I went to the ARIA awards for the first time yesterday. I had a great fun at the industry section, it was a pretty good cocktail party even though I missed out most of the ceremony itself due to the crowded viewing section. By the sound of it I was lucky not to have been watching this on tv, but I did see Megan Washington killing it with her show tunes / cabaret adapted performance of Sunday Best. Amazing!
Industry
Brisbane’s “The Troubadour” to close.
Iconic Brisbane venue The Troubadour is closing at the end of the month. There had been rumblings around the Brisbane music scene about rising rents and the changing face of the Valley, but this is the biggest loss to the Valley’s live music precinct since The Rev became a dance club.
Here’s the presser from the venue’s website:
It’s news that will rock the Brisbane music community – the heart and soul of Brisbane’s music community, the iconic The Troubadour will be calling last drinks and closing its doors forever come the end of November.
In what will be a devastating blow to the town with a matter that has gone beyond the control of owners Jamie Trevaskis and Corinna Scanlon, the beloved music venue will close its doors on Sunday, November 21.
More information as to how the venue will be farewelled and why it is closing will be released in the very near future. The Troub crew would like to extend gratitude to every single band, artist and punter who has graced the venue in the last seven and a half years.
The future of “The Troubadour” name and recognisable aesthetic remains uncertain but for now, the dream is over.
See the bullshit for yourself right here.
Since opening in 2003, The Troub has played host to bands too numerous to mention. Small-time local bands and big-name international touring acts have squeezed onto the small stage and squinted at the crowd through the red stage lights (a photographer’s nightmare).
Share your favourite Troub lineups and memories in the comments.
SWOT Analysis of Artist Management
Interesting analysis by veteran manager Michael McMartin.
Edward Guglielmino – 50 ways to get people to care about your band in Australia.
There are a few things I like about singer-songwriter Edward Guglielmino – unfortunately, his music is not one of those things.
What I am a fan of are his occasional witticisms and bouts of trolling on the the internet. His list of 50 Ways To Get People to Care About Your Band In Australia is full of tips for aspiring musicians or alternatively, jokes for snide hipsters. Read on and pass judgment.
1. Pick your favorite overseas act and copy them exactly, give yourself a similar name, about put in your bio “Australia’s answer to”
2. Tell people you are all under 18.
3. Use “tokyo, russia, euro,” in your band name, make sure on paper your band name means nothing.
4. Sign to the first label that shows interest, hand over any chance you have of making any money to the company for a minimum of 25 years.
5. Use “Fresh, cool, straight out of, bluesy, roots” in your band bio.
6. Be an Aussie Hip Hop group.
7. Openly endorse a soft drink.
8. After two years tell everyone you’re quitting for good, only to reveal a new project which is identical, only with a very slightly different name.
9. Hire a young manager who will sign anything put in front of him or her.
10. Talk purely about music you really like, how awesome everything is, and never ever criticize anything openly.
11. After gigs in the backstage area openly bitch about every other act in Australia.
12. Find someone famous and start sleeping with them, pretend it is a secret to the public but tell every single person you can in private.
13. Listen to commercial radio for 48 straight and then write a song immediately.
14. Use awesome and wicked to describe everything.
15. Accept your aria and make a joke about how you are still the underdog and still have have no money in your bank account.
16. Have no cultural awareness, have no idea of music history.
17. Live in a share house with more than 10 other people in Northcote.
18. Live in your parents multi-million dollar house and have them bankroll you for 20 years.
19. Live in a share house in Newtown with 40 people, and 10 junkies.
20. Live in the Gap in Brisbane, be seen shopping at Gap Coles, tell people how much you hate fortitude valley, play acoustic guitar.
21. Make lists that people will pretend to like, but secretly they are infuriated.
22. Go to 1971 and copy.
23. Go to 1983 and copy.
24. Go to 1992 and copy.
25. Sound like “Television” (the band see rule 16).
26. Write negative things on forums about your band “Tokyo Russian Underground” Australia’s answer to Fleet Foxes.
27. Turn up to gigs after the band has finished and bitch about the bands performance.
28. Grow dreadlocks, play roots.
29. Be easy to pigeonhole, complain about being pigeonholed.
30. Use pigeonhole in every interview to describe your band, for example “I don’t want to be pigeonholed as Australia’s answer to Animal Collective but…”
