Industrial Strength: October 30

US MAIL BOMBER A BOOKING AGENT?

As police swooped down and nabbed the Florida man accused of sending bombs via the mail to prominent Democrats who have publicly criticised President Donald Trump, there was a scramble by media to find out who the heck he is.

At one point it was thought the 56-year old, reportedly named Cesar Altieri worked in the live music industry.

He claimed on his Twitter bio that he was “currently a booking agent” and had worked fir the Seminole Hard Rock Live”.

A hasty statement from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Seminole Gaming and Hard Rock International said: “We can find no evidence that Cesar Altieri, Caesar Altieri, Caesar Altieri Sayoc, Ceasar Altieri Randazzo (Facebook) or Julus Cesar Milan (Twitter) is or was a member or employee of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, or is or was an employee of Seminole Gaming or Hard Rock International.

“At this time, we cannot verify if he is or was an employee of a vendor company.”

TONY BURKE AT WAMCON

 Tony Burke, shadow minister for the arts, will be a guest speaker at a WAMcon industry breakfast on Friday, November 2 at the State Theatre from 8 am.

According to WAM, he will unveil for the first time the Federal Opposition’s arts policy.

VICTORIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY OFFICE UNVEILS INITIATIVES

The Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) has unveiled some future initiatives. Its GM Bonnie Dalton detailed:

An analysis with RMIT into the current career paths for music professionals.

Dalton says, “The results of this study will inform our future program developments aimed at supporting long term and sustainable careers for Victorians who work in micro to medium music businesses.”

Focus on cross sector opportunities and potential with international market development, in particular with China, Latin America and Southeast Asian nations.

At this year’s Melbourne Music Week, the VMDO will host visiting Chinese music industry representatives and also facilitate introductions with Victorian music businesses that are export-ready.

In partnership with the Association of Artist Managers and the Australian Independent Record Labels Association, the VMDO will soon open applications for the Fast Track Fellowship to provide international professional development for artist managers and independent label representatives.

Each month, the VMDO will plan a networking breakfast with a range of guest speakers at the White Sky Hub – a place that already enables new ideas and networks for music businesses.

With a strong focus on First People music development, the VMDO recruited Neil Morris as VMDO Music Business Manager – First Peoples, who is currently creating opportunities and partnerships with YIRRAMBOI, Spotify and YouTube.

The VMDO will continue to deliver the Support Acts for the Big Names program, which is designed to connect underrepresented Victoria artists with music programmers and also provide avenues to training, education, resources and support.

CANCER FEARS OVER TANK ARTS CENTRE

Decades of visitors to the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns could have been exposed to toxic cancer-causing chemicals, according to The Cairns Post.

The venue was made from three concrete fuel tanks that were created by the Australian Navy during World War II to pump crude type furnace oil via underground pipes to ships.

The Department of Defence is investigating the historical use of toxic fire fighting foam at the HMAS Cairns naval base.

ENTRIES OPEN FOR CAROL LLOYD AWARD

Entries are open for the 2019 Carol Lloyd Award, a $15,000 fellowship awarded to an emerging Queensland female singer-songwriter until March 9

The prize money will allow the winner to record their own full-length album or record and tour their own EP.

Now in its second year, the award gives female artists an opportunity to get a head start, broaden their experience within the music industry, and help them to realise their goals as an emerging artist.

The award is presented at the launch of the Queensland Music Festival in May.

The judging panel for the 2019 Carol Lloyd Award is made up of Katie Noonan, Joc Curran, Leanne de Souza, Sean Sennett, John Willsteed and Annie Peterson.

For inquiries and further information email Queensland Music Festival at claward@qmf.org.au or visit the QMF website.

NEW FESTIVAL FOR VICTORIA

Oceans Sounds is a new one-day festival from The Hills Are Alive Group.

Billed “for music and sunset lovers”, it is held on January 19 at Churchill Island, off Phillip Island.

Aside from the music (Dan Sultan, Pierce Bros, Jen Cloher) it also showcases delicious local wines and cheeses, and gourmet food vans.

