Industrial Strength: September 29

Inaugural conference to address women, LGBTQIA, issues in music

LISTEN, the Victorian group made up of women in the music industry, is holding its first conference to address issues facing women and the LGBTQIA community in the music sector. LISTEN 2015 will run from Saturday October 31 – Sunday November 1 at the Northcote Town Hall.

Its aim is to spark discussion and documentation, and be part of the growth of diversity in Melbourne’s music industry. Workshops and panels cover topics as Safer Spaces, Gendered Sound, Nervous Systems: Bridging the Confidence Gap, Zine Making, The Audience Speaks, Tech Skills, Unconventional Music and Hearing Colour: Intersections Between Race and Music.

LISTEN was set up by singer songwriter Evelyn Morris, growing from an online posting by her to a groundswell that saw input from all aspects of the music sector and with a core membership of 15. LISTEN is one of the key groups behind Victoria’s task force to combat sexual harassment in music venues and festivals. More details here. And at their Facebook page.

Chris Brown battling possible visa ban

US R&B singer Chris Brown has hired an Australian legal team to appeal a decision by the Australian Government which asked him to show cause why it should not stop him from entering the country for his December tour. Contrary to reports, he has not been banned yet. Tickets for the tour went on sale this week.

Jules Lund launching Tribe app

Southern Cross Austereo presenter Jules Lund raised $750,000 from investors to this week launch a new macro endorsement marketing app called Tribe. It allows brands to tap into everyday influencers alongside celebs, with Lund pointing out that 3% of people generate 90% of impact online. Tribe serves as a meeting place for brands and influencers to connect and collaborate.

More South Australian inductions

This Friday (Oct 2) the Adelaide Music Collective is inducting The Moonshine Jug & String Band (who of course became The Angels), the late Chris Bailey of The Angels and Alex Innocenti of 1971’s Myaponga Pop Festival.

Myaponga Pop, to recap, was held over three days in the quiet dairy-farming town of Myponga with Black Sabbath, Daddy Cool, Spectrum, Bon Scott-led Fraternity, Chain and Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs. Officially it drew 15,000 who paid the $6 entry fee but thousands more jumped the fence.

Music promoter Innocenti got the festival funded by Hamish Henry, the millionaire son of an Adelaide car dealer, who turned up at a dairy farm and bought it for the festival. Footage of Myaponga ended up on the video for Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock. Its Ross Wilson recalls that performers slept on straw “but no one minded.”

Dave Leslie joins Daisies for Aussie tour

Baby Animals guitarist Dave Leslie is busy rehearsing with The Dead Daisies to step into the ranks for their Australian and New Zealand tour. The band arrived in Australia yesterday with the news that regular guitarist Richard Fortus had a motorbike accident. The Daisies kicks off on Saturday October 3 at the Perth Arena and winds up seven shows later on October 16 at Vector Arena Auckland.

Meantime, a documentary film about the band’s historic trip to Cuba titled Revolución will air on Qantas Inflight ’On Q’ Entertainment in October and November. A coffee table book and e book about the trip are also available at: www.thedeaddaisies.com.

X Factor up for screen awards

Seven’s The X Factor’s S05 is among nominees for the 15th Screen Producers Australia Awards held at the Palladium at Crown in Melbourne, on November 19 as part of the 30th Screen Forever Conference. It is in the Reality Television Production category, against Googlebox Australia, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, The Real Housewives Of Melbourne SO2 and Village Vets Australia.

Asian pop takes over at SBS 2

SBS 2 goes all Asian pop this weekend (October 2-4), with non-stop Asian pop music and culture programming. PopAsia hosts Jamaica dela Cruz and Andy Trieu present the Australian premiere of The BigBang Alive film to celebrate KPop band BigBang’s tour here. There is an Asian Pop guide called PopAsia 101, free streaming of Asian TV and movies, and the return of Anime with premieres of Japanese hit series Space Dandy and Assassination Classroom.

