Industrial Strength: June 7

Image:Further information on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ two projectshas come to light

Two new categories for Melbourne Prize For Music

This year’s Melbourne Prize For Music has added two more categories. The first is the $25,000 Beleura Award For Composition courtesy the Tallis Foundation, and a $20,000 Distinguished Musicians Fellowship supported by the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Set up in the early 2000s, the Prize offers six Victorian recipients a reward from a prize pool of $130,000. These include the Outstanding Musicians Award, Development Award and Civic Choice Award. Melbourne Prize Trust Executive Director Simon Warrender explains, “We run on sponsorship and what it does is that it shows support for music in the public sector and the private sector.” Applications open until July 11 at melbourneprize.org.

Row over local content quotas for SVODs

A proposal from Screen Producers Australia to introduce a 20% local content quota on major subscription video-streaming sites as Netflix, Presto and Stan similar to those on the European Union, brought a sharp rebuke from the subscription TV industry body ASTRA. “Operators should be nurtured not neutered,” said its CEO Andrew Maiden. Saying the concept was “not welcome in Australia”, he added, “This extension of regulation runs contrary to ASTRA’s bid to protect new services from the handbrake of red tape.”

Nick Cave rattles his bones

Further information on Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ 16^th album and movie has come to light. Skeleton Tree is issued on September 9 on vinyl, CD and digital platforms. It was recorded in Brighton and France and sees him unleash his grief over the LSD-causing death of his teenage son.

The songs will be previewed the night before in a movie One More Time With Feeling to screen in 650 cinemas across the world. Directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly) it was originally performance-based. But in the light of the family tragedy, it includes interviews and footage, accompanied by Cave’s “intermittent narration and improvised rumination.” It comes in 3D and 2D.

Launching Pad #1: Cocoons

Cocoons is a new website set up which allows Australian creative to find or rent a working space, initially in Melbourne and Sydney. These cover studios, rehearsal spaces, warehouses and backyard set-ups, everything from a few hours to weeks. The site (http://cocoons.co) was set up Melbourne (now Berlin-based) designer and musician Adam Ferris, freelance writer Phon Vongdara and photographer and technologist Andy Rovenko.

Launching Pad #2: JumpClimb Digital

WA creative event agency JumpClimb has been trialling its marketing arm JumpClimb Digital with state venues and festivals. Now it’s formally launched (http://www.jumpclimb.com/) including creative design and pop-up activations alongside traditional and social media avenues.

Flying Nun founder writes memoirs

Roger Shepherd, whose Flying Nun Records gave the world the “Dunedin Sound” in the ‘80s has penned his memoirs. In Love With These Times starts off with his Christchurch school days (“the odd kid at school, who always got the seat at the back by the window”) and then to getting obsessed with punk in his teens after working in a record store and at Factory Records. In those days little local music made it on to radio. Feeling the stuff played in the punk and post-punk clubs had to be captured for posterity, he set up Flying Nun. It took The Clean, The Chills, Chris Knox, Headless Chickens and The Verlaines – and the label, which set up a UK office – to the world. In between, he reveals he battled bouts with alcoholism and manic depression. Writing the book, he reveals, was a challenge: “I have a terrible memory”.

16 Brisbane acts support Refugee Week

Sixteen Brisbane acts have put their hands up for #BringThemHere – Sounds of Change, held at the Foundry as part of Refugee Week. Organisers Camille Furtado and Erin Kennedy are holding the Sunday June 26 event a week before the elections to punch the message through of the need for a welcoming inclusive culture.

The Grates’ Patience Hodgson, Regurgitator’s Ben Ely and GANGgajang’s Robbie James are joined by emerging acts as MKO Sun, Clea, Golden Age of Ballooning, Zefereli and Fugitive & The Vagabond.