31. Be ugly and write joke songs.
32. Continually act surprised that your are successful.
33. Move overseas, and play a couple of gigs, come back and claim that your famous in London, New York, Berlin ect. (note won’t work for 3rd world countries)
34. Go OP shopping before every photo shoot.
35. When being interviewed make ironic jokes that acknowledge that your currently famous.
36. If you are a woman, play up the girl next door thing until you are 45.
37. Talk about your fans as if you know them, if one approaches you in front of a camera act like you know him or her.
38. If a fan approaches you in Australia off camera, tell it to fuck off.
39. If a fan approaches you outside of Australia try not to act surprised.
40. Be from Melbourne.
41. Be from Brisbane
42. Be from Melbourne or Brisbane but play gigs in Sydney every other weekend.
43. Sleep with someone on the radio.
44. Put “despite only being around for 6 months” in your bio, even if you have been around for 10 years.
45. Never change a single thing about your band accept the the name.
46. Call any tour, the final tour ever.
47. After you turn 30 write a book.
48. After you turn 40 write another book.
49. After you turn 50 enter politics.
50. If a fan approaches you overseas, and they aren’t Australian, discount all rules above.
Funding Opportunities for NSW artists
I’ve always thought musicians in NSW lack the support that Victorians and Western Australians receive from their music government bodies. But recently MusicNSW has started some initiatives that might just turn things around. In their most recent newsletter they have a summary of available funding opportunities for NSW based artists. Below is an excerpt:
Various funding opportunities are available to industry and artists in NSW. If you’re interested in applying for any of the below please read through the guidelines carefully to make sure you’re eligible. If you’ve done that and still can’t skip through the bureacratic speak get in touch with us!
AUSTRALIA COUNCIL: New Work New Work grants support one-off projects that involve the creation or development of music, new musical material or media arts projects. Closing Date 15 June 2010
AUSTRALIA COUNCIL: Presentation and Promotion Presentation and Promotion grants support one-off projects that present, publish, distribute or market quality music of any style. Closing Date 15 June 2010
BRITISH COUNCIL: Realise Your Dream The British Council Realise Your Dream Awards celebrate excellence in the arts and creative industries, offering talented Australians the chance to further their careers in the UK. Closing Date 18 June 2010
ARTS NSW: Arts Funding Program These programs aim to encourage high artistic merit, innovation, building existing and new audiences, support professional and sector development and increase access to the arts for all. Closing Dates vary – Project Funding closes June 28 2010.
UnConvention Brisbane
If you’re in Brisbane this long weekend, come and check out UnConvention. From the presser:
UnConvention is a not-for-profit grassroots led music conference for D.I.Y. and independent promoters, labels, entrepreneurs, writers, technologists, innovators and artists. UnConvention Brisbane will bring together some of independent music’s most innovative thinkers to discuss the future of the music industry and strategies for building up our local scene.
Held 12-13 June 2010 at The Edge in Brisbane’s South Bank precinct, the weekend event will be comprised of panel discussions and networking events focused around creating sustainable careers within the music industry.
Over 30 key participants from the local independent music scene will appear as guest speakers, including Andrew Stafford (author of Pig City), Paul Curtis (Regurgitator manager / Valve Records founder), Graham Ashton (BIGSOUND executive programmer) and Kellie Lloyd
(Screamfeeder bassist and vocalist / Q Music project officer).
The goal of UnConvention is to bring together like-minded individuals to discuss the future of Independent music and how it will develop and flourish in the technological age. UnConvention isn’t concerned with discovering rock-stars, but instead building and enabling a community of practitioners who want to work in and around music.UnConvention doesn’t believe in ‘do it yourself’. We believe in ‘do it together’.
Chartfixer
The biggest news in Australian music press today is the website chartfixer.com, whereby artists or labels can pay for the site’s services to move their songs up the ARIA charts. As ridiculous as this sounds, the reaction from all corners reminds us that chart rigging practices are not unheard of.
Fasterlouder has a good few comments for their coverage of the story. Today/Tonight even has a little vid you can watch here.
Meanwhile, industry writer Ben Butler sums up the financials of Australian major labels in 2009 on the Herald Sun
Latest Comments
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Still trying to purchase!!!ANTHONY J LANGFORD
Cool track. Congrats Joshua. Hope the release is a success.Tristan
Man I love these guys. I can't believe they are not releasing any new music. I've been to so many…sophie
^^ I love Grimes! Banoffee is one of my new favorite music artists! :) I love With Her, Reign Down,…Ace
Read your review then listened to the EP. Fantastic ! Different to most hardcore punk I listen to. Somewhat more…