Event director Aidan McLaren says, “We started The Hills Are Alive over 10 years ago and now a lot of our friends have children and can’t do three-day festivals anymore, but still really want to go and see live music in a beautiful place.

“We wanted to create something for them, as well as something that could showcase more of the local area. Churchill Island is such a stunning location and the local food and wine down here is sensational.”

JACK & JACK PROMO VISIT

Universal Music Australia has Los Angeles based pop duo Jack & Jack here on promo duties on Tuesday, October 30 and Wednesday 31 behind new single No One Compares To You.

Meantime Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson’s hit collaboration with Jonas Blue continues to dent the global charts and notched up over half a billion streams

FEUD! #1: 50 CENT VS JA RULE

 50 Cent has gleefully ‘fessed up he has bought 200 front row tickets to Ja Rule’s November 9 show in Texas.

The idea: there’d be no one seated in the front rows except for Fiddy, and it would spook his rival out.

“Lol at $15 a pop you can’t lose, I got 200 tickets for 3 bands (thousand dollars)”, said 50 Cent on Instagram.

FEUD! #2: CARDI B VS NICKI MINAJ

The Cardi B/Nicki Minaj biffo has widened, with Cardis sister, the splendidly named Hennessy Carolina, claiming on Instagram that Minaj leaked Cardi’s phone # to her fans, leading Minaj’s army to send death threats to Ms B.

“It’s easy for y’all to ask me why I’m bothered, why I care so much.

“But not one of you is waking up to death threats every day, made up stories that can effect my real life and real relationships.

“Imagine if this was your infant child, imagine if this was your sister or ya mother. ”

Cardi recently claimed she had to move up the release of her latest single because Minaj’s fans kept leaking the track.

AUSSIE SINGER SONGWRITER LANDS IN THE VOICE GERMANY

Aussie folk-pop singer-songwriter Coby Grant has appeared on The Voice of Germany reality TV show. She made it through the blind auditions with all judges turning their seats as she sang John Denver’s Leaving On A Jet Plane.

The Perth-born Grant was studying medicine when she decided to live in Melbourne and crack the scene.

Five years late, after her music was picked up in TV ads throughout Europe, she relocated to Berlin where she now lives and taken out citizenship.

The 32-year old is hoping that her appearance on the TV show which draws 4 million viewers might double her live following in clubs.

She says, “The other day a friend reminded me of the saying ‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’.

“God knows I have spent more than half my life preparing and I am going to make the most of this incredible opportunity with The Voice of Germany.

“Huge platform, great exposure. I don’t know what will come from it, but I know there is nothing lucky about it.

“Dream big, but be prepared to work really fucking hard for YEARS and sacrifice a lot to achieve those dreams. Make your own luck.”

TAP MUSIC REBRANDS

London-based Tap Management, which has an office in Sydney, is now rebranded as Tap Music.

It’s broadened out from management (Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa, Aloe Blacc Lana Del Rey) to being a record company, publisher and wider artist service.

The company also had offices in Berlin and Los Angeles.

SCRIBE OUT OF JAIL ON ‘ELECTRONIC BAIL’

New Zealand rapper Scribe has been released from prison and given electronically monitored bail.

He’s been in custody since August when authorities busted him travelling to Motueka to do a show without getting permission from his bail official.

He appears in court on December 3 to answer that charge, as well as an earlier accusation involving methamphetamine possession.

ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE WINGS IT WITH SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Arts Centre Melbourne struck a new two-year partnership with Singapore Airlines. The two-year partnership sees the airline support Asia TOPA (Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts) which was created with Arts Centre Melbourne and presented by a consortium of Melbourne’s leading cultural institutions tohighlight Australia’s connection with Asia.

STELLA BRIDIE WINS FEAST AWARD

Singer-songwriter Stella Bridie took out the Darebin Music Feast’s Songwriters’ Award with her song ‘Don’t Go Out Tonight’.

Judges were particularly drawn to how the song referenced recent tragic events in Melbourne, with lines as “girls in twos wear steel capped shoes.”