Sydney gets two new festivals

Electric Gardens is a new EDM festival held at Sydney’s Centennial Parklands on Saturday January 23 over the Australia Day Weekend. The first international names revealed are Fatboy Slim, John Digweed and James Zabiela.

NYE Above The Harbour allows December 31 revellers to sit in the Domain’s Tarpeian Precinct overlooking the Harbour, Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Number Crunching

20 noise complaints after AC/DC’s show at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

$75,000 winning bid at Heritage Auctions in New York for The Beatles’ first recording contract in 1961.

#53 chart debut on this week’s ARIA chart for Peter Allen’s Tenterfield Saddler after the two-part tele-screening of the Not the Boy Next Door biopic. Meantime, I Still Call Australia Home dropped from last week’s #60 to #92.

178 million streams for Meghan Trainor’s hit All About That Bass but co-writer Kevin Kadish says he’s only received $5,679 from steaming royalties.

110,000 visitors to SmoothFM’s Festival Of Chocolate.

Aussies to get iHeartRadio Music Festival interviews

This year marked the first time that Australians could stream live the iHeartRadio Music Festival from Las Vegas on September 18 and 19. iHeartRadio Australia says it has a host of interviews done with the stars “soon to be unveiled” at the new www.iheartradio.com.au and on social media. The app has 479,000 registered users in Australia, with 70 million worldwide.

Performers included Kanye West, Sam Smith, Coldplay, Puff Daddy, Demi Lovato, David Guetta, Kenny Chesney, The Weeknd, Tove Lo, Lil Wayne, Fall Out Boy, Disclosure, Hozier, Jason Derulo, Duran Duran, Prince Royce, Diplo, Trey Songz, The Killers, Jennifer Lopez, Blake Shelton and Nick Jonas. According to organisers, the festival was a dominant social media topic throughout the weekend. #iHeartRadio was #1 trending topic on Twitter.

Arts Law in Tune launches

Last year the Arts Law Centre of Australia helped 300 musicians and composers with legal advice. Now it’s launched Arts Law in Tune, a three-month campaign highlighting legal issues facing music creatives in the digital age, and the services and resources it has to support them. November sees an interactive webinar covering copyright, contracts and royalties and its annual fundraising concert. Go to http://www.artslaw.com.au/music for full details.

Smart Street Studios issues Ross Hannaford DVD

To help ailing Melbourne guitar hero Ross Hannaford with medical bills, Smart Street Films has put out 60 minute DVD Hanna In A Nutshell. It’s based on a lengthy interview that the studio’s Haydn Keenan, and long time friend, conducted. Hannaford opens up his early life, putting his painter aspirations to a side in his mid-teens to play in bands (including Daddy Cool, Mighty Kong, Billy T, Diana Kiss and Hey Gringo) and his love for reggae and guitar. It’s $25 from www.smartstreetfilms.com.au with an excerpt on vimeo.com/135152158.

Spring events to add $50 million for South Australia

Spring events in South Australia – including AC/DC and Kiss concerts and festivals as Gorgeous, Feast, Kangaroo Island Art, Semaphore Music, OzAsia and Adelaide Fashion – are tipped to draw 800,000 over October and November and inject $50 million into SA’s coffers, SA Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said.

Bon Scott Livewire book set for release

Allen & Unwin is releasing a Bon Scott book Live Wire on October 14, which it says is “told by three of the people who knew him best.” Behind the book are long time roadie John D’Arcy (who worked with Scott’s bands The Valentines and AC/DC), Darcy’s wife Gabby and the singer’s ’soulmate’ Mary Renshaw

The publishers describe the book as a “deeply personal and revealing portrait” of Scott adding: “We learn what it was like to be his friend, live and tour with him, and be part of the close-knit world from which one of biggest bands of all time emerged. With Bon there was always sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, but Live Wire also demonstrates the humour, intelligence and warmth of the man.”

