Industrial Strength: Dec 8
SA forum launches Arts SA rebranding…
A day-long forum in Mt. Barker before 150 representatives from the South Australian arts, culture and creative economy was chosen as the place for Arts SA to unveil its new name Arts South Australia.
Executive Director Peter Louca explained, “It represents our new direction and the creativity, agility and movement associated with our arts and cultural sector. It leaves no doubt that we are aligned with the State’s brand and the economic priorities outlined by the Premier.”
The forum was described by Arts Minister Jack Snelling as “about having starting the conversation about where the sector is headed and how we can get there. It’s a great opportunity for new thinking with a focus on getting results and generating a strategic direction, led by the government.” Other speakers included CEO of strategic innovation company Disrupter Tom Hajdu and public speaker and London bombing survivor, Dr Gill Hicks.
…and new ArtsPitch grant
Arts Minister Jack Snelling took the opportunity to launch a new grant called ArtsPitch. Five individuals will share 25,000 to get their project off the ground. “ArtsPitch aims to support innovation and creative risk-taking by individual artists,” he said. “Artists will get to pitch their idea to a panel made up of experts from across the arts, creative and business sectors.”
ARIAs Twitter numbers
According to Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings, Ten’s telecast of the 2015 ARIA Awards, which had 461,000 metro viewers, also got 173,500 conversations and 2.8 million impressions.
The ARIA Red Carpet screening had 295,000 impressions.
Fox8’s broadcast of the 2015 American Music Awards had 531,600 impressions.
Arts Party at first by-election
At the new Arts Party’s first election, in North Sydney, Lou Pollard received 1.9% of the votes (1,224) after 66% of the votes were counted. The Liberals won with a 47.6% vote. Pollard was expecting to get 1.6% after voting closed.L
In a quest for what it calls “an ideas boom”, the Malcolm Turnbull Government this week pledged almost $1.1 billion over four years in strategies to create more startups and entrepreneurship by fostering an innovative, risk-taking culture in Australia. Early stage investments in startups will get $106 million in tax incentives including full relief from capital gains. Insolvency laws will be relaxed for startups. There are four priority areas: culture and capital, skills and talent, business and research collaboration, and the role of government as an exemplar. A new entrepreneur visa will be introduced to help attract talent from overseas.
Launching Pad #1: Our Golden Friend
Our Golden Friend is a new record label set up in Melbourne by Remote Control Records Promotions and Marketing Manger Lorrae McKenna and musician Skube Burnell aka 808s And Greatest Hits. Named after their golden Labrador dog Dusty, the intent is to “create a platform to share the music that we love with people that will (hopefully!) love it too.” First release is 808s And Greatest Hits vinyl single New Bounce and House of Love.
Launching Pad #2: Happy Mag
Happy, which started in 2010 as a music festival and then a blog with 12 contributors posting 24 new pieces a week, is now also a print magazine. It is edited by Radi Safi who tells Industrial Strength that Happy Mag will come out four times a year covering music, art, comics and culture. It’s available on subscription ($36 a year) and at select tastemaker outlets.
Late Nick Balcombe inspires grant
The family and friends of the late Hobart singer-songwriter Nick Balcombe have continued to honour his free spirit by setting up the Nick Balcombe Foundation. The annual NBF grant program is to help emerging musicians reach their dreams. It will provide $2500, for use for touring, recording, online presence or making industry contacts. Balcombe was poised on a breakthrough at 31 last year, performing through Australia and Europe, when he died in February.
Entries extended for QLD music awards
Entries for the 2016 Queensland Music Awards are extended to midnight Sunday December 13. Organisers QMusic said, “Already the 2016 awards have enjoyed a flood of entries from a diverse range of musicians and bands across Queensland. The deadline extension comes as grace period for those racing to the finish line on new work.”
Aussies “touched up” by radio …
Market researcher GfK’s latest AudienScope study showed that 28% of those surveyed consider radio their favourite for its ability to tell real stories, start conversations and be interactive. TV mustered up 21% and newspapers / magazines with 13%. Said Dr Morten Boyer, GM of GfK Media, “People told us they are more engaged with radio because it is authentic and less scripted. More real.”
