Industrial Strength: December 1
More calls for pill-testing at festivals after Stereosonic death
Yet another death at a music festival, this time at Stereosonic, has intensified calls for pill testing facilities at such events. Canberra-based emergency physician David Caldicott says it is imperative festival patrons check pills they are about to take, and that governments should fund these. The idea is that a patron puts the pill for analysis. After 45 minutes, a public message is flashed around the site as a public health announcement without identifying the patron.
NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge said bins should be placed around sites where patrons could throw drugs out without fear of prosecution.
A number of festival promoters told Industrial Strength, on condition of anonymity, that they would support the initiative because tests in Europe showed that one third of people who had their drugs tested did not then consume them. Australian Police encourage promoters to try various safety options but are not convinced of these tests’ reliability.
Nine Network’s 60 Minutes had in August already pushed for a common sense approach to music fans taking pills. The show noted Australia had the highest intake of ecstasy per capita. Dutch drug-testing expert Ninette Van Hasselt told 60 Minutes of the large difference in pill-popping in Australia and Europe. She said, “They’re not very much concerned with what they take [in Australia]. They don’t have an idea of the real contents of what they’re taking.”
Digital industry association AIMIA in administration
After leading Australia’s digital industry since 1992, the not-for-profit Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMA) has gone into administration and looks like being wound up on December 21. It said it could not raise enough money from members to remain viable. However as a final hurrah, it will hold its March 31 AIMA Awards for which judging has commenced.
Report #1: Creative Industries Taskforce
The Creative Industries Taskforce, chaired by Louise Adler, has handed over to Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley a report with 42 initiatives for government to consider. The Taskforce believes these would make Victoria a more creative state and Melbourne a global city. It would also grow Victoria’s $23 billion creative and cultural economy.
The Taskforce got feedback from almost 10,000 members of the creative sector and also looked at international models. The 42 initiatives, taskforce report and a summary of consultation are at strategy.creative.vic.gov.au. Among its recommendations:
Fellowships to advance careers at key points
A Commissioning Fund to generate landmark works
Increasing professional placements, on-the-job-training and secondment opportunities
Accelerator programs for entrepreneurs
Co-working spaces and hubs that activate under-utilised spaces for creative use
Funding for international exposure and global networking
Foley will establish and chair a Creative Industries Council to oversee the implementation of the government’s strategy. He said, “Through the Taskforce’s extensive work, it is clear that Victorians understand the immense value of our creative industries and their capacity to deliver cultural, social and economic benefits for the state. We will use this report as a launching pad to deliver a creative industries plan to build the jobs, opportunities and experiences of the future.”
Report #2: IAB/Nielsen on smartphone browsing
The latest IAB Australia and Nielsen Mobile Ratings Report showed that smartphone browsing by Australians over 18 is now 35 hours a month. Mobiles are the preferred devices to browse and interconnect with apps. 8.6 million viewed video/movie content on smartphones, compared to 4.8 million on a tablet. But once engaged, Aussies spent two hours consuming video content and 1 hour on a smartphone.
Tasmania invests in its artists…
Music recipients of Arts Tasmania’s $400,000 Artist Investment Program 2016 included $11,000 for Emma Anglesey to tour nationally behind her album, $7400 for a concert and recording by the Tom Vincent Eleventet, $8782 for Shan Deng’s residency at the Banff Centre, $22,000 for Frances Butler, Helen Thomson, Julie Gough and Greg Lehman towards A Tasmanian Requiem, $10,000 for Jed Appleton to record an album, and $14,939 for David Johnstone to record an album with Mama K and The Big Love.
..but lockout muttering begin
Just as Queensland and ACT’s live music sectors try to hose down lockout moves, the same has begun in Tasmania. The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation say their statistics of growing violence could be decreased through lockout laws.
The Tasmanian Hospitality Association approach to the situation was to last year suggest bans of six months for rowdy patrons, from entertainment precincts for serial pests, and from a 50m zone around the venue for anyone ejected.
Four new venues across the country
There are four more spaces for musicians to play, with two in WA and two in NSW.
Fremantle-based Sunset Events received approval to launch J-Shed at Fremantle’s Bathers Beach. It is for an initial two years while Sunset awaits a 21-year lease for the site. The warehouse project is capped to 1,000 patrons. From January it will host touring and local acts, DJs, BBQs and local arts and food. There is a long-term plan for a microbrewery, said Sunset founder David Chitty.