Venues Update: relaunches, investigations, closures

* The new owners of South Melbourne’s Star Hotel relaunch it on October 3 as a 400-capacity dining, drinking and entertainment destination. They’re booking DJs for the time being. In the 1970s, The Star was a live music venue which hosted the likes of AC/DC and Nick Cave.

Adelaide’s Lava Nightclub is being investigated by liquor licensing authorities after a man lodged an official complaint that a security guard asked him to leave because he wasn’t drinking alcohol, calling it “a business decision”.

Arch Rival, the only 4am nightclub in Palmerston, Darwin, is moving focus to its food offerings. Owner Jason Hanna told the NT News, “It’s hard to promote a product if the people of the area are saying they wish there was somewhere else to go. Palmerston has a young demographic and there is no respect or loyalty to the venue, so we need to work on creating a new service for the area.”

* Adelaide Fringe pop up venue Royal Croquet Club has dropped its $5 cover charge for the 2016 event on Fridays and Saturdays. But patrons will have to buy a $5 Fringe ticket instead, ensuring the Fringe gets more money.

* A five-hour silent disco trial with three DJs to be held by Canadian clothing firm Lululemon Athletica on Cottesloe Beach until 9pm was knocked back by council. It insisted it finish off at 7pm as it would cause lighting and security issues.

* Sydney’s Chinese Laundry kicks off its 18th birthday in November with a month-long celebration of its adulthood. Dubstep makers Habstrakt, Hydraulix, Oski and PhaseOne kick it off on Friday November 6.

* Auckland strip club turned music venue Las Vegas on K Rd closed on the weekend after a 53-year run. The building’s owner wanted to do it up and pay for it by increasing the lease and its operators couldn’t afford the rise.

Sista Sounds workshop hits the road

Northern Territory association MusicNT’s annual program of music workshops for Indigenous women and girls in remote communities across Central Australia has kicked off for its fourth year. It stops in nine towns, ending on November 27. In 2015 the mentors include Edi Donald, Annie Pfeiffer, Eleanor Dixon, Jemma Masters, Shon Klose and Dallas Frasca. More details: www.musicnt.com.au.

In the meantime, its Bush Bands Program held 30 workshops and skills development sessions with more than 50 Aboriginal musicians from remote Central Australian communities. Two thousand attended the Bush Bands Bash to see the musicians prove what they’d learned.

Ipswich to set up digital hub

Ipswich, Queensland, is setting up a digital hub to inspire start-ups and entrepreneurs. It will be called Fire Station 101 as it’s in the former fire station building in Limestone St. Mayor Paul Pisasale wants Ipswich to come up with an app like Fruit Ninja which was developed in Brisbane five years ago and been downloaded a billion times.

Streaming to be NZ’s major music revenue

In a report by Radio NZ on New Zealand’s rapid shift to streaming, Recorded Music New Zealand CEO Damian Vaughan reckoned streaming will become the biggest revenue source for labels and artists in 2015 for the first time. He said streaming last year accounted for 24% of sales, up from 3% in 2012.

Tim Wheatley heads back to the US

After a successful month-long Australian tour playing to packed out venues and chart action for his Cast Of Yesterday album, alt-folk singer songwriter Tim Wheatley is heading back to the US. The album is already out there through his Ironbark label.

“This time around I’ll be focusing on Nashville and again in LA,” he tells TMN. “I have found that breezing through towns playing a single show solo is tough to get traction unless it’s a large support slot. So this time I really want to spend a bit of time and attempt to establish a fan base and relationships with those there in the business. You gain a lot more respect I find when you just show up on their doorsteps and say ’I’m here’.”

Aside from Cast Of Yesterday hitting #9 on the ARIA country music chart and #18 on the Australian artists chart, Wheatley says he was astounded at the response of local crowds to his music. “I kept looking out from the curtains thinking ’holy shit, people came…’.” Two highlights were the Gympie Muster when crowds built up for each successive set, and a packed out show at the Grace Darling in hometown Melbourne. Wheatley will return to tour Australia in summer.