…and television too
Not only does TV continue to be a major part of Australians’ lives but people are spending more time watching it. The latest Australian Multi-Screen Report, from Regional TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen found that 87.7% of Australians watch broadcast TV. Even 72% of the 18-24 age group, no great shakes as TV fans, tune in. Australians’ monthly spend-time on the small screen rose by two hours to an average 28:50 as Aussies access more devices and viewing platforms as catch-ups, streaming sites and non-broadcast video.
Eventbrite users to get RFID tech
Self-service ticketing platform Eventbrite will offer Australian consumers RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology from next year. It will allow them to use their smart wristbands, specially at multi-day festivals, to simplify entry, reduce paper tickets and ticketing fraud, and lessen the need to carry large sums of cash.
This comes after Eventbrite recently bought RFID tech company Scintilla.
Eventbrite set up an Australian office, in Melbourne, 18 months ago. It says Australia accounts for 4% of its global business but is rising in importance. In September it cut payment processing fee for local users and announced an integration with Salesforce.
South Australia bans free drinks after midnight
In its final review update of its late night code, the South Australian Government has banned free drinks after midnight and use of glassware after 3 am in Adelaide’s CBD venues. The ban on rapid drinks promotion now kicks in at 2 am, instead of 4 am.
As a compromise, venues which do not trade past 3 am will not have to install metal detectors and CCTV, an estimated saving cost of $40,000.
The 3 am lockout is being kept for the time being, with SA Attorney-General John Rau resisting a push from police to shift it to 2 am. Rau admits he had been “in two minds” about whether to change it. However it will be considered more seriously when the Government reviews its entire liquor laws in the near future.
New surprise track from Hilltop Hoods project
Hilltop Hoods will release their special recording project, Drinking From The Sun, Walking Under Stars Restrung through their label Golden Era Records/UMA on Friday February 19.
Out now is new track Higher which MC Pressure describes as a song “about living life at an unsustainable pace.” It features vocals by emerging singer/songwriter James Chatburn, whom the band discovered as an entrant of the Hilltop Hoods/APRA Initiative earlier this year and who has been a featured triple j unearthed artist. The band also unveiled a video trailer showing behind the scenes of the recording and their idea behind the project, watch it here.
Recorded two years apart but as companion pieces, the project ties together the chart topping double platinum Walking Under Stars and Drinking From The Sun. Tracks are redefined with the 32-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with the 20-piece Adelaide Chamber Singers Choir. Composer Jamie Messenger did the orchestral arrangements, with the Hoods helped on the project by NZ conductor Hamish McKeich.
Behind the album, the Hoods hit the road with a number of orchestras and choirs. “The songs are going to take on a whole new life with fifty plus musicians joining us on stage,” said Suffa. Joining them on the Restrung Tour is UK born singer and previous Hoods collaborator Maverick Sabre. The dates take in Allphones Arena, Sydney (Saturday April 2), Brisbane Entertainment Centre (Friday April 8), Adelaide Entertainment Centre (Saturday April 16), Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne (Saturday April 23) and Perth Arena (Saturday April 30).
CI to expand Australian presence through Asian hub
UK-based indie music sector delivery provider CI (Consolidated Independent) will expand its involvement and service for Australia through its new Vietnam hub. Set up in 2003, CI’s local clients include Inertia, PIAS, Liberation, Merge Media, Beggars Group and Create Control. It has now set up an Asian office in the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang – a growing destination for tech companies – which will not only service clients and users in Asia but also Australia and New Zealand. The GM of the new Vietnam office is Chi Le Minh.
Two more performance spaces
Two more performance spaces are announced in two cities.
Coburg Velodrome in Melbourne, which has been piloting live gigs, is to become a permanent music, arts and cultural events space next year. It’s the initiative of Velodrome Events, set up by Chris Mitchell and Garrath Holt who were looking for a new project after they finished up Red Bennies club.
Sydney’s latest theatre performance space is at Kings Cross Hotel, home to band showcases. It has set up part of its second floor as the 75—90 capacity Kings Cross Theatre or KXT (www.kingsxtheatre.com). Trialled during Sydney Fringe, KXT will be curated by bAKEHOUSE Theatre Co.
More Venues Update: awards, sales, new spaces, new events
* The 20 Townsville venues which took part in the Safer Venues initiative to make them safer for punters, have been awarded. The Townsville Liquor Accord checked them out, and gave 13 of them a gold standard and seven a silver.