New festivals for Melbourne, Brisbane

Melbourne gets a new three-day festival The Lost Lands (October 28 to 30 at Werribee Mansion), founded by Falls co-founder Simon Daly. It’s set up as a family experience (kids get their own reading room) with discussions and workshops for songwriting, cooking, yoga and circus acts. Acts include Missy Higgins, Mariachi El Bronx, The Grates, Tim Rogers, Harts and Ozomatli.

Regional Touring, the company behind the Red Hot Summer and One Electric Day, holds the inaugural Sandstone Rocks at Sandstone Point north of Brisbane in September. Major acts announced so far on the bill are Hoodoo Gurus, Jon Stevens, Baby Animals and Black Sorrows.

Melbourne Guitar Show returns

The Melbourne Guitar Show returns to Caulfield Racecourse on August 6 and 7. Last year it drew 5000 to its exhibit of electric and acoustic guitars, effects pedals, amps & more guitar technology and accessories, and the best in international brands and home-grown craftsmanship. There are info seminars, demos and live sets. Those appearing include the legends as Kevin Borich, Phil Manning, Bob Spencer, Geoff Achison, Wayne Jones, Brett Kingman, Phil Ceberano, Jimi Hocking, Shannon Bourne and newcomers Daniel Champagne and Dean Ray. The Melbourne Guitar Show is held by the Australian Music Association (AMA) teaming up with Triple M, Australian Musician, Beat and Mixdown.

More Festival Updates: returns, applications, web recreations

* Looks like WA’s Disconnect Festival in Pinjarra has paid off its acts and suppliers from its inaugural event last year, and moving ahead with publicity for the 2016 event. It was the initial announcement in April by promoter Chris Knight of Spring Fever Promotions that the festival was returning for a second time that the squawks and grumbles began about non-payment and threats of class action. The 2016 version is on December 2 – 4.

* Nevermind The Warp’d Tour Festival, back in December for a fourth year in December with 30 punk acts, are inviting bands and solo types to apply to get on the stage. Go to their Facebook page by June 30.

* The Night Sky Is A Jewellery Store Window sees Damon Smith’s North Melbourne-based web based video series come alive, literally, as part of Leaps and Bounds. 21 of the Victorian singer songwriters responsible for the 40 performances in its two seasons, will perform live at The Gasometer on July 14. All 21 will, as per the series, play on the same guitar, called Zach Glickman. Not joining them will be Smith’s studio dog Jerry Lee who has, alas, passed on to the Great Woofstock (ahem) Festival in the Sky.

* This year’s Sea N Sound, held Mooloolaba Beach this long weekend, will include a MixFM-hosted benefit concert featuring local acts to raise $5000 for children’s charity Give Me 5 For Kids. It all happens at The Wharf Tavern.

* Canberra’s Capital Jazz Project returns June 8 to 13 with a mini-version during its off year. Among the 42 musicians involved at the Street Theatre are sees globally acclaimed Stu Hunter who returns to home town Canberra with his epic work The Migration and Ethio-Jazz proponent Mulatu Astatke.

* One Electric Day returns for a fourth year to Melbourne’s Werribee Park this November. Such is the bill – Jimmy Barnes, Icehouse, James Reyne, Russell Morris and The Badloves – that promoter Duane McDonald expects yet another easy sell-out.

* North Wollongong’s two-day Yours & Owls is back during the October long weekend (1 & 2), this time with a second stage and an additional food, film and culture program. The bill is dropped on June 14.

* The beer and bands Brewtality has rounded up 55 mostly very loud bands from around the country and will disperse them over two cities in August – in Melbourne at The Tote and The Bendigo on August 6 and in Sydney at The Factory in Marrickville.

* To give the land at its usual home Beswick Falls a rest, Walking With Spirits returns on July 14 to Beswick for the first time in 14 years. Beswick, 100m from Katherine, has a new cultural precinct to be celebrated, says Artistic Director Tom E Lewis. The bill from around Northern Territory, The Torres Strait and East Timor sees fast-rising Gawurra perform his new live album.