New Mexican-style bar El Grotto in Scarborough opens this Friday (December 4) also as a music space. It will showcase live bands, DJs and EDM acts within a Mexican ambience and beachside location.
Last weekend Fort Denison Island in Sydney Harbour began Sunset Sessions over the summer period at the restaurant. The music is R&B and acid jazz.
On its 10th anniversary, Rowena Crittle’s Mammoth agency and merchandise set up a 350-capacity music venue-creative space at its Marrickville office. Acts can play, showcase and have signings there.
The Lewisham suddenly closing
In a shock announcement, Sydney’s The Lewisham Hotel closes tomorrow (Wed) which means acts have to scramble to find alternative venues for confirmed gigs/
Venues violence drops by 84% in NSW
The amount of violence in venues across NSW has dropped sixfold, Justice and Police Minister Troy Grant reported as he unveiled the state’s annual list of most violent venues. When the ‘name ’em shame ‘em’ list began in 2008, there were 1,270 incidents across 48 venues. Now there are only 200 in 400 between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.
The Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour was named the most violent in the state with 21 incidents. Its owner Daniel Knox called its rating “disappointing” as most of the incidents took place last year under previous operators. He said the hotel has since introduced a ID scanner, serves free water and increased CCTV.
Sydney’s Home nightclub was the second Level 1 venue on the list, now having to abide strict rules including a 1.30 am, a limit of four drinks per customer after midnight, more security teams, more CCTV and digital recording devices. Home replaced Ivy on the list with 19 incidents, while Ivy dropped to #7 with 14.
More venues update: strange places, court stoushes, sales
* Adelaide’s new Brickworks Marketplace is the venue for acoustic performers on Thursdays and Saturdays. It is part of music association MusicSA’s new Live in Brick Lane series which extends through 2016.
* The eight year case between Cairns nightclub Gilligan’s and its former catering company Mad Dogs is back in the Supreme Court. The latest is for lawyers to negotiate the amount owed by the club after it terminated in 2007 Mad Dogs’ agreement to run a food outlet there. The court earlier found Gilligan used bullying, standover tactics and intimidation to walk away from the agreement, and will have to foot Mad Dogs’ legal costs.
* Two Perth venues are up for sale: the Brisbane Hotel in Beaufort St and sister venue The Boulevard pub in Floreat.
* The South Australian Government’s change to liquor laws allowing patrons to drink alcohol while standing outside, has caused a problem with the Charles Sturt Council. After the live music showcasing Ramsgate Hotel in Henley Square applied for a licence for this, Council decided it would call on community and police consultation on how much disruption the new law would cause.
Thorpe scholarship deadline extended
The deadline for applications for Arts Queensland’s 2016 Billy Thorpe Scholarship. Is extended to Sunday December 6. The $10,000 grant is for the state’s emerging creative to extend their career. $4,000 of this will be to record with a producer and a meeting with a representative from tour promoter and management company Chugg Entertainment.
Biteable attracts $1.1m investment
Hobart start-up Biteable which allows Australian businesses to create their own animation promotional videos, has had $1.1 million worth of investment from a group of Australian companies including Tank Stream Ventures and BridgeLane Capital. Biteable says that since setting up last year, 90,000 users have created 100,000 videos.
Adelaide Festival shoots past $1 million first month
Adelaide Festival sales are tracking quicker than past years, reports CEO Karen Bryant. In its first month, it hit $1 million, buoyed by box office response to three exclusive shows. Pina Bausch’s Nelken is now the fastest selling dance show in the festival’s 55-year history, reaching 74% of box office in eight weeks. Theatre sales are also strong with Scottish theatrical blockbuster The James Plays well over halfway to its target. Groupe F’s audio-visual spectacular A Fleur de Peau has already sold 18,000 (10,000 in the first three days) with 2000 extra tix added to the Adelaide Oval surface.
New visa service company sets up
OKRA Migration is a new entertainment visa advice & services company for artists and tour personnel looking to travel to and perform or work in Australia. A registered migration agent will take the hassles out of the visa process and organise your visas. Contact Tom Noonan at [email protected] or www.okramigration.com.
Behind The Videos: Wren, Ecca Vandal, Pepa Knight
* While Sydney singer songwriter Wren drops her new video for Alive from her debut EP Raw, her earlier video for Soldiers continues to roll in international acclaim. Most recently, it won Best Music Video at the Apex Short Film + Music Video Festival in America as well as being included in 10 other film festivals throughout Europe and America. It was nominated for the LA New Wave International Film Festival and the LA CineFest, and screened at Munich’s Underground Film Festival and New York’s Anthology Theatre in July as part of New Filmmakers New York.
