Industrial Strength: Part 1

Image: Emeli Sandé

PUSH FOR 24 HOUR DRINKING ON GLITTER STRIP

Late last year, the Surfers Paradise Alliance (SPA) revealed its events had generated $80 million in economic return to Glitter Strip businesses in the 2015/6 financial year.

Attendance at its events grew 320% in the past five years, from 411,000 in 2010/2011 to about 1.69 million in 2015/2016. It noted that 50% of visitors were coming from outside Queensland or within driving distance from Surfers.

With that in mind, and with the lockout demon now put back in the closet, the SPA has unveiled its latest push to generate a greater income for the region – a 24 hour licence similar to Las Vegas in the US.

They say that since the lockouts were dropped, there’s been a surge in patrons in the Glitter Strip and an interest in investors wanting to buy into local venues.

SPA CEO Mike Winlaw says, “Like Vegas, the Surfers area is about sending the message you can have fun 24/7 – and it’s a message we could send overseas.”

EMELI SANDE ENTERS RED ROOM

Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé performs at Nova Red Room in Sydney (Leadbelly in Newtown) on Thursday February 16 to promote new single Highs & Lows from her latest album Long Live the Angels.

Established in 2012, Nova’s Red Room works closely with record labels and promoters and has seen over 120 artists perform including Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Usher and Sam Smith.

CAROLE KING TO ATTEND SYDNEY PREMIERE

US songwriter legend Carole King is expected to be in Sydney in September for the Australian premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, says producer Michael Cassel.

The lead role for the Australian run of the Broadway musical is Melbourne singer/actor Esther Hannaford. Her track record in musicals include King Kong, Hairspray and Mama Mia, while she independently issued a folk EP The Great Egret in February 2015.

Apparently Cassel was immediately impressed with Hannaford at the audition, as was King when she saw the audition tape.

ABC SCHEDULE INCLUDES TWO MUSIC SERIES

ABC-TV’s schedule of original programs for 2017 includes two series based around bands.

The first is the two-part series The Easybeats, the story about immigrant boys making good on the international scene, and some of the challenges they faced en route.

Pop-Ability for ABC iview is about a girl group made up of members with disabilities called The Sisters of Invention. As they get ready to release an ambitious music video to accompany their first album, they have to break down stereotypes as to who can become a “pop star”.

Neither of the series have been given a specific screen date by the broadcaster.

STRONG SALES FOR TASH SULTANA UK. EURO DATES

Following on from her first US tour hitting capacity a month in advance, Tash Sultana’s UK and European theatre dates are also selling out. Her Australian agency 123 reports that tickets for theatre shows went out the door in 11 minutes last week. Due to sustained demand, multiple plays were added and over 15,000 tickets were sold in a couple of days.

A return to the US is also been set for later in the year.

In Australia, Sultana’s appearances on the national Laneway tour saw her debut EP Notion re-enter the ARIA chart while her track Jungle has cracked the Top 40.

JUSTICE CREW HIT 100K ON INSTAGRAM, LOSE MEMBER

As Justice Crew wound up their regional tour behind latest single Pop Da Buckle (their 14th), they’ve made two announcements.

The group has hit 100,000 members on Instagram. “Next step, 200,000k,” they posted. These figures slip in next to sales of 1.8 million singles, 63 million streams and 54 million YouTube views.

Justice Crew also revealed to the Sunday Telegraph that they are now officially be a four piece, with DJ Solo opting to work behind the scenes as a record producer. But Solo could return for live dates.

In 2014, the act parted ways with frontman Emmanuel Rodriguez (E-Man), asking him to leave because he was not working as a team member.

JB HI-FI POSTS 16% IN PROFITS

JB Hi-Fi has posted its strongest outcome, with a 16% jump in profits to $152.5 million off a 23% rise in sales to $2.6 billion. It continued to deliver a strong performance with online sales, which were up 40.4% to $84.8 million.

The chain’s CEO Richard Murray predicts sustained growth in coming years.

But analysts say that Amazon’s arrival in Australia would hit JB Hi-Fi the hardest as their products overlap the most. Amazon has captured up to 7% of the overseas markets it enters, and could do the same with Australia’s $20 billion consumer electronics and appliances markets.

NATALIE IMBRUGLIA AXES ISRAEL GIG

Natalie Imbruglia has axed her March 1 show in Tel Aviv in Israel. Israeli media reported that it was due to the pressure of the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement which urges western artists and corporations to boycott “apartheid Israel”.

The show, a near sell-out, was part of a 25-date European run which takes in Moscow, Kiev, Munich, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam and two shows in London.

Imbruglia’s promoter cited “logistics” issue for the cancellation, which probably seems more probable, as the singer-songwriter has said that she hopes to return another time.

BDS has asked fellow Aussies Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Pond to also reconsider, as well as other acts Radiohead, Fatboy Slim, The Pixies, Justin Bieber, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart and Guns N’ Roses who’re set to tour Israel through 2017.

ADELAIDE TO HOST INAUGURAL SHOWBROKER

Adelaide will host the inaugural ShowBroker: National Touring Arts Market between February 27 and March 1 at the Adelaide Festival Centre.

Delegates from over 200 performing arts delegates from around Australia will see 39 pitches and performances from arts and producers, selected from 199 applicants by a national advisory and selection group. Programmers will then decide which to book for their venues and festivals.

Arts South Australia will deliver the market in collaboration with the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide Fringe, and the South Australian Presenters’ Association with the endorsement of the Performing Arts Touring Alliance (PATA).