* Bellingen’s Bello Winter Music Festival (July 7 to 10) announced that one of its events is the Gram Parsons Project where a number of festival acts pay tribute to the seminal US singer songwriter as part of the 70^th celebrations of his birth, held on Sunday July 10 at Bellingen Memorial Hall.

HOT FM leads in Mackay ratings

In the first radio ratings for Mackay & the Whitsundays in Queensland since 2003, HOT FM lead with 23% market share, leading in the under-40 demographic and taking all day slots except for night times. It was followed by SEA FM (18.9% and most popular with the 40 to 54 age group), ABC Local (17.7% and topping nights) the newly rebranded Star 101.9 (12%.), triple j (8%) and 4MK (5.9%).

AC/DC to end world tour with final US dates

AC/DC announced their ten rescheduled shows for the US, initially delayed when Brian Johnson had to step down. They kick off in Greensbro in North Carolina on August 27 and wind up on September 20 in Philadelphia. In between they take in St. Lauderdale in Atlanta, Columbia Ohio, Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, New York and Washington DC.

AC/DC in Leipzig. Photo Credit:Katarina Benzova

Despite the initial hoo-hah about Axl Rose joining, the shows, the European shows which began in Lisbon on May 7 got rave reviews. ‘’AC/DC is a triumph – this new union is one of the touring hits of the summer’’ (Rolling Stone), “triumphant…a rock n roll victory on wheels…” (The Guardian) and “Axl hit every note and sent it to the heavens… simply great” (The Telegraph). AC/DC have played to over 4 million fans on The Rock or Bust World Tour.

Waratahs win country album awards

The Warratahs’ Runaway Days, a collection of Barry Saunders songs recorded in one take without rehearsals, was selected as New Zealand’s Best Country Music Album for 2016. The Waratahs were also inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on the weekend.

Also announced at the June 2 New Zealand Country Music Awards in Gore was Mel Parsons’ Alberta Sun as the Best Country Music Song.

Both are signed to Native Tongue Publishing.

SCA leads digital for third consecutive month

Southern Cross Austereo lead Nielsen’s latest Digital Ratings, for April with 1.349 million visits. It was the network’s third win in three consecutive months. It also had 2.3 million Facebook engagements, which was more than any other Australian radio network. SCA’s Chief Creative Officer Guy Dobson said the figures “show that we are right on target and we only expect that our engagement figures will continue to grow.”

NIMA nominations open

Nominations for the 13^th National Indigenous Music Awards on August 6 in Darwin close on June 17. Categories cover album, song, new talent, film clip and cover of the year, as well as a Hall of Fame induction and recognition for the year’s most significant community music clip.

Two new radio stations for NZ

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is today (June 7) launching two more radio stations. Mix104 arrives in Nelson with a 80s and ‘90s format.

NZME Group Director – Entertainment, Dean Buchanan says, “We identified a clear gap in the market in Nelson for listeners who love music from the 80’s and 90’s without all the talk and hype of the other stations. Mix104 will play Madonna’s Like A Virgin next to Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise. We’re finding all the best songs from the 80’s and 90’s and then pressing shuffle!”

Also today, Radio Hauraki launches on the NZ West Coast in Greymouth. Mike McClung, NZME Chief Content Officer, Music Brands, points out, “We know many on the West Coast are already listening to Hauraki via our iHeartRadio app, and we’re pumped to be able to now launch the station on 105.1FM.”

New grants to spark Canberra’s Civic

A new grants program is set up for ideas from the public to spark up the dead heart of Canberra’s Civic as a music, arts and culture precinct. The program, set up by advocacy group In the City Canberra and funded by 600 CBD businesses, are worth $340,000. They range from $2000 (small ideas like workshops) to $10,000 (best popular ideas like car park dance parties) to $50,000 (professional grants included major events and festivals).

