Industrial Strength: September 22
Nambour green-lights pilot to relax live music volume
The Sunshine Coast Council has green-lighted a 12-month pilot to relax noise controls for Nambour’s 40 venues. It was motioned by Cr Greg Rogerson who said, “Our night time economy could do with some vibrancy.”
The scheme, outlined in the September 8 issue of Industrial Strength, will allow bands to play louder than the current 75 decibels. Volume will be measured from the fringes of Nambour’s hospitality precinct, than in front of the venue. The plan now has to be ratified by the State Government.
The pilot, mooted by the Sunshine Coast Creative Alliance and the Live Music Office, was endorsed at meeting last month by 25 music and business groups. It is hoped it will revive the local music scene, lead to the creation of a Nambour entertainment precinct and be adopted elsewhere on the Coast.
Victoria sends seven music names to CMJ
The Victorian Government used $60,000 of its new Music Works – Quick Response grants for five acts and two executives to attend CMJ in New York next month. Heading to the Big Apple are Fraser A Gorman, Pierce Brothers (pictured), Good Morning, Sui Zhen and Slum Sociable to perform, with talent managers Melanie Lewis (Ngaiire) and Catherine Haridy (Tigertown).
Aussie stores, acts, get behind Cassette Store Day
A dozen record stores have got behind Cassette Store Day, on October 17. They include Abicus Selections, Beatdisc, The Beatbox, Brunswick Bound, Clarity Records, Greville Records, Land Speed Records, Music Farmers, Polyester Records, Red Eye Records, Repressed Records and Thornbury Records.
Available on the day are cassettes of albums by Courtney Barnett, Bloods, Summer Flake, Oceam Party, Step-Panther, Dollar Bay, Red Riders, The Finks, Francis O’Gorman, Ouch My Face, Raindrop, Mortification, Barrow-man, Betty & Oswald, Tutu & The Bodyrockets and Hills Hoist / Piqué.
Sydney’s Rice Is Nice Records is throwing a free show at Waywards (Newtown) Friday October 16 with Zeahorse, White Dog and Us The Band. The three feature on its Mixtape Vol. 3 out for the day alongside Tired Lion, Lowtide, The Living Eyes, Pearls, Love of Diagrams and others.
Some times you high-kick, sometimes you…
The long mooted INXS Broadway musical is taking a big step next month. The band’s “creative consultant” Chris Murphy told Billboard that he’s aiming for a 2017 launch. Two story treatments incorporating their songs are being written by “very strong (theatrical) creatives”, one team in London, the other in New York. Murphy and the band will decide over 30 days which one to take to financiers.
Number Crunching
1.212 million metro viewers turned into the second part of Seven’s Peter Allen mini series Not The Boy Next Door. The first episode drew 1.33 million.
41 countries where Perth singer songwriter Troye Sivan’s Wild debuted at #1.
229,000 visitors for Canberra Theatre Centre in 2014/5, a record for the venue.
30 gold albums have made Kiss the US band with the most in the collection, according to the RIAA. It also has 14 platinum albums.
$90 million in funding raised by SFX Entertainment.
Three new festivals launch
Western Australia gets a new three-day camping festival called Disconnected. It stages at Fairbridge Village an hour out of Perth from December 11-13, and hopes to draw 5000 in its first year. Inspired by the Euro style, Disconnect will have art, comedy and vaudeville in addition to music. The four stages are a natural amphitheatre, a 200-seat chapel, the gardens of Fairbridge House and the multi-storey Club House.
Among those providing the music are Chet Faker, Flight Facilities, Father John Misty, Mercury Rev, Meg Mac, Jungle Giants, Tkay Maidza, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Methyl Ethel.
FOMO (using the current social media buzz phrase fear of missing out) makes its bow at Brisbane’s Riverstage on January 9. It’s charging $79 for a bill of international and local names includes RL Grime, Jamie xx, Flight Facilities, Tkay Maidza, Skepta, Mr. Carmack, Boys Noize and Keys N Krates.
The latest addition to Melbourne’s festival circuit is Newport Ska and Reggae at Substation on Sunday November 22. Acts include Jamaica’s Wilbur Theodore Cole aka Stranger Cole to be backed by some of the city’s best reggae and ska players, Melbourne Ska Orchestra’s Nicky Bomba and Pat Powell, the 12-piece Ska Vendors, The Moonhops coaxed out of a four year hiatus, Newport Lakes All Star Band and DJs Systa BB and Mohair Slim.
In the meantime, the inaugural Murwillumbah Country Roots Fest (Oct 2 to 5) has introduced a surprise fourth stage called The Porch. Curated by festival organiser and country performer Lou Bradley, it will host new country, roots and bluegrass artists in busking mode during intervals at the main stages.