* Goodgod Small Club in Sydney’s Chinatown changed hands after being put on the market three months ago by Jimmy Sing and Hana Shimada. New owners Esperance Hotel Group will keep it going as a music club under the name Plan B Small Club.
* The Lion Hotel of North Adelaide is launching a new event Kick. Start. Sundays to champion local artists. On the first Sunday of month, it will collaborate with, and showcase, the work of a local artist, designer, craftsman or entrepreneur. The first of these was graphic designer and aerosol artist Kameo whose works have been used by Ministry of Sound in Australia and the UK. Lion GM Jacob Wright said too many top rising talents were leaving Adelaide for intestate or overseas, and they needed to be supported.
* Two of four bars in Subiaco, WA, for sale are live music venues. The Llama Bar has a 3 am closing time on Fridays and Saturdays. The Purl Bar, described as a profitable business, has a price tag of $800,000.
* A portable theatre venue to rival the traditional European spiegeltent is developed by Adelaide Fringe presenter Gluttony.
Reclaim The Streets rally creates mobile festival
This weekend’s Reclaim The Streets rally in Newtown in Sydney – protesting not only the city’s lockout policy but also the environmental and financial impact caused by the $16.8 billion Westconnex road project – will stage a mobile festival to show the good that public space can be used for instead. Multiple sound stages will host all styles of music including drum n’ bass, sexy queer electro, techno, reggae, hardcore and 70s retro.
‘The NSW Government has shown contempt for democracy with a series of policies that line the pockets of the wealthy and disempower the public,’ Reclaim The Streets spokesperson James James said. This protest is about who gets to use public space, and who gets a say in what a liveable city is.”
Reclaim The Streets meets at Camperdown Memorial Park in Newtown on December 12 at 2pm and leaves soon after.
Australians walking to Memphis for Blues Challenge
Eight Australian acts will join 260 acts from around the world to compete in the 32nd International Blues Challenge, held in Memphis January 26-30. Two locals have already won, Fiona Boyes in 2003 and Jimi Hocking in 2005. This year the challenge also includes daytime showcases.
The Australian acts competing will be:
Adelaide Roots & Blues Association (SA): Lazy Eye (band category), Mick Kidd & Dave Blight (solo/duo category).
Blues At Bridgetown Incorporated (WA): Zack Linton Band/ Mindfreak.
Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society (VIC): Dreamboogie / Miss Whiskey.
Sydney Blues Society (NSW): Matt Roberts Trio/ Christine O.
85 regional grants announced
The second round of the Federal Government’s Regional Arts Fund Program – a total of $1,231,217 – will benefit 85 national projects in regional, remote and very remote communities. These cover all disciplines including music, Full list at regionalarts.com.au.
4ZZZ celebrates 40th
Influential Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ winds up its 10 day celebrations of its 40th anniversary on December 13. Its official birthday is today (December 8). Celebrations include a news and current affairs retro (including a rebroadcast of their first 1975 broadcast at midday), 40 years of Brisbane music, the return of former announcers, a night market and a reunion dinner.
At the AACTA Industry Dinner
Winners at the AACTA Industry Dinner included two wins by Not The Boy Next Door, the Peter Allen biopic on Seven Network. Episode 2 won Shawn Seet a gong for best direction in a TV drama or comedy, while Episode 1 won Jenny Miles the best costume design in television.
Junkie XL (aka Tom Holkenborg) grabbed best original music score for Mad Max: Fury Road in the film section. Antony Partos similarly won the documentary section for his Sherpa score, and Cornel Wilczek in the TV equivalent for his score in Episode 4 of ABC-TV’s Glitch.
Major names for Australian Open concerts
Major and emerging names are booked for daily concerts at Melbourne Park January 18 to 31 during the 2016 Australian Open. Names include Dan Sultan, Katie Noonan’s Vanguard, Diesel, James Reyne, British India, Saskwatch, The Pierce Bros, Jackie Onassis and Hot Dub Time Machine.
Dead Daisies hit Paris
Austro-US band Dead Daisies played a headliner before a sell-out crowd at the Divan Du Monde in Paris. “It’s always very special to be in the magical City of Lights, PARIS!!” said Marco Mendoza. “The bright lights have been dimmed a bit these past few weeks, so now celebrating life, music, peace & love has become more important recently, so sharing a few moments with our fans in France and spreading joy…through our music is what we will do.”
The band are currently touring Europe with Whitesnake and Judas Priest, after which they do their own tours of the UK and Israel for three shows before Christmas. New single With You And I makes a statement about refugees, religious conflicts, wars, climate change and corruption in our society.
$2.4 million funding for 15 screen offerings
The Victorian State Government provided funding for 15 television, film and online screen productions. These include season 6 of Offspring and the Gurrumul Yunupingu doco Gurrumul Elcho Dreaming. Also, Emo (The Musical) makes its transition from short film to feature, and Dance Academy The Comeback is a feature length film based on the award-winning series that follows Tara Webster’s comeback following a crippling injury. Full list of successful projects supported at www.film.vic.gov.au.
Festivals Update: new brands, woes, sell-outs
* Sydney becomes the second Australian city to host Piknic Electronik this summer. The weekly outdoor event with a curated bill of DJs and producers launched in Montreal in 2003 and expanded to Barcelona in 2012, before being trialled in Melbourne early this year.
* Melbourne’s inaugural The Bureau at Myer Music Bowl this Friday is cancelled. It was to have included Charles Bradley & The Temptations, Saskwatch, Andy Bull and Cookin’ On 3 Burners. Promoters Dagger Wolf cited “lack of support and ticket sales.” While Arts Centre Melbourne’s ticketing office posted the festival won’t be rescheduled, the promoters said they hope to stage it in March in another venue.
* Five patrons at Earthcore in central Victoria were nicked for drugs, with police saying others were hospitalised, 12 cautioned for possession of cannabis and two issued drug diversion notices. A mini tornado or willy-willy whipped through the site, instantly dubbed ’Doofnado’ and footage went viral online as festival freaks hailed the new experience dancing alongside it!
* Stereosonic Brisbane created more headlines, with 125 cited on drug related charges, five with supplying, and 19 hospitalised with overdoses. Two 20-year old Noosa men were cited for being public nuisances after they clambered up to the roof of a building.
* Just before their sets at VanFest in Forbes, Peking Duk and Stacie Todd were taken on a joyride in the Red Bull stunt plane which entertained the crowd with flips, corkscrews and tricks. The Duk were still talking about their fan David Spargo who made world news after gatecrashing their gig in Melbourne by fooling security guards. He edited the Duk’s Wikipedia page to add himself as a family member and got let into the launch party for Heineken’s James Bond tie-in. The Duk had drinks with him after, Adam Hyde explaining it was “the most genius, mastermind move that I’ve ever witnessed.”
* Beyond The Valley’s move in its second year to Warragul in regional Victoria hasn’t affected customer interest. Organisers said the event has sold out.
* The 19th edition of Queenscliff Music Festival in coastal Victoria drew 15,000 over three days, up and dancing to the end. Headliners were Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Dempsey, Ron Sexsmith, Kate Miller-Heidke and Angus & Julia Stone.
* Tomorrow’s People all-ages Sydney festival on Saturday January 23 at The Lair includes hip hop artist Dylan Joel, E^ST, electronic producer Kilter and UV boi فوق بنفسجي.
Number Crunching
10 platinum certified in the US for Lady Gaga’s chart topping Poker Face. It is her second diamond award, after Bad Romance in 2013.
2700 submissions made to the Senate committee inquiry into the impact of arts funding cuts … so much so that the parliamentary website went into meltdown.
65,719 copies of Adele’s 25 in its second week in Australia, according to Noise 11, bringing the locally tally to 191,782. Of these 72% were sold on CD format. In the US, American second week sales were 1.1 million and 439, 337 in the UK.
63% rise in sales for artists winning or performing at the American Music Awards.
Vale
Keith Urban says that his father Rob was one of his biggest supporters early in his career. “My Dad’s love of country music and America set me on my life’s journey, and shaped so much of who I am today.” Rob believed his son should dress as a performer, and designed his clothes. Rob once buying a Hank Williams record without hearing it first because “he knew it would be good” inspired the son to make those kind of records in the future. Rob Urban died on the weekend after a long battle with cancer.
Ralph Taylor was a pioneer of Australia’s commercial radio. He said his career highlight was setting up the first commercial radio station on the Gold Coast 45 years ago, becoming the first General Manager of 4GG (now known as Gold FM and part of the Southern Cross Austereo stable). With Taylor’s flair for showbiz and glam, it became known for attracting some of the best international names and with a great workplace environment. He passed last Friday in his sleep at Gold Coast University Hospital aged 87.