Her prize included $2000 from APRA AMCOS, eight hours recording at HeadGap studios, EP Mastering by Crystal Mastering, $500 Implant Media Voucher for CD duplication services, $500 Echo Tone Guitars voucher, one-hour songwriting workshop with Push Songs facilitator Charles Jenkins and two conference tickets thanks to The Push.

Around 100 entries are received each year; this year’s finalists were Lisa Crawley, Teresa Duffy-Richards, Patrick Lionel, Lowe, Tanya George, Paul McMillian, Julia De Matteis, Munro Melano and GraceJean, the latter who received a $500 Encouragement Award in recognition of their commendable effort on their original song ‘Too Close’.

AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…

To celebrate Gang of Youths selling out eight shows at Melbourne’s Forum Theatre, local artist Luke Presto created a mural on the band on nearby Hosier Lane before the first of the shows.

Brisbane’s Hatchie and Auckland’s The Beths were included in Stereogum’s 40 Best New Bands of 2018 list.

When Harry and Meaghan were in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern gifted Harry two Shapeshifter albums (The System Is A Vampire CD and a Stars vinyl) while the Duchess got a pair of Boh Runga feather earrings.

The real estate section of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph says that a 1940s weatherboard cottage in Avalon Beach belonging to retired music executive Michael Browning and wife Elizabeth goes to auction this weekend, as they’re downsizing. Browning managed AC/DC and Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs for a time and set up Deluxe Records which signed INXS, The Numbers, The Dugites and Heaven.

A concert to be held in Victoria’s seaside Queenscliff next March, with a bill headlined by John Farnham, was refused permission by local council. Daryl Braithwaite, Ross Wilson and Jack Jones were also involved.

Seven Network’s unveiling of its 2019 slate confirmed the return of Andrew Denton’s “Interview”. But not mentioned were Dance Boss and All Together Now.

What a way to farewell someone as distinguished and giving as conductor and educator Richard Gill? When word went around the Sydney music community that the maestro’s final hours were coming after a year-long battle with cancer, they rushed instruments in hand to outside his house and played his favourite piece – the Dam Busters theme.

Jason Derulo was upset when his show in Prague was cancelled at the last minute because of authorities’ concern of the crowd size and security. “But some of them have been here since this morning,” he said. So he got a megaphone and climbed up a balcony at the arena and serenaded the crowd with a couple of toe-tappers.

A 23-year old university student copped a $2000 fine and a conviction after pleading guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and one of possessing at the Meredith Music Festival.

A Gold Coast woman faced court accused of, among other things, biting the hand of a security guard so hard blood was drawn, and pulling hair from a woman’s head. She pleaded not guilty.

Owen Park seems to be the front-runner for the site of the new Gold Coast stadium.

Rod Stewart wants to heal rift with guitar hero Jeff Beck, his boss in the ‘60s, and work with him again.

It will be another two years before the opening of the North Queensland Stadium in Townsville but acts are already being booked.

UK Police arrested a man, 46, after Atomic Kitten‘s Natasha Hamilton was “sexually assaulted on a train.”

A website reported that Judas Priest singer Rob Halford was found unresponsive in his home in San Diego and rushed to hospital and drugs were found on him…but hardcore fans were nor fooled: they knew he famously lives in Phoenix.

‘90s Melbourne guitar fuzz band Moler celebrate 25 years since they formed, with a one-off reunion at the Curtin on Friday November 23. The show features Helen Cattanach (Helcat) on bass guitar/lead vocals, Julien Poulson on lead guitar with David Peacock and Steven Boyle sharing the drums. Poulson has taken Cambodian psychedelic music to the world via the Cambodian Space Project, with a recent documentary of the same name going to air on ABC TV. Cattanach still fronts her own band Los Dominados with husband Mike Alonso, their 5th studio album is being launched later this month. Cattanach was recently part of the house band for the ABC Spicks and Specks reunion show, alongside Adalita (Magic Dirt), Kram (Spiderbait), and Ash Naylor (Even) to go to air on November 4.

NZ’s Topp Twins collected their Dame Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit at a ceremony at Governor’s House to which they wore Maori feathered cloaks. Coming for Christmas is a 75-recipe cookbook based on their popular Topp Country Series one and two.