Adelaideunveils live music/technology initiative
Adelaide creative cluster Musitec’s TechJam event tomorrow evening (Wednesday September 23 at St Paul’s Creative Centre) will unveil a new initiative that interacts technology and live music. The Connected Music City Challenge is a JV between Musitec, Adelaide City Council, IBM, and the SA Government’s Music Development Office. It will ask local innovators for creative ideas to help activate Adelaide’s live music scene. Speaking are Adelaide Fringe Director Heather Croall and Davyd Norris, Senior IT Architect at IBM.
Venues Update: fines, name changes, invasions, fires
* South Australia’s Independent Pub Group, which runs 10 venues in Adelaide, will be renamed GM Hotels after Blue Sky Private Equity bought a majority stake.
* While the VCAT hearing over the demolishment of Melbourne’s Palace Theatre is now delayed until February, site owner Jinshan Investments is installing a retail space on a floor. The sound of workmen hammering inside brought reps from Melbourne City Council and Save The Palace Theatre Group at a run, initially alarmed Jinshan was tearing down more century-old interior fittings.
* The task of renovating the Sydney Opera House’s 2679-seat Concert Hall has been assigned to Melbourne firm ARM Architecture. ARM previously worked on Melbourne’s Hamer Hall and the Perth Arena.
* The Adelaide Fringe’s pop-up venue the Royal Croquet Club was fined $1000 for breaches of liquor laws. To wit, serving too much booze and not having enough security. Half the fine was suspended on proviso it doesn’t infringe conditions in the next 12 months.
* Sydney Harbour bar The Island LIVE launches its second round of dance parties on Friday October 9. Acts are not announced yet. But last year’s acts included Hayden James, Touch Sensitive and the Future Classic DJs.
* A disappointed Port Macquarie PCYC is considering its involvement in the expansion of the city’s Indoor Stadium after local council rejected its revised design for the venue due to cost factors.
* The Gold Coast gets a new weekly Friday trance, prog and house club Eden from October 2 at the Bounce nightclub. It is run by Genesis (of Sydney’s Voodoo nights) and Skyfall Records.
* The basement of Adelaide’s Botanic Bar caught on fire, reportedly due to an air conditioning unit.
* Grant Ryan, owner of Geelong’s Barking Dog, is offering $500 to anyone who can identify a group of thugs who smashed up the place after they were refused a meal as the kitchen had closed. He said they intimidated patrons, smashed chairs and scared a 19-year old female staffer during a 45-minute rampage.
Community radio’s Amrap reveals figures
During a community radio panel at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND, figures released. 70% of all acts showcasing used Amrap’s distribution services. In the 2014/5 financial year, 1400 musicians were added to the AirIt online music distribution platform with 4000 tracks. Emma Donovan was the most ordered artist in this period.
Radiators added to Melbourne Cup Charity Lunch
Veteran Sydney rock band Radiators are the latest performers added to music industry charity Golden Stave’s Melbourne Cup Charity Lunch. They join Shannon Noll, Amber Lawrence and Melinda Schneider. The lunch is at midday Tuesday November 3 at the Sheraton On The Park.
Live music to benefit from Coast celebrations
Live music will benefit from the Sunshine Coast’s 50th celebrations of its naming, which will run for six months from mid-2017. An organising committee is being set up, and a $276,000 war-chest approved for branding, advertising and grants for community groups to become involved.
WA Music Awards call for industry voters
WAM is looking for expressions of interest from the WA music community to join the WA Music Awards industry voting pool. You don’t have to be an industry heavyweight, the invite is open to musos, DJs. Photographers, bloggers, roadies, “or even a music-obsessive door staffer.” Deadline is Friday September 28.
Community TV gets 12-month reprieve
In one of his last moves as Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull offered Australia’s five community TV stations a 12-month reprieve. They can stay on free-to-air while they prepare their move to broadcast entirely online.
Entries closing for WA Country Music Awards
Entries from Western Australia’s traditional country, Americana and modern country musicians for the 2016 WA Country Music Awards close on September 30. Hosted by the Boyup Brook Country Music Club since 1986, winners get the chance to play the Boyup Brook Country Music Festival in February.
Ritchie Yorke releasing John & Yoko, Led Zep tomes
One of Australia’s first international music journalists and authors, Brisbane’s Ritchie Yorke, was back in Toronto this month to oversee the launch of his latest book. It is about close buddies John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s celebrated War Is Over If You Want It peace campaign. The ebook Christ You Know It Ain’t Easy: John And Yoko’s Battle For Peace is published on October 9, which would have been Lennon’s 75th birthday. Yorke was one of the few allowed into the inner circles of the likes of the Lennons, Led Zeppelin, The Band and Van Morrison.
While in Toronto, Yorke also celebrated the launch on ritchieyorke.com of the ebook version of his Led Zeppelin: The Official Biography (it’s sold 250,000 units since its 1976 release). He met up with Robert Plant at his Sensational Spaceshifters show at Molson Amphitheatre to present him with a hard copy.
