AIM partners with Josh Pyke & Elana Stone for new podcast

When Josh Pyke started out, he found the music industry “really confusing” and quite unlike any other industry: “I didn’t really know any musicians, so I had no one to ask about things.”

Elana Stone, best known for being in All Our Exes Live In Texas and as a touring member with Missy Higgins and John Butler Trio, describes it as “a constantly shape-shifting universe – especially during a worldwide pandemic.

“It’s helpful to have some honest guidance to navigate your way through all the noise.”

The two good friends (Pyke co-produced her Permanent Limbo) both have a reputation for helping younger musicians.

Their new podcast It’s Raining Mentors looks at the industry from the perspective of a musician starting out or wanting to make a career change.

It would be with executives who knew the ropes, whose careers were trial and error enough to suggest different options as they guided listeners through the maze, and in short, could demystify the industry for them.

Elana Stone

The two took the podcast idea to the Australian Institute of Music (AIM).

Its chair Ed St John was sold on it immediately.

“The Australian music industry can be a difficult thing to understand or navigate,” he says.

The mentors in the series include Select Music agency chief Stephen Wade, Warner Music CEO Dan Rosen, Ivy League A&R manager Marihuzka Cornelius, and Village Sounds’ lead booking agent Katie Rynn.

Wade features in the first episode, which is out now.

The tone is that of a casual fireside chat and actionable advice more about sustaining than being a disruptor.

Wade, whose clients include Amy Shark, Baker Boy and Client Liaison, had no idea what to do when he left high school.

He joined a band and became their agent after discovering their current one was ripping them off.

At 22 he set up a company, working three jobs to fund it, and giving himself a year.

He learned from mentors who would let me “chew their ears off”.

That was 30 years ago when there was more room for self-starters.

He suggests these days start small by promoting a club night or live show, or by working in an established company to “learn the ropes and the right way to do different things”, and go online and find interviews and career tips by execs.

Learn also from them the pressures and stresses of the daily grind.

“You need that drive and resilience, and deal with emotional heartbreak,” Wade emphasises.

“You have to invest your heart and soul in a product, the product being an artist and human being.”

As for that billion-dollar question about the live sector in 2022: “vaccination levels give (people) more confidence in going out, we’re going into a golden era.”

Listen to It’s Raining Mentors on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts.