Industrial Strength: Jan 27

Another music festival cancelled over fire risks

Tasmania’s inaugural Marshmelody festival was the latest victim of bushfire risk. It was scheduled be held over three days over the last weekend at Jackeys Marsh in the foothills of the Great Western Tiers. But an out of control fire that has ripped through thousands of hectares at Lake Mackenzie lead the State Emergency Services to ask promoters to cancel. Over 150 artists including headliner Claire Bowditch and The Embers, were affected.

A few days before, 200 concerned residents had held a meeting calling for the festival to be axed. Their fear was that a carelessly flung cigarette by a punter would set the region alight.

Despite apprehensions about Rainbow Serpent, the festival went ahead in the Victorian countryside on the weekend.

Flume heading back overseas

After playing Laneway’s Singapore, New Zealand and Australian shows this month, Flume is heading for more overseas dates. Between March 16 and 18, he plays clubs in London, Paris and Brussels. After that, it’s off to the US for two sets at the Coachella festival (April 17 and 24), and the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores in Alabama on May 20. Meantime he’s dropped a new track Never Be Like You (featuring Kai) from his forthcoming Skin album at facebook.com.

WAM Song Of The Year deadline extended

The deadline for entry to the WAM Song Of The Year is 11 am on Thursday January 28. There are 16 categories offering $40,000 worth of prizes.

Organiser WAM has unveiled its first list of judges. They include reps from Association of Artist Managers, Live Music Office, Earache Records, Pilerats, Monster Management, Firestarter, Nannup Music Festival, Perfect Pitch Publishing, Gun Fever Music, national and WA community radio and street press as well as artists as Mudhoney, Lubricated Goat, You Am I, Pendulum, Birds of Tokyo and Eskimo Joe.

AAM launches research survey

The Association of Artist Managers (AAM) is conducting an online survey to collate the needs and backgrounds of managers of artists, bands and DJs as well as self-managed artists. All of these are encouraged to take part via http://www.aam.org.auuntil Friday February 12.

The association’s Vice Chair Rick Chazan said, “This is the first ever comprehensive study of Australian managers, and the results will be used to provide a much needed understanding of the management sector. The results will be distributed to peak bodies and government departments in order to support new opportunities for managers and the greater music business community in Australia.”

Six SA acts rev up for Clipsal 500 concert series

Music SA chose six South Australian acts out of 134 applications to perform at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide’s Bands On Track concert series.

Friday March 4 sees electro pop duo Nakatomi and alt rock Cabin Cults opening for EDM acts Peking Duk, Sneaky Sound System, Slumberjack, Benson and Keyes.

Icehouse and The Church (Saturday May 5) are joined by alt-rock Koral & The Goodbye Horses and psychedelic rock Glass Skies.

Folk-blues Wasted Wanderers and indie pop Thom Lion & The Tamers open for Rob Thomas, Pete Murray and The Black Sorrows feat. Vika & Linda Bull on Sunday March 6.

Judges were from Warner Music, the Grace Emily Hotel and The AU Review. Music SA GM Lisa Bishop said the acts get “a brilliant opportunity … to support internationally successful artists with award winning careers. It’s going to be an unforgettable weekend of live and local music.”

Launching Pad #1: Gigger booking platform

New Perth startup Gigger launched its online gig booking platform with nearly 200 local acts on board. It helps bands to find gigs and who’s booking them, promoters to organise shows and venues to host live music. It’s a boon for promoters: rather than spend hours hunting for links on Facebook, Bandcamp or Soundcloud to find what a band sounds like, Gigger puts these all in a single page, with booking them “just a button click away”, says CEO and founder Anthony Manning-Franklin.

Manning-Franklin previously ran direct-to-fan music distribution platform Farugi and recording studio Midas Touch Studios, and played in several bands. He formed Gigger in mid 2015 with UX designer Kristy Davis, and soon joined by singer, venue booker and artist manager Laith Tierney.

Launching Pad #2: Brain Drain PR

Brain Drain PR was set up by Rice Is Nice Records founder Julia Wilson and the label’s publicist Charlie Ellison. The idea is to tailor each campaign in an artist friendly manner. Ellison told Industrial Strength that “Doing PR for our roster and supporting them where they needed it which led us to the idea that we’d love to help other unique artists weren’t necessarily signed to our label.”

Videos Update: Dan Kelly, KLP, Elizabeth Rose

* Dan Kelly’s new single Everything’s Amazing!, the second track off the AMP longlisted Leisure Panic, comes with a video directed by Sunny Leunig. Kelly told Industrial Strength, “The song is about Byron Bay and the general amazingness of people’s experience up on the north coast holiday trail. I wanted to make a roots lifestyle/EDM video where i just douche about trying to be a guru and the universe shines around me.

“But I also wanted the romance of the lyrics to come through. So the trick was not to be too cynical but not entirely sincere either. General confusion ensues. I also wanted to play synthesizer in a rainforest stream with my excellent hula hooping crew and have lots of crystal dolphins and some fried chicken too, which we achieved, I’m happy to say.”

The shoot also took in the Redwood forests of Victoria’s Great Ocean Road around Wye River (half the town burned down a week later) and behind Apollo Bay which where German backpackers joined in dancing with Kelly and the hula hooping yoga girls in the forest.

The footage from tropical Cambodia came from Maddy and Memphis Kelly who are a key part of the song. They were away on holiday during the shoot so Kelly asked them to send footage on their iPhones. “It turns out they were in Cambodia doing group yoga on rafts, which was just perfect. They’d also independently worked out the little amazing hand dance I do in the chorus and sent me versions of them jumping out from behind palm trees singing . It was a really great addition to the clip and kind of brings an innocence and sense of wonder to the video… I think.”

* After the release of her single Recover featuring Remi late last year, KLP set herself a challenge and step away from her usual live show setup. She stripped everything back and employed the help of friends Art Vs Science to create a 100% live version of Recover. KLP will support the trio on their upcoming March national tour.

On performing live, KLP says, “There’s no bigger thrill for me than getting up in front of an audience with a microphone in my hand. It’s addictive and I try to throw everything into it! If I don’t walk off the stage dripping with sweat, then I didn’t give it enough.”

* In the run up to the March 4 release of her debut album Intra, Elizabeth Rose put together a Making Of clip. Collaborators include Chrome Sparks, Seekae’s George Nicholas, M-Phazes and Remi.

The fly on the wall piece captures the drive and hard work that went into sessions as Rose walks viewers through key tracks. “There are 12 songs on the album and I wanted to push myself with each one, with what I would write about, topic-wise – marriage equality, wars and gun violence, anxiety with social media. And then there’s songs about intimate relationships and trust.”

* For the Lagoon clip, Adelaide’s Jesse Davidson got his drummer James Haskard to film around the Adelaide foothills and Brighton Beach. As the titular Lizard Boy, he plays instruments, frolics on the shore, grocery shops, goes night clubbing, and does summersaults through space.

He explains, “We thought it would be funny if the subtext is that he’s just been through a break up and he’s wondering why he was born as a half man, half lizard hybrid. Also Lizard Boy is the name of my EP, so it kind of works on both levels. In some ways, aren’t we all just lizard boys? No, because that doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t mean anything.”

Sydney judge comes down hard on festival drug users …

The first 11 of the 184 busted for drugs at Sydney’s Field Day festival on New Year’s Day felt the wrath of Magistrate John Favretto at the Downing Centre Court. They all copped criminal records, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Most were first timers.

But the magistrate said that most first-time offenders expected not to have convictions recorded against them, and hence took risks at music festivals. “These offences are too serious as people keep dying. It’s got to stop.”

…while alleged drug dealers faces Ballarat court

An Italian national and two French nationals have been remanded on drug trafficking charges at the Rainbow Serpent festival. They faced the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday, and re-appear on February 11. The Italian was deemed a flight risk as he could not find his passport to surrender to police.

MTV joins Australian Open surfing concerts

MTV has joined the Sydney Northern Beaches’ surf, skate and music Australian Open of Surfing as new sponsor of its free all-ages concerts and music stage (between 4 to 6 pm). Cloud Control play Friday March 4 with Mansionair, and Angus & Julia the next evening with Kita Alexander. They are followed each night with DJ sets by Didier and Ministry of Sound’s Jesabel.

Simon Bates, Vice President, Head of MTV & Comedy Central, said, “We’re extremely excited to be a part of this unique event, and to have the opportunity to capture awesome footage that we can share with our MTV audience.”

Owned and operated by IMG, with the support of the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, and Manly Council, the 2016 Australian Open of Surfing is expected to match last year’s crowd number of 255,000 when Vance Joy and Jagwar Ma played. “The concerts create an amazing vibe on Manly Beach, and are always a highlight of the event,” said Simon Corkill, Director of Operations for IMG. The event is streamed at www.australianopenofsurfing.com.

MusicNT seeking coordinator for indigenous awards

MusicNT is looking for a coordinator for the National Indigenous Music Awards 2016 to be held in Darwin. The deadline for the job application, which includes coordinating, managing and marketing all aspects of the awards, is this Friday (January 29).

Among other job vacancies in the Northern Territory are Festival & Program Manager for the Red Hot Arts Central Australia (deadline also this Friday) and a coordinator for Nightcliff Arts, Music and Culture Incorporated’s Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival (deadline Monday February 1).

Jetstar sets controls for Flying Start

Jetstar’s Flying Start Program invites community groups and organisations across Australia to apply for a grant to fund a project that will enrich the lives of people in their local community. Each grant will be worth $30,000, comprising $15,000 cash and $15,000 worth of Jetstar travel, promotion of their community group or organisation on Jetstar’s website and Facebook page. Queensland and Northern Territory applications close March 31.

The Necks mark their 30^th anniversary

Sydney-based globally acclaimed improvising trio The Necks mark thirty years with an Australian tour.

It includes Perth International Arts Festival (performing with German experimental pianist Hauschka), an intimate show at MONA, an improvised performance with the entire Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Ivan Volkov at Adelaide Festival, a late morning gig at Golden Plains Festival as well as performances at The Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Centre (including a rare, up-close insight into their creative process via an ’In Conversation’ event), Canberra, Brisbane and regional NSW shows in Newcastle and first time performances in Coffs Harbour and the Blue Mountains.

Interestingly when Chris Abrahams (piano), Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Tony Buck (drums/percussion) got together, there were no plans to play live. The idea was to experiment privately.

But In the last 12 months alone, they undertook two massive sell-out European tours, released their 18^th album Vertigo and toured China for the first time. The Necks were also a key part of the sold out Discreet + Oblique concerts at the Supersense Festival Of The Ecstatic in Melbourne (Arts Centre) and the Transcender Festival in London’s The Barbican, which re-imagined Brian Eno’s ground-breaking Discreet Music album on the occasion of its 40th birthday.

Most watched NZ music video in was 40 years old

A lot of great New Zealand music videos came out last year. But according to new data by NZ On Screen – a website which showcases NZ television, film and music video – the most viewed music video for 2015 was Hello Sailor’s classic Gutter Black from 1977.

Always popular because it was used as theme for Outrageous Fortune, it got a boost before the premiere of the prequel series Westside and after the death in September of the band’s singer Graham Brazier.

Katter Party weighs in on Queensland lockout debate

The Katter Australian Party has indicated it will not support the change in legislation and intends to have discussions with the Government. The Liberal National Party also wants to meet with the Government to discuss how effective the planned lockouts will be.

Anti-lockout groups as Our Nightlife Queensland and the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) insist the laws won’t work.

Last week, when the Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee visited Townsville – as part of a state-wide run before it reported back to Queensland Parliament on February 8 – it was warned of massive losses and closures.

Mark Napier, Director of the Mad Cow Tavern music venue, said the lockouts would have “detrimental effects”, and cited one establishment would lose $2 million a year. “There has been no mention of compensation for businesses,” he pointed out.

In Cairns, there was a drama when the Cairns Regional Council – which has stood up against any lockouts – was refused permission to address the meeting.

Venues Update: new bookers, grosses, returns, strip teases

* To freshen up its sounds and activities for 2016, Pacha Sydney brought in youth-focused Swerve Productions to take over the music direction. Swerve is behind the rooftop party mecca Marco Polo at ivy Pool Club. Its head Ignacio Garcia said, “From week to week, the genres will change”, with bass, trap, techno and tropical house.

* From February 6, Perth’s Amplifier/Capitol will host a new club night called Spectrum. One room is dedicated to house and techno, a stage for live EDM performances, and the Capitol Bass Cave devoted to that style of dance.

* The 13,500-capacity Brisbane Entertainment Center took high grosses when two superstars played there late last year. According to Billboard’s Hot Tours boxscore, Fleetwood Mac did two shows (Nov 10, 12) to a total of 22,725 and grossed US$3.1 million. Elton John’s Dec. 8 show drew 9,713 fans, and $1.3 million at the box office.

* No definite announcement yet, but Sydney’s Club 77 posted on social media it will be back holding club nights.

* Darwin Council will today vote on a proposal by the Honey Pot strip club to move into the Discovery Nightclub on Mitchell St. The club will alter the design of its upper bar level to include private booths and separate toilets and access. The booths will be manned by surveillance cameras, a security guard and a member of club management.

Festivals Update: dates, sell-outs, new brand, koala fury

* Splendour In The Grass will be held in 2016 on Friday July 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 at North Byron Parklands. “Stay tuned for line-up info in a few months time,” promoters said.

* Laneway Sydney and Melbourne have sold out, promoters announced this week. The first Australian show, in Adelaide, on Friday February 5 will be broadcast by triple j from midday.

* Among guests at the Golden Guitars country music awards in Tamworth were NSW Governor-General David Hurley and wife Linda, making his first visit to the festival and to the region. Their official duties included leading the cavalcade down the main street (ducking under umbrellas when rain came down near the end, as did artists on the parade) after which they met with festival attendees.

* The LGBITQ ChillOut festival’s new Director Merryn Tinkler launched her first program. The 33 events (held in Daylesford in country Victoria between March 11 and 14) includes headliners Beccy Cole and the Blow Waves, a bush dance and Mummy Queerest about gay parenting told through comedy, music and stories.

* Could we see the UK’s Flamingo Pier pop up EDM festival in Australia? Its three promoters are New Zealand expats living in London, and also run their own record label. They held the festival in New Zealand for the second time last weekend, and plan more events through the year at the Waiheke Island site. They also plan to expand its footprint in other countries.

* The New Orleans music/food themed Fat Tuesday returns on February 9, with acts including Adam Rudegeair’s Bayou Tapestry with Henry Manetta, Jazz Party, Horns Of Leroy and The Always For Pleasure Allstars with Kerri Simpson.

* Bluesfest Byron Bay has always taken the protection of local animals seriously so Director Peter Noble was enraged when Dr Stephen Phillips from Biolink ecological consultants claimed from a 2010 study that noise from the event was stressing and killing local koalas. Noble rushed out a 1800-word media release refuting the claims and pointing out his is the only event site in Australia that has a primitive koala plan of management by the NSW Department of Planning.

* Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV) returns to the 2016 St Kilda Festival with a new ReMastered Myths stage on Sunday February 14. The free event at Catani Gardens features collaborations from hip hop, spoken word and beats to electronica, Persian prose, Ethiopian roots and Colombian rhythms.

Doctor donates royalties to WAM

Perth doctor and author Peter Burke was so impressed by how two tracks on WAM ‘s (West Australian Music) Sounds Of The Pilbara II compilation captured the essence of the region that he is donating some royalties from his latest book Wettening Auralia to WAM.

He cited Greg Gardiner’s two songs Pinakarraji and Karntimarta as “(bringing) a tear to my eye” and added, “That sort of song would never have made it to Perth ears without a project like this. I can’t wait to see what The Sounds Of The Goldfields turns up.”

Living End drummer releases EP

The Living End’s drummer Andy Strachan releases his debut solo EP on February 5. He recorded the four tracks a year ago at Red Door Studios, playing most of the instruments (“a real challenge and a steep learning curve”).

Follow The Sun started out about being suicide and turned eight months later into a positive “embrace life” song. The percussion on Nothing Left To Lose sees Strachan recording a triangle for the first time and featuring the cutlery tray from the studio kitchen. The claustrophobic CCTV came from a dream he had about being lost in a busy city. Out Of Time started on his young daughter’s electric piano, fleshed out by synths from producer Woody Annison.

Brisbane City Council launches new music event

Brisbane City Council has a new music event called The QUBE Effect as part of Youth Week. Registrations are open on its website to find 24 local acts (aged 12 to 35) who will be selected by an industry panel to perform at public events. They then squeeze themselves into QUBEs (cubes) to play their favourite song for a chance to win $4000 in The QUBE Effect People’s Choice competition. Registrations close on Friday February 19.

The industry panel will also award additional prizes for Best Original Song, Best New Talent, Council’s Clem Jones City Hall Concert Performance Prize and the QPAC Melbourne Green Performance Prize.