* Ecca Vandal’s new vid for End Of Time had to be done in a day as director Matt Chuang had to fly to Poland for the Camerimage festival as a nominee for Best Music Video. “It was super impromptu,” she told Industrial Strength. “We planned a little in the week leading up to the shoot and had a few key markers. But we improvised a lot on the day of shooting. Matt was also shooting, so there was a nice unpredictability between performance and camera-motion as neither of us knew what each other were going to do!”
One scene saw her being hoisted high above a concrete floor by safety crew member Zero, “My own personal super hero for the day”, who also had a flight to catch. What made the video work, she contends, was having on board choreographer Vanessa Marian, dancer Tarik Frimpong, editor Andrew Stalph and colourist Rosyln Di Sisto who worked on Drake’s landmark Hotling Bling clip. End Of Time comes as Ecca heads out in February for a 7-date national tour previewing material from her debut long player via Dew Process / UMA.
* Following acclaim for his solo ambient take on Tame Impala’s Eventually (complete with lutes, resonator guitars, flute and glockenspiel), Jinja Safari songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Pepa Knight had to put out an accompanying video. It was shot on iPhone during a journey through Morocco.
“I was working on the final touches of the cover when I was in Morocco for a month. I covered a lot of ground from Casablanca to the all-blue-town Chefchaouen, the Sahara Desert, Taghazout and everywhere in between. There was a lot of time to think on these jeep rides and trains from place to place, and it became really therapeutic for me working on this song while these landscapes were rolling by.”
Meanwhile at the ATOM Awards
The video for NSW Central Coast band Elliot The Bull’s Colourblind – by Melbourne director Samuel Lewis and animation experts Oh Yeah Wow – has had a second win. After winning the St. Kilda Festival’s music video competition SoundKILDA in March, it has now taken out Best Music Video at the ATOM awards, which recognise film excellence in the education and screen sectors.
Kelrick Martin, Spear Point Productions and Beyond West’s Prison Songs took Best Indigenous Resource. Taking Best Documentary – Arts was Gillian Armstrong’s Women He’s Undressed about Hollywood designer Orry-Kelly.
More funding for Victorian arts organisations
After arts budgets cuts by the Federal government, the Vic government has changed the rules for Creative Victoria’s Organisations Investment Program. Grants are now $60,000 (up from $40,000). They are also extended to small and medium organisations for four years. The 2017-2020 round opens in March at creative.vic.gov.au/organisations.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley pointed out, “Independent arts organisations are at the heart of Victoria’s thriving arts and cultural sector and our reputation as a creative state. They provide important employment opportunities for artists and other industry professionals, and a wide range of cultural and creative experiences for Victorians.”
App for NSW arts lovers with disabilities
The City of Sydney is sponsoring a new pocket guide, website and training pilot program to allow people with disability or accessibility needs to more easily attend arts and culture events. Produced by Accessible Arts, the new ‘Z-card’ printed brochure and site provides venue information on access and inclusion programs, including audio-described and Auslan-interpreted performances and accessible amenities as wheelchair and hearing-loop access.
Folk MaD SA going online
Folk MaD SA (aka Folk Music and Dance SA is in February launching an online portal at http://folkmadsa.com/ that includes a gig guide, directories for clubs, venues, studios and artists, and a calendar of events.
Increasing the value of the arts
How do you convey the value of arts and culture to the rest of society? That’s a theme addressed by the 41st International Conference of Social Theory, Politics and the Arts held in the University of SA in Adelaide December 10-12. Opening keynote addresses by Distinguished Professor of Economics at Macquarie University, David Throsby and Professor Julian Meyrick from Flinders University will explore the theme of measuring the value of arts and culture.
Doco festival looks at truth
Perth community radio station RTRFM’s third music documentary festival Gimme Some Truth runs December 4 to 9 at Leederville’s Luna outdoor. It kicks off with We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo, which traces Latin music in New York from the ‘60s to its present resurgence.
Other titles are Darwin indigenous inmates expressing their stories in Prison Songs, the hounding of Mali musicians by Islamic extremists in They Will Have to Kill Us First, while In Her Aim is about fashion photographer Jini Dellaccio’s efforts in 1960s rock. Barr None: The Peter Barr Story follows the Perth radio presenter’s final week on air, field recorder and historian Alan Lomax’s story is depicted in The 78 Project and Y/ Our Music surveys traditional Thai music.