And A Few Other Things …
The first residential workshop for AMIN’s six month program RELEASE – The Business of Label Management was held in Victoria and attended by 15 Australian and NZ independent label heads and senior managers.
AIR CEO Dan Nevin attended the workshop and had this to say: “Firstly, it was great to see so many label heads in one room working together. It was also fantastic to see such a high level of advice and information being given to them by some very impressive advisors. Some of what I saw was quite challenging for participants but the feedback from them was overwhelmingly positive. RELEASE is a truly unique and great initiative!”
It wasn’t just the media that Taylor Swift’s goons unceremoniously threw off Hamilton Island. A P&O cruise ship that regularly docks there was also told it’d have to go to another island. Meantime, the 42 comp winners at Swift’s Nova Red gig were each given a gift from Swift and a meet and greet after.
The set at the Yacht Club began with Blank Space on acoustic guitar, the new Out of The Woods on piano and then back to guitar for Wildest Dreams and Shake It Off. Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa asked her later about playing to 76,000 in Sydney, a record for an entertainer since the Sydney Olympics and the biggest crowd on her world tour. “I (could) see them, that’s good. I didn’t know about any records being broken, that’s very exciting guys,” Swift responded.
Ed Sheeran was also creating heart flutterings in Far North Queensland. After his Brisbane show, he and his entourage took a boat tour of the Daintree River. A fan, getting on the boat after his trip finished, was so excited at seeing him that she went and sat where he had. Sheeran doesn’t seem to have taken up on the breathless invitation from Tourism Tropical North Queensland for a VIP trip through the Great Barrier Reef after the troubadour told Sunrise earlier this year he wanted to visit the Reef.
X Factor was among the shows attributed by Southern Cross Television for why ratings showed it dominate Tasmania’s television market with 50.4% share.
As major sponsor of the Mumbrella360 conference in June, PwC’s Megan Brownlow will present its Australian Entertainment and Media Outlook report at the final session.
Iggy Azalea took to Twitter to respond to Erykah Badu’s diss at the Soul Train Awards that her music is “definitely not rap”. The Ig scribbled, “We are days from 2016, but I came online today and saw it’s still cool to try and discredit my 2014 accomplishments. LOL, fucking hell. Seems exhausting. Anyway – I’ve been enjoying the holiday season and I hope you all have too.” Her album is virtually finished, except she is “trying to restructure some things to work smoother and better for me”, which will “take a few weeks”.
Just back from the US from pow-wows with major labels is 23-year-old Sydney-based singer/producer William Singe. The breakout act has through his uploading of covers racked in 100+ million video views, 20 million Spotify streams, praise from One Direction and 2 million Facebook followers. A recent US tour sold out immediately, with Over Agency & The Harbour Agency putting him on his first Australian and New Zealand dates January 21 to 25.
The Melbourne music community is celebrating the 70th birthday of Paul Drane, video maker (including the famous one of AC/DC playing on a flat truck along Swanston Street) and TV director including Countdown and currently Rockwiz. On January 16, the Tote hosts Right There On My TV where cult bands do covers of songs he’s associated with.
The Beards are making the world safe again for men with no partiality for facial hair, by deciding to split up. They do a 35-date farewell tour early next year. However singer Johann Beardraven warns, “We’ll now be moving on to Phase Two of our pro-beard operation”, whatever that could mean.
When Newcastle country singer songwriter Catherine Britt was in her teens, Elton John was one of her first international supporters, which ultimately led to a deal with RCA and a sojourn in Nashville. When the piano man played the Hunter Valley last Saturday night, Britt and her family attended. He dedicated Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me to her and met with her afterwards, during which he asked about her battle with breast cancer and told her she’d beat it.
The Veronicas’ Jessica Origliasso, who in mid-October put her apartment in Brisbane’s inner city Fortitude Valley for sale before relocating back to Los Angeles, got $599,000 for it.
Now that she’s graduated from high school in Byron Bay, former The Voice contestant Cecilia Brandolini is moving to Sydney to teach homeless people to busk. She’s begun a crowd funding campaign at https://http://www.gofundme.com/Homeless to raise $2000 to buy equipment for the project.
Among the 25 nominees for NSW’s Clarence Valley Australia Day Awards is sight-impaired country music radio presenter Kellie Jones.