The whole idea is to liven the CBD with the vitality that NewActon and Braddon are glowing with at the moment. Ideas are welcomed from anywhere in the world, go to www.inthecitycanberra.com. The rolling grants program is co-ordinated by cultural development organisation Dionysus. Director David Caffery and Events Coordinator Michael Liu.

Venues Update: biggest mirror ball, exhibitions, free burgers

* Adelaide’s East End got a new nightclub on the weekend at the former Apple Nightclub site in Synagogue Place. The Spanish-themed Haçienda is claiming the biggest mirror ball in South Australia, according to owner Terry Board. It also features a bar (Dim Dooley) and performance venue Mary’s Poppin upstairs. It covers R&B, hip hop, disco and funk.

* A community forum was held in Townsville to sell the positives of a new stadium to those living near the current 1300 SMILES Stadium. Among scheduled speakers were former Adelaide mayor Stephen Yarwood on the economic and cultural impact of the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval, which he had pushed for when he had the top job. But Townsville Enterprise reckons it needs community support if the new venue is to take off.

* The sale of The Treetops Tavern, in Burleigh Heads for $20 million to a Sydney syndicate set a five-year high in the region. It was previously owned by Sydney-based Thomas Hotels.

* Newcastle’s Star Hotel, musically immortalised of course in the Cold Chisel song, is putting together an exhibition commemorating its existence since 1885. If you have stories, photos and memorabilia, email history@starhotel.newcastle.com.au.

* A few weeks ago, Surfers Paradise nightclub The Bedroom started a Sunday night tradition of handing out $2.95 cheeseburgers for free to patrons on silver platters as part of a promo. The club’s GM Maxwell Pickering told the Gold Coast Bulletin that they started out with 100 but now it’s doubled. “Everybody loves a free cheeseburger. When they’re gone we just keep ordering in as many as we need. It’s getting bigger and bigger, and getting out of control!”

* Plans to turn the 100-year-old heritage Wellington Town Hall in New Zealand into a national hub are delayed. Closed in 2013 for earthquake strengthening work, costs leaped from $43 million to $60 million and work was stopped. It began 12 months later but it doesn’t look like it’ll reopen until 2020, authorities said.

Number Crunching

3 years for their third album, The Avalanches are promising, after their second took 16.

715,000 viewers for the return of radio presenters Fitzy and Wippa’s TV show 20 To One for the Nine Network.

68% of UK record labels want the UK to remain in EU, according to a BPI report.

9.7 million tuned in for the final moments of the UK finale of Britain’s Got Talent – the lowest finale numbers in its 10 year history.

Vale

* Mac Cocker was a musician DJ and actor in Sheffield, UK. A marriage to art student Christine Connolly yielded two children – Jarvis (later of Pulp) and Saskia. According to Connolly, he deserted the family in 1970 and ended up in Australia. In 1974 he joined the ABC in Melbourne to do special projects. He was part of the on-air lineup when 2JJ went to air in Sydney in 1975, where he actively championed radical styles of music, particularly the advent of punk. Speaking to Myf Warhurst on Double J, former colleague Mark Colvin said at the time, playing that kind of music brought on attacks from the moral majority from outside and inside the ABC. “Mac was one of the people who really had the backbone to do that. His ears were open to everything.”

Cocker stayed on when Double J became triple j in 1980. He left in 1985 and joined Joe Cocker on tour overseas to make a radio documentary I’m A Cocker, Too. He returned in 1990, and joined ABC 105.7 Darwin, presenting The Night Train, The Globetrotter and Louvred Lounge, as well as a weekly Vinyl Museum for Radio National. He retired in June 2007. He met up with his two children in 1998 but Jarvis did not keep in contact, saying in 2006, “I don’t feel any bitterness towards him at all. I feel sorry for him.” Mac Cocker battled a lengthy illness before he passed June 3 in Darwin. Former Double J Station Manager Marius Webb said of him on Double J after the news broke, ‘He was a damn fine human being. He brought passion and a highly unique musical sensibility to his work with us.”