Festivals Update: farewells, additions, returns

* The Great Southern Blues Festival in Narooma is held this weekend for the last time in its current format.

* In the meantime, we are asked, “Could this be the last Jazz in the Vines?” The 23-year-old festival clarified in its newsletter this week, “We hope not, but for the event to survive people need to vote with their feet and come along. Tell your mates, grab your friends and come along on October 31. Rising costs, international competition and a flat economy are all contributing to the decline of events around Australia.” It’s held 11am to 6pm at Tyrrell’s Vineyard, Pokolbin.

* This year’s Sydney Country Music Festival at Bella Vista Farm (October 31, November 1) introduced the Australian National Bluegrass Championships with the nation’s hottest fiddlers and artists tearing up the Bluegrass Stage.

* A Festival Called PANAMA in Northeastern Tasmania announced its return for the second time on March 11, 12 and 13. Tickets are capped at 1250.

* The inaugural Murwillumbah Country Roots Festival this weekend acclaimed how the local community has rallied around it. Destination Twee and the Murwillumbah Chamber of Commerce are holding seminars and workshops for local artists and residents on how to get involved and help make festival props and lanterns. AWOL Adventures have fitted out 16 of their ex-Australian Defence Force (ADF) Land Rovers with camping gear and made them exclusively available for hire to festival go-ers, and also provide vehicles to transport the artists. The first day of the four-day event has sold out.

Tuka heads to US for first time …

Fresh back from Thundamentals’ tour of Europe with Hilltop Hoods, band member Tuka is heading off solo for his first US tour. He’ll do shows around the country behind his Life Death Time Eternal album. The six dates, between October 8 and 17, include the CMJ showcases in NY, Culture Collide and Aussie BBQ in LA and New York.

“Growing up in Medlow Bath in the Blue Mountains, I never thought I would get to play my music in the Big Apple,” he said. “Being an emcee, going to New York is like the mecca of hip-hop! Can’t wait to take it all in and smash some bagels!”

After the US shows he returns for a solo eight-day Australian run (October 23 to November 14), which is already sold out in Sydney.

…and so does Troye Sivan

With his Wild EP debuting at #5 in the US, Perth’s Troye Sivan announced his first US gigs. It starts in Seattle at Neumos on October 15. He plays eight club dates, in San Francisco, LA, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington and ending up in New York on November 4 when he plays the Le Poisson Rouge.

Vale

Through his pioneering film and animation production company Yoram Gross actively championed young Australian composers. His family made it onto Schindler’s List and escaped from Poland to Israel.

He later emigrated to Australia with his wife Sandra and their two young children in the late 1960s, initially producing film clips for weekly TV music program Bandstand. He and Sandra set up the Yoram Gross Film Studios, which made 16 animated features and 12 TV series, bringing to life characters as Dot and the Kangaroo and Blinky Bill. His son Guy Gross, who scored The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, is President of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers. Guy says of his father, “He was a wonderfully inappropriate jokester. Amongst other pearls of wisdom he would often remark ’Everything is bullshit,’ meaning everything except love and family.” Yoram Gross died in Sydney aged 88 of natural causes.

John Sturman was CEO of APRA from 1965 to 1989. The association said in a tribute, “He was an influential figure internationally through his leadership in the protection of creator’s right. He was instrumental in establishing a focus on copyright in the Asian pacific region through his involvement with CISAC. His championing of the value of copyright has provided strong foundations for our organisation today.”

Thirsty Merc’s Rai Thistlethwayte paid tribute to the band’s stage manager Shane Cooper as “incredibly hard-working, an absolute all-rounder. He was so very focused on his family, he always spent time on the phone to his kids each night.” Cooper, married to Olivia with a young son and daughter, died last week in a crash in country Victoria while transporting the band’s gear to a gig alongside drummer Mick Skelton.