MTV Brand New winner to be unveiled
The winner of the inaugural Australian MTV Brand New is announced tonight (Tuesday September 22) in Sydney. It includes sets by Set Mo, At Sunset and Conrad Sewell. The three are in the Top 10 finalists along with Winterbourne, Thomston, Josef Salvat, Carmada, Cosmo’s Midnight, Tkay Maidza and Chris Watts.
NZ Media and Entertainment consolidates
NZ Media and Entertainment is bringing its print, digital and radio together in one seven-day newsroom by building a purpose-built centre in Auckland with plans finalised by mid-October.
Mentors for Aussie Red Bull students announced
Perth talent KUČKA and Melbourne producer DXHeaven, the two Aussies chosen to study at the Red Bull Academy’s headquarters at La Gaîté lyrique, will be mentored by The Modeselektor, Thundercat, Just Blaze and Dorian Concept. The pair will be in Paris from October 25 to November 27. The showcases and events will be transmitted to Australia via RBMA Radio.
Vale
Paul Clarkson AO was a significant figure in the Victorian arts scene. He was the second Director of the former Victorian Ministry for the Arts (now Creative Victoria) for 15 years from 1980, oversaw the launch of Arts Centre Melbourne and Spoleto Festival (battling with unions who only wanted Australian artists on the bill), created the first state cultural policy in Australia (Mapping Our Culture in 1991) which he rated as a career highlight, introduced peer review panels for grants after a study trip to North America “to make the process equitable and transparent” and introduced a community arts program. He was later Victorian Administrator of Opera Australia (1995 to 1997) and Chair of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival (2004 to 2013).
Daniel Keighley was promoter of New Zealand’s five Sweetwaters Festivals 1980 to 1984 – which had many top Australian acts on the bills – and manager of The Mutton Birds .But his revival OF the festival in 1999 was a NZ$2.7 million disaster. It left him bankrupt, attacked by an Auckland gang after their payment cheque for security duties bounced and jailed for fraud in 2000. He wrote a revealing book about his life five years later. Recently he worked for peace festivals and community radio. He died aged 63 from cancer.
And a few other things …
Aussies continue to bombard the world. Gold Coast singer songwriter Cody Simpson is currently on his first US tour as an independent artist.
Kirin J Callinan plays the UK and Europe in October and November. He has been working on a new album featuring Connan Mockasin on vocal refrain, with his band John Kirby (Norah Jones, Sebastien Tellier, Cyprus Hill), Dave Jenkins Jr. (Daniel Johns, The Voice) and Tex Crick (The Pinheads).
DJ and [V] presenter Generik played three Las Vegas shows with Calvin Harris (joined onstage at one by Ed Sheeran). He does three more US shows in October.
Fresh from a blistering set at BIGSOUND, Soul sister Ngaiire is playing Culture Collide in Los Angeles and CMJ in New York next month. She recently covered Tame Impala’s Less I Know The Better for triple j.
A throwaway line on TV show Sunrise by Ed Sheeran that he’d like to visit the Great Barrier Reef on his upcoming tour has got the Tourism Tropical North Queensland mobilised. With an eye to making him a global Ambassador for the Reef, it has offered to fly him up and host a VIP trip for him. Sheeran told Sunrise diving in the Reef was on his bucket list but not attainable because of a ruptured eardrum. But the tourist folks offer options as stand-up paddle boarding and underwater helmet diving with turtles, and will even provide him with a guitar in case the joys of the Reef gets him breaking into a song.
New Zealand singer songwriter Brooke Fraser and husband Scott Ligertwood (they married in Sydney in 2008) had their first child Dylan Wilde last Friday.
Not only did George Brandis lose the Arts portfolio but yesterday PM Malcolm Turnbull also announced that his Attorney-General responsibilities covering
copyright, online piracy and the classification of computer games, books and films will now be moved to the Communications portfolio.
Faced with the Queensland Government refusing to back down after three protest rallies across Queensland last Saturday, opponents of the state’s upcoming lockout laws will target MPs in marginal seats with large number of youthful voters.
19-year-old Sunshine Coast singer songwriter Ayla, currently enjoying triple j support, has set up a Facebook page, Sunshine Coast Musicians, for local musicians to exchange gig details. It already has 2500 members. She’s working with local community radio to promote the gigs.
Performer, manager and former TV judge Mark Holden revealed he is fighting another health battle with thyroid cancer cells discovered last month.
Following the return to active duty by Moving Pictures and Custard, The Eurogliders are working on a new record. It’ll be a slight change of sound, with R&B and funk tones. “Because at this stage of our career we can,” explains Grace Knight.
A plaque was unveiled in Ipswich, Qld, to commemorate the legacy of Harold Blair, the country’s first indigenous opera singer and human rights activist.
‘60s pop singer Normie Rowe’s 50th anniversary tour sees him reunite with his original band The Playboys’ drummer Graeme ’Trotta’ Trottman. “He’s 73 now but playing as solidly as when he was a teenager,” Rowe says.