NT opens up for quick response, community, grants
The Northern Territory Arts Grants Program Community Festivals and Quick Response Grants are open for 2015-16. Regional and remote community festivals that showcase and encourage community participation can get up to $10,000. Musicians who find an event coming up that can help their career and need a quick response grant can get up to $1500. Applicants are encouraged to contact an Arts Broker on 1800 678 237 or email [email protected].
Festivals Update: wins, drugs, cancellations, pop ups
* At the Australian Event Awards, Vivid Sydney beat Bluesfest Byron Bay for Best Tourism Event while the Argyle Diamonds Ord Valley Muster in Ord Valley sure-shotted Best Regional Event over Blues on Broadbeach, Falls Marion Bay and Bluesfest. The Glow Winter Arts Festival, City of Stonnington, took Best New Event. Best Achievement in Venue Management went to Luna Park Sydney.
* Strawberry Fields in regional Victoria drew a record attendance of 5500, said Festival Director Tara Benney. In its seventh year its move to a larger venue on the Murray River drew a larger crowd, with local businesses reporting a boost in trade. Benney says the festival will make a donation to the local Rural Fire Service and donate artwork to Finley High School. There were also 200 who got busted for drugs, which the mainstream media already reported.
* Pop up festival OZFEST returns to the Sunshine Coast during the Australia Day weekend at Waterfront Hotel, with Seth Sentry, San Cisco and Saskwatch.
* In New Zealand, the inaugural Echo Festival was axed after low ticket sales while Raggamuffin dropped Beenie Man. Promoters approached by the gay community about the Jamaican artist’s past homophobic lyrics and comments, provided the chance to retract the comments. But Beenie Man did not respond.
* Another Melbourne New Years Eve bash is the Alumbra-presented Passport To Brooklyn at Docklands with RnB beats and major DJs.
* Brisbane Festival has a range of jobs including Artistic Administrator, Marketing Coordinator and two Business Development roles. See brisbanefestival.com.au
Number Crunching
£35 million in emergency aid requested by the Paris live music industry following the recent shootings, after which clubs’ trade fell off by 80% according to Prodiss, the National Union of Producers, Distributors and Theatres.
3 year “secret” revealed by the Woodford Folk Festival, which says this year’s poster took that long to be designed by in-house artist Gavin Ryan.
40 minutes to sell out Star FM Albury’s ’Year of Meat’ calendar, causing a second print to be rushed through.
Vale
Geelong born Monique Denahy worked as announcer on radio at 3GL Geelong and 3UZ Melbourne as well as Seven’s Fast Forward, until 1994 before she moved to Asia and then America. She ended in an abusive relationship with a 55-year old real estate agent whom she shared a house with in Florida. When the 49-year old told him she was returning to Australia to rejoin her children and parents, police say he strangled her before killing himself.
Donovan “DJ Dono” Mileham was a Sydney club DJ who appeared on the fringes of the scene in the 1990s when it was still staged in warehouses and factories. However he drifted away but, according to Facebook postings, remained in the insalubrious part of its lifestyle. On November 16, his body was found in a five-star hotel suite booked under his name (but paid by someone else) where a party had been held, after bleeding to death from a gunshot to his knee. A 30-year was arrested and charged with his murder. Postings described Mileham, in his 40s, as a good hearted man who made wrong decisions.
New Zealand songwriter Rudy Sunde began playing banjo-mandolin at 10, and wrote songs as Seasons In The Valley which was adopted as the Oratia School song. In between running a vineyard and following his love of archaeology, he released albums Seasons In The Valley and Songs Of New Zealand through Ode Record Company, and formed the Maritime Crew to perform sea shanties. He helped set up the Titirangi Folk Music Club in 1964 and was its President for 21 years. He died at 88 from leukaemia.
And A Few Other Things…
Taylor Swift’s Australian visit has been hectic to say the least. After playing to 76,000 at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium last Saturday, next day she was back in New Zealand to continue the shoot for her next video. Her private plane was met by three SUVs who transferred the singer and her entourage to their hotel in Queenstown. The Captains restaurant posted a shot of the singer dining there that night, along with a photo of a stunned wide-mouthed waiter having “oh my God” palpitations as he recognised his celeb patron.