New Zealand TV C4 music host Helena Alpine was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. She became a fervent champion of women getting checked for the disease, and with music buddies including her bestie singer songwriter Holly Smith, staged benefits. She was 38.

And A Few Other Things…

Promoters of the new Auckland City Limits festival (March 19) have denied speculation that it might be staged in Australia as well.

Looks like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian won’t get to buy Turtle Island off Queensland. They were gushing about it on their last visit. But the tropical haven, on the market for $5 million, been bought by some folks from Singapore.

Sydney singer-songwriter, producer and sometimes actor Charlton Hill sold his two-room Potts Point place for $1.55 million. He and wife Caroline are moving to a former silent movie theatre built in 1910 from which to continue being inspired for his work for his Uncanny Valley sound, music and technology production house he set up with Justin Shave for the recording, TV and film industries.

Canberra hit electro-duo Peking Duk had no idea what to expect when they asked US actor Matt McGorry (Orange Is The New Black, How To Get Away With Murder) to feature in their hilarious new video for the Say My Name single.

Adam Hyde of the duo explains, “We first came up with this idea for the clip after our set at Coachella. The casting was without a doubt the biggest obstacle in our heads when brainstorming. Then Matt McGorry came up. We weren’t aware of how brilliant this man was on the dancing front, yet we were excited to proceed and see what would happen. All our hopes and expectations were ABSOLUTELY blown out of the park. Matt was hands down the BEST man for the job and took our initial vision to new heights the minute he rocked up to the set.”

Foxtel will from today at 7.30pm AEST express screen Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show on the Comedy Channel.

Asked by the Newcastle Herald to tell it something he’d never told a journo before, The Choirboys’ singer Mark Gable revealed his family name is really Kitchen but he changed it to Gable by deed poll in 1984.

Due to less than expected traffic, JB Hi Fi will tomorrow close its online digital books operation. It was set up to sell them for the Kobo and other digital platforms. Consumers now access titles via Kobo.com.

Pranks ahoy at HOT FM Central Queensland. After Ben Norris put on-air partner EJ Palmer’s clothes for sale at OpShop, Palmer got her revenge. She removed his new car from the station car park and cooed “sympathies” while he went into panic mode, ‘fessing up when he was about to call the cops.

Sydney nightclub operator Justin Hemmes has called in the lawyers after a man purporting to be his late father John’s love child made it clear he’s going after a share of his $800 million fortune, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Tom Kazas, formerly with 1980s band The Moffs, has proclaimed his blessing on the Jagwar Mar and Dreems cover of the band’s 1985 track Another Day in the Sun. “I’m rather fond of it,” he posted. “Through their omissions and inventions, I think they’ve managed to beautifully render many feelings of the original, but also take it into an unexpected direction; it’s a 30 year reflection.”

To celebrate its sixth birthday, The X Factor Australia threw a bash at the Basement in Sydney at which judges Chris Isaak, Guy Sebastian, Dannii Minogue and James Blunt performed. Blunt “grumbled” that Isaak had given him the “girl bits” for Wicked Game at which Isaak growled Minogue would have done a better job. Host Luke Jacobz quipped that Sebastian “actually turned up on time and he was quiet well behaved” when cast and crew went to London to perform in front of show franchise creator Simon Cowell.

The show’s stop-over en route to Abu Dhabi seems to have been a tie-up with the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority. The episode was shot featuring landmarks as Yas Waterworld, Jumeirah Etihad Towers’ Observation Deck at the Saadiyat Beach Club. The authority’s Director of Promotions Mubarak Al Nuaimi revealed to travel-industry website KarryOn, “Our involvement in The X Factor Australia has enabled us to showcase Abu Dhabi, introduce newcomers to our renowned hospitality and demonstrate the diversity of the destination.”