ShowBroker is held when most of the arts and music sectors head to Adelaide for a “Mad March” of festivals and events including Adelaide Fringe, Adelaide Festival of Arts, Clipsal 500 and WOMADelaide.

South Australia’s Minister for the Arts Jack Snelling said, “Hosting this inaugural national touring market is not only a boon for tourism and the local economy, it also helps re-establish Adelaide’s reputation as a centre of excellence and a natural home for the performing arts.”

PANDORA REVIEWS MEDIA ACCOUNT

Music streaming service Pandora is doing a review of its Australian media account, explaining the necessity of following its growth in Australia and introduction of features such as on-demand that its marketing makes the most impact.

Pandora has been with Bohemia for the past 18 months, to which it is contracted until December.

HOLY HOLY: NOTHING BUT AN ‘ART’ ACHE

When Melbourne duo Holy Holy made their first record When the Storms Would Come (2015), singer Tim Carroll was living in Stockholm and guitarist/producer Oscar Dawson in Berlin, all the while exchanging song ideas created on the acoustic guitar. By the time they finished that album’s cycle, including three European tours, the songwriting process included their touring band which includes in-house producer Matt Redlich on keyboards, drummer Ryan Strathie and bassist Graham Ritchie.

The second album, out February 24, was titled Paint even before “Paint is a powerful word,” Carroll explains. “It’s both a noun and a verb, it’s very visual and colourful and creative and expressive. It felt like the right title for where we wanted to take the record.”

It comes with striking cover art by Newcastle based expressionist artist James Drinkwater, who was living in Berlin around the time Holy Holy began to take shape. The Drinkwater cover was not inspired by the record’s music, instead inspired by a trip to the south of France in 2015. Dawson says, “But I feel that it is the closest visual approximation that I have found to the music that we made.”

Dawson tells Industrial Strength, “I like the fact that James’ paintings often seem chaotic, but also controlled at the same time. Watching him paint, he approaches the canvas quite energetically, and it seems at times as though he’s simply throwing colour at it. But then he steps back and thinks about what he’s done. So that sums up what I hope we achieved; music that is both considered, and free.”

Carroll expands, “Both are very textured works. We’ve played around a lot on the record with layers of guitar effects and combinations of analogue synths, multitracked vocals with subtle touches of pitch shifting – all with the aim of creating a sonic landscape that feels expressive and open. Both works have a wildness and lack of control about them.”

ARN REPOSITIONS PURE GOLD NETWORK

Australian Radio Network has repositioned its Pure Gold Network stations, WSFM in Sydney and GOLD104.3 in Melbourne, with refreshed playlists. A campaign on outdoor sites and “tailored digital and social elements” stresses on the theme, “Better music and more of it.”

ARN National Content Director Duncan Campbell said the repositioning – of more ‘80s and the best hits of the 90s and 2000s – is “part of our key strategy for the Pure Gold Network to be music-led stations that connect with our core Gen X audience.”

The campaign also focuses on its on-air personalities including Jonesy & Amanda in Sydney and Jo & Lehmo in Melbourne.

SUNNYBOYS CELEBRATING 35TH ANNIVERSARY

After Sunnyboys wound up celebrating their 35th anniversary run of dates through Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne last week, some new music is also on the way.

Bassist Peter Oxley, who in between played with Ed Kuepper and ran a woodfire pizzeria in Newtown, says, “We’re not interested in setting the world on fire, but we’d certainly like to make a little record for our fans, do a 7” four track vinyl EP.”

TIRED LION RECORDING WITH SOHO’S BOERDAM

Just before their return to Europe, rising band Tired Lion have begun recording their debut album in their hometown Perth – with Violent Soho’s frontman Luke Boerdam producing with Dave Parkin. The two bands bonded last when Tired Lion joined Soho on their national tour alongside The Bronx and Luca Brasi.

It’ll be Boerdam’s first time producing another band. He said, “The new songs are sounding sick!! It’s got the guitar smarts of The Breeders, pulled back a little like Splendora, with some solid Basement style riffage… I can’t wait for people to hear it!”

Tired Lion play their first headline show at The Old Blue in London on Tuesday March 28 and Supersonic in Paris on March 31, and also picked to showcase at The Great Escape conference in the UK in May. Last year’s round of shows including stops at the Latitude and Glastonbury festivals, saw UK-based NME and Kerrang! hail them as among new acts to watch in 2017.

FINALISTS FOR NZ’S CHILDREN’S MUSIC AWARDS

Christchurch duo Itty Bitty Beats, singer-songwriter Anika Moa, musical storyteller Claudia Gunn, author and animator Raymond McGrath, singer Levity Beet and Moe & Friends of TV’s The Moe Show are among finalists for New Zealand’s Children’s Music Awards.

Winners of the three categories (song, album, video) are announced on Children’s Day on March 5 at Auckland’s Silo Park.

ACT PRECINCT CHOOSES BUILDER

The ACT’s Land Development Agency announced that the tender to develop the Kingston Arts Precinct has been assigned to Canberra firm Geocon with partners Fender Katsalidis architects and Oculus. No details will be revealed on the proposed design for at least another six months until discussions begin with the arts sector.

The precinct will include 4,000 square metres of landscaped plazas for outdoor entertainment and events, as well as offices for arts groups, workshops, gallery spaces, accommodation for visiting artists and car park spaces for 500 during the week and 700 on the weekend.