* The Illawarra Mercury reported that three creatives in the region passed within a week.

Theatre lover Des Davis, along with his wife Faye Montgomery opened the Bridge Street Theatre to house Theatre South, Wollongong’s first professional theatre company and was called “an absolute visionary”.

John Martin, one time board member of the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre was also such a plane fanatic that when Qantas started its Frequent Flyer program it made him Frequent Flyer number 1.

Playwright Tom Pickard spent much of time mentoring and sharing his knowledge with younger creatives.

And A Few Other Things …

Foxtel Arts will broadcast the 70^th annual Tony Awards from the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Monday June 13 from 10 am. There are special appearances by Barbra Streisand, Cate Blanchett, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin & Edie Brickell and Carole King with James Corden hosting.

During his “off year”, Ash Grunwald has been living in Bali with his young family. He fell in love with the place while recuperating there after emergency appendicitis surgery.

Troy Cassar-Daley publishes his memoirs Things I Carry Around in August, co-written with author Tom Gilling. An album with the same name, with songs inspired by his history, is out to coincide.

Archie Roach AM got the Distinguished Artist Award at the Melbourne 2016 International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) Congress for his social justice campaigning. ISPA is a global network of 450 leaders in the performing arts from 185 cities. The award is given to someone outstanding who’s gone well beyond their call as artist. Previous recipients include Ravi Shankar, Dame Joan Sutherland, Evelyn Glennie, Pierre Boulez and Mandawuy Yunupingu.

The ISPA also presented awards to the Myer Family for its long-time contributions to the arts over generations, as well as Sue Nattrass for her many years of service to the performing arts.

* As an apology for losing some of Dallas Frasca’s gear at the start of a European tour, Etihad Airways made amends by bumping them up to Business Class on their trip back to Australia.

Matthew Saunoa, winner of the third season of New Zealand Idol in 2006 and had a #1 hit with Hold Out in NZ, has got in legal trouble on the Gold Coast where he now lives. A warrant was issued when he failed to turn up for a court appearance over an issue eight months ago, according to the magistrate.

Northern Sound System (NSS) is hosting the inaugural Northern Adelaide Record Fair on July 16 and 17.

Sydney singer songwriter Vera Blue, signed to Mercury/ Universal, is fast becoming in demand, especially after her triple j playlisted Hold single scored 5 million streams globally and Settle got 1 million streams. Just wrapping up her sold-out Fingertips tour, she announced she’s heading out on a metro and regional run from August 31 to October 8.

Vera Blue

This time she plays larger rooms in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, hits Adelaide, Tasmania, and Darwin for the first time, and makes her debut festival appearance at the Maroochy Music Festival in Maroochydore. Her new single is the title track of her Fingertips EP.

With their third album Make Some Noise set for an August 5 release on Spitfire Records / SPV, The Dead Daisies are starting to get headliner offers. They’re confirmed to top the bill of Wales’ Planet Rockstock Festival on December 2.

On September 15, they play their first headline show in America at LA’s Whisky A Go Go, supported by Steve Rodgers, son of Free/ Bad Company singer Paul.

Adelaide’s community dance radio station Fresh 92.7 ‘s production courses show how to produce and master a track under producer Steve Hart. The next one starts April 11 and runs each Monday night across 6 weeks, enrolment at http://fresh927.com.au.

How’s this for a schedule? Sydney duo Jazzella played before 90,000 football fans at ANZ Stadium at a State of Origin match – a set before the match, then half-time and finally an hour for the celebrations after. Right after they leaped into their vehicle and drive 14 hours through the night to make it in time for their next show, in the Sunshine Coast.

Through this week, 2CS FM’s Michael ‘Moffee’ Moffett is walking from Woolgoolga to Sawtell in Coffs Harbour to raise $50,000 in five days for Give Me 5 For Kids. It’s towards new equipment for the Children’s Ward at the Coffs Harbour Health Campus.