News March 26, 2021

Final eight grant recipients for $1m Amex Music Backers Fund

Pictured: The Gov, Adelaide / Source: Supplied

The final recipients of the $1 million American Express Music Backers Fund have been announced.

Look at who they are, and how they will use their funding.

The Gov, SA

Regarded since 1993 as one of Adelaide’s best live music venues, The Gov is the only one in the city where audiences can watch the on-stage action from the open-air beer garden.

The bar hosts a regular roster of local bands playing blues, ukulele, jazz, open-mic, folk and more.

It’s won awards from the Australian Hotels Association, APRA AMCOS, the SA Music Awards and was inducted into the Adelaide Music Collective (AMC) Hall of Fame in 2017.

The Gov will use the American Express Music Backers Fund to extend the beer garden to increase capacity in the venue, which will help it to attract more ticket buyers and bands.

Taka Perry, NSW

The 22-year old Canberra born Sydney-based Australian-Japanese songwriter and producer Taka Perry has been collaborating with the likes of Ruel, Sycco, Denzel Curry, A.GIRL, Max Frost and JP The Wavy among others.

His creative contributions have amassed over 130 million plays on Spotify, with past credits including ‘Money Problems’ by Max Frost and the 2 x Platinum-certified ‘Younger’ by Ruel.

Taka Perry will use the funding towards the creation of a trilogy of music videos. Each with its own narrative, the videos will be intended to be seen as a whole.

Dulcie, WA

After tirelessly trying to get a fix on their indie-pop, the four-piece girl band decided to defy normality in both genre and group composition, with three interchangeable vocalists and a sound suggesting a 70’s time loop.

Dulcie will use their funding to go into the studios with producer Joel Quartermain (Eskimo Joe, Meg Mac) and complete final tracks for an EP, due out this year.

The Night Cat, Vic

First established as a live music venue in 1996, The Night Cat soon became a cool place to be, with its showcasing a diverse range of artists across many genres including jazz, funk, soul, Latin, disco and hip-hop on its 360- degree stage seven days a week.

The Night Cat will use its funding to install accessible, gender-neutral toilets to be both more inclusive and to elevate the experiences of patrons using mobility aids.

Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, Vic

First Nations singer Emma Donovan began singing in the family band The Donovans, before going on to record and tour with indigenous mainstays as Archie Roach and the Black Arm Band.

It was here she partnered up with Melbourne rhythm combo The Putbacks, a swinging outfit.

They burst on the scene with Dawn (2014) and reunited in 2020 with the album Crossover.

They will use the funding to tour regionally, taking their music to new communities and sharing various songs in the traditional language, and running workshops at each stop.

Ninajirachi, NSW

The producer, songwriter and DJ gained acclaim for the way her career encompasses the spectrum of electronic music.

Since her breakout album Pure Luck, she collaborating with renowned artists and remixing for Flight Facilities and Hermitude, been a resident DJ for triple j, was the first Australian producer to be featured in Ableton’s One Thing and co-wrote and produced the official anthem for Australia’s Matildas in the FIFA World Cup.

Ninajirachi will use her funding to curate an interactive video series with Kota Banks, based on their True North EP, encompassing live performances of EP tracks with interactive video mapping and production tutorials, created in collaboration with Powerhouse and EMC.

RVG, Vic

In April 2020 Melbourne’s RVG issued their second album, Feral, following up 2017’s debut A Quality Of Mercy with a mix of punk, rock and pop which saw them create waves abroad.

RVG will use their funding to purchase equipment and hone their live set up to use both at rehearsal and on stage.