人唔理解冇標準定價係咩回事

of no hard sticker price.

They see it as an unpredictable risk, but the things I've done,

佢哋認為冇標準定價 會帶嚟無法預料嘅風險

the Kickstarter, the street, the doorbell,

但我做嘅嘢 包括眾籌、街頭募款、㩒陌生人門鐘

I don't see these things as risk.

都唔係風險

I see them as trust.

我視呢啲嘢為一種對人嘅信任

Now, the online tools

宜家，網路工具 令呢種歌手同樂迷之間嘅交易

to make the exchange as easy and as instinctive as the street,

同喺街頭求助一樣直接、簡單

而且呢種轉變就快成為潮流

they're getting there.

But the perfect tools aren't going to help us

但如果我哋無辦法見到人 而係怕付出、接收、同求人

if we can't face each other

and give and receive fearlessly,

咁呢個完美嘅工具就幫唔到我哋

but, more important --

to ask without shame.

My music career has been spent

喺我嘅音樂生涯裏邊

trying to encounter people on the Internet the way I could on the box.

我一直嘗試用我企喺箱 同人交流嘅方法同人喺網上交流

So blogging and tweeting not just about my tour dates

所以部落格同推文 唔單止講到我嘅巡迴演出日期

and my new video but about our work and our art

同我新嘅音樂錄影

仲有講到我哋嘅作品、我哋嘅藝術 我哋嘅恐懼、醉酒同過失

and our fears and our hangovers,

our mistakes,

and we see each other.

咁樣我哋就能夠明白對方

And I think when we really see each other,

當我哋真正了解大家 我哋就會想幫人

we want to help each other.

我認為人哋一直問咗一個錯嘅問題︰

I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question,

which is, "How do we make people pay for music?"

「我哋點樣令人哋畀錢買音樂？」

點解唔一開始問：

What if we started asking,

"How do we let people pay for music?"

「我哋點樣令人自發買音樂？」

多謝

Thank you.

(Applause)

（掌聲）