Kasey flies into the stars

As part of the Tamworth country music festival, Kasey Chambers was inducted into the Galaxy of the Stars. She joins Slim Dusty, Joy McKean, Anne Kirkpatrick, John Williamson, Lee Kernaghan, Smokey Dawson, Troy Cassar-Daley, Jimmy Little and The Bushwackers.

At the ceremony, Chambers revealed she first came to Tamworth in as a kid as part of the family’s The Dead Ringer Band expecting to play. “We didn’t realise you had to book two years in advance.” Undaunted, the Dead Ringers busked away. To this day, Chambers still checks out the buskers on Peel Street when she arrives for the festival.

Number Crunching

120% rise in worldwide revenue for the top 10 music-streaming apps, according to app store monitor App Annie’s annual report.

$24 million cost of New Zealand-based tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom’s Good Life video.

5000% rise in David Bowie sales in the US post-death.

16,000 people signed a petition to stop Kanye West from recording a David Bowie tribute album – although he denies rumours he’s doing one.

80 million registered users now for digital music service iHeartRadio.

MTC sets up new Artist Ticket initiative

Melbourne Theatre Company introduced a $29 subsidised Artist Nights initiative for all theatre performers, designers, composers, playwrights, dramaturges, choreographers or directors regularly working within the theatre industry.

Artistic Director Brett Sheehy explained, “We know how important it is for artists to see as much work as possible to develop their own craft and line of enquiry, but we also know that ticket prices for mainstage theatre are not always affordable for freelance artists.” The first of these tickets kicked in last weekend for Ladies in Black, the new Australian musical written by Carolyn Burns with music and lyrics by Tim Finn.

Vale

* Tamworth singer songwriter and guitarist Dave Craswell first got the taste for music while growing up in London in the swinging ‘60s. The son of a big band musician, Craswell was one half of The Craz Bros and in bands as The Craz and Treacle Line. After giving up professional music, he focussed on religion, playing in various church bands. He died from a lengthy battle with cancer.

* Melbourne born Newcastle based classical pianist and composer Sharon Raschke worked with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Nick Enright, Judy Davis and Robyn Archer. She contributed to the score of the My Brilliant Career and co-founded the Chamber Music Society. She passed after a short battle with cancer at the age of 77.

* In 1968, UK-born singer Alec Wishart co-founded New Zealand band Hogsnort Rupert with Dave Luther, whom he met playing football. The band had a number of hits in the 1970s including Pretty Girl and Aunty Alice Bought Us This. He was diagnosed with lung cancer last November He was 76.

And A Few Other Things …

Cold Chisel’s Ian Moss has won enough awards for his guitar work and songwriting. Now he’s moved into the realms of tech victories. His new generation whammy device Virtual Jeff, which he designed with Sydney based tech company FOMOfx won the ’Best in Show’ award in the Accessories category at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) trade fair in Annaheim, California

Thirsty Merc touring drummer Mick Skelton is told he will not need any more surgery, following the band’s car accident last year.

Reports from New Zealand are that Lorde and her photographer boyfriend of three years, James Lowe, split last month. “Pressures of fame” is the word.

Inertia MD Tim Kelly is representing Australia at the Association of Independent Music’s one-day conference Indie-Con 2016 on January 29 in the UK.

Molly Meldrum ended up with a broken shoulder and cracked ribs after a tumble out of a taxi outside his Bangkok hotel.

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu will preview his EDM album TRIBE2tribe at the St Kilda Festival in Melbourne in late February. His albums to date haven’t reflected his interest in house and techno, which captured his love for percussion.

Former Sunshine Coast nightclub operator Billy James is again running in the Gold Coast City Council elections in March. He says after 37 years in it, he’s out of the nightclub game for good, blaming red tape for killing the biz

A performer at Tasmania’s Mofo festival is in jail for a month after pleading guilty in a Hobart court to sexually assaulting another performer. Visiting South African rapper OkMalum­Kool­Kat (Brian Simiso Zwane) had gone drinking with friends until 5.30 am and ended up in a hotel room that was not his. His victim woke to find him kissing her neck and groping her privates.

Mexican tenor Diego Torre was among those becoming Australian citizens in Canberra yesterday.

Peter Ling Zu Lessnau, who allegedly took $4000 in advance by claiming he had booked Mark Ronson for a Perth gig that the DJ knew nothing about, faces a hearing in May. He has already pleaded not guilty of fraud.

At their first show together in four years at the Sugar Mountain festival, The Dirty Three announced they were taking a lengthy hiatus.