Swift stopped in New Zealand en route to Australia from LA to begin the shoot. One of the locations was the rugged Bethells Beach, and the crew had to apologise after conservation activists complained they intruded on the nesting area of the protected dotterel bird. Swift’s next show is this Saturday in Brisbane.
Tasmanian DJ Tim Franklin’s funeral was a fine affair, with his coffin arriving on the back of a Harley Davison and the Premier among those paying tribute.
Kate Miller-Heidke teamed with The Beards for a Christmas charity single. I’m Growing A Beard Downstairs For Christmas is to raise money for Bowel Cancer Australia which each year holds Decembeard for Aussies to grow their beards.
Miller-Heidke admits the track came about for more than charity reasons or her “sick love” for Christmas ditties. “The Beards opened for me on tour a couple of years ago, and some of their fans heckled me for not having a beard. This song is my revenge on them.” She performed The Beards’ You Should Consider Having Sex With A Bearded Man on stage at the 2012 APRA Awards, and had no problem asking the band’s singer Johann Beardraven and his trusty saxophone to the studio. “It’s my dream that it gets played at Westfield during extended Christmas shopping hours.”
Crosstown Traffic: fans heading on Friday evening to Subiaco Oval for AC/DC’s Perth show were disrupted after a bomb scare at the Aviary bar saw police evacuate local businesses on busy William Street for an hour.
In the meantime, thousands of tired Gold Coast fans among the 50,000 at Ed Sheeran’s Brisbane show at Lang Park had their own highway to hell, with a one hour wait to get home. There was a massive routine police road safety operation on the M1 afterwards causing lengthy queues.
A co-headlining run through Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane this week by Jarryd James and Meg Mac sold out.
When Canberra’s Dance Central celebrated its 10th anniversary on the weekend with a bash, one of its students flew back from LA – Alex Carson, currently a dancer on Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable World Tour.
We’ve got Townsville country singer songwriter Jade Holland up for Interview of the Year. During a 10-day tour of China, and just after she played the Foshan Autumn Colour Festival before a million, she was interviewed by the local radio station. The interviewer spoke no English and Holland can’t speak Cantonese.
US hip hoppers The Outlawz and Aussie tour promoter HiphopTV are embroiled in a public exchange of words after their tour was cancelled at the last minute. The Outlawz called Fady Atalla “Australia’s jankiest promoter”. Atalla responded he told the Outlawz from the start he didn’t have much capital and marketing would depend on ticket sales, which then proved to be lacklustre.
The $37.5 million Gold Coast Cultural Precinct won’t open until 2018. But it’s already got its first tenant. The Brisbane-based Music Industry College will set up a campus in the four-storey building for Gold Coast and northern NSW students.
Saran Bajaj, operator of Perth’s Shape nightclub and the Origin NYE Festival, is about to face charges, says The Weekend West. It has to do with a November 7 incident when Bajaj’s luxury $250,000 Audi allegedly crashed into a number of cars in Attadale and left him in hospital. The paper says results of blood tests this week will determine what charges will be laid against the 30 year old.
Irish band The Coronas finally made it to play New Zealand after all before they hit Australia this week. Singer Danny O’Reilly was a bit apprehensive, telling friends he was a “wanted man” there. 30 years ago when he travelled there with friends, he picked up a speeding ticket he never paid.
Major Lazer also had a drama in NZ before their current Australian dates, although not of their doing. Police are investigating a report by an Auckland woman that just as they took to the stage at the sold-out Our:House dance party at Mt Smart Stadium, a group of men pulled her top down and groped her.
Pay-TV industry body ASTRA has scrapped its dedicated 13-year old awards as a stand-alone. It is folded into the film industry’s six year old AACTA awards. ASTRA CEO Andrew Maiden explained that with pay-TV now 20 years in this country, “The time is right for subscription television content to compete with the best in Australia for the nation’s highest accolade.”
Even on its release in the 1960s, British comedian Charlie Drake’s My Boomerang Won’t Come Back was offensive to Aborigines. Nevertheless enough people thought the tale of a dumb indigenous boy such a rib-tickler that it hit #1 in Australia (December 1962), #3 in Canada and #21 in the US. It reached #14 in Britain but only after the BBC insisted the line “black in the face” be changed to “blue in the face.”
Now the ABC has, after a complaint from Tasmania, pulled it off its playlist. “The broadcast of My Boomerang Won’t Come Back was not in keeping with the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence,” the Audience and Consumer Affairs Department said. “There was no editorial justification for playing it.”