New Signings & Team-Ups: December 13

STONEFIELD TAKE FLIGHT

Victorian rock band Stonefield are now with Flightless Records.

Their first single for the label, the more metal-edged ‘Delusion’ has its official launch in Sydney, at the Lansdowne (Friday February 2) and in Melbourne at the Curtin (Saturday February 3).

According to the band, “’Delusion’ was inspired by an overwhelming feeling of knowing you are a speck in the universe, getting lost in your own mind.

“We ventured away from classic song structure to create more of a journey, exploring synth sounds to support our love of a hypnotic sounding riff.”

During April, Stonefield will be doing a five-week residency at The Bootleg Theatre in Los Angeles.

They also appear at the Levitation Festival in Austin, Texas, on April 27.

SPOTIFY PUT IT IN THE VAULT

Spotify will add an interactive element to the Australian Music Vault, which opens at Arts Centre Melbourne on December 19.

Funded by the Victorian Government and set up in collaboration with the Australian music industry, the Vault includes a free exhibition, education programs and a fully integrated digital program.

Spotify’s involvement will be, through its technology, to give each visitor the opportunity to take home a permanent reminder of their experience of the exhibition.

Artists as Kylie Minogue and Archie Roach, both patrons of the Vault, will set up their own playlists which can be found on the Vault website.

Spotify Australia’s Managing Director Jane Huxley said, “The Australian Music Vault is a significant, important music initiative.

“Through this partnership, we are excited to celebrate Australia’s rich musical heritage and create great interactive experiences for fans with local music at the forefront.”

TIDAL IN THE DRIVING SEAT

TIDAL tweeted that its streaming app is now compatible with Apple’s CarPlay allowing subscribers to access their favourite music and playlists.

It joins Spotify, Google Play Music and the BBC’s iPlayer Radio who can also be accessed in CarPlay,

TIDAL recentlyl announced that its customers could finally control their music on Sonos speakers with the Tidal app itself.

WARNER CHAPPELL GROOVES TO SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO

Warner/Chappell signed cutting edge British EDM duo and production team Simian Mobile Disco to a global publishing deal. James Ford and Jas Shaw were previously with Kobalt.

Mike Smith, managing director of Warner/Chappell Music UK, said: “James and Jas are endlessly inventive, pushing at the boundaries of electronic music and techno.

“Their experimental approach means that the music they write is always fresh and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.”

The pair added: “We’ve got a lot of exciting projects in the pipeline and it’s good to know they’ll be supporting us as we take them forward.”

Ford and Shaw emerged in 2000 with Manchester rock band Simian, three years later starting the Simian Mobile Disco as a side project.

They continued after the band broke up in 2005.

They released their own critically acclaimed tracks as ‘Hustler’ and albums as Attack Decay Sustain Release and Welcome to Sideways, and mixed for the likes of Air, Klaxons and Muse.

Ford on his own has produced for Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Florence and the Machine, Everything Everything, Little Dragon, Klaxons and Mumford & Sons.

Shaw has built and runs his own recording studio, while also spending a lot of time on the road DJing.

NEW YORK BOOK BECOMING A DOCO

Pulse Films has bought the rights to New York music journalist Lizzie Goodman’s best-selling 600-page Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock & Roll in NYC 2001-2011 to make into a four part documentary.

Six years in the making and drawing on 2000 interviews, it looked at the rise and impact of seminal acts as The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The book raised eyebrows when The Strokes opened up how guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.’s severe heroin addiction almost destroyed the group – and blamed Ryan Adams for allegedly introducing him to the drug.

The documentary will add first hand interviews with those in the scene, as well as archive footage, and promises to tale a different approach to “create a work of true cinematic scale that will redefine the scope of the music documentary form.”

Directors will be Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern who helmed the LCD concert film Shut Up and Play the Hits as well as Blur’s Grammy nominated No Distance Left to Run.

Pulse Films’ credits include Nick Cave’s One More Time with Feeling, Take That’s Look Back, Don’t Stare, Arcade Fire’s The Reflektor Tapes, Beyoncé’s Lemonade and the 10-part series on the history of rock for Sky Television.

INDENT TOUR WITH VANNS, THE NAH

Music NSW’ 2018 Indent Tour sees two NSW South Coast bands, The Vanns supported by surf-punk The Nah, doing five shows together in early autumn.

It touches down in Bega, Moruya, Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Bryon between March 16—25.

PERTH’S SWEET OBLIVION TO EXPAND

Thanks to a three-year funding commitment from the Commonwealth Bank, Perth’s Sweet Oblivion program will expand from next month.

Sweet Oblivion has been running as a regular fortnightly event at HQ for the past two years, in partnership with Perth booking agents Cool Perth Nights

The new funding will increase live performance opportunities for young performers, as well as the delivery of an ongoing program of industry skills development workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities for Sweet Oblivion participants..

The program’s other partners include RTRFM, WAM, Behind the Wall Training, Drug Aware and the City of Vincent.

STAN GETS BRAND AMBASSADOR

Stan named public relations identity Roxy Jacenko as its new brand ambassador for the next 12 months.

Jacenko also serves as ambassador for Toni & Guy, Enjo and Birkenhead Point.

CREATE NSW & ABC TEAM FOR AUSSIE YOUTH DRAMA

Create NSW and the ABC are on the hunt for low budget youth-oriented TV shows similar to overseas products as HBO’s Girls, Looking and Insecure.

They are calling for submissions for four half-hour projects from across NSW that will receive up to $20,000 matched joint development funding from Create NSW and ABC.

They are looking for one to two-page pitches for projects that highlight diversity and a focus on a younger demographic. Deadline is January 28.

UNIVERSAL WIDENS START-UPS SEARCH

Universal Music Group has widened its Accelerator Engagement Network, announced in October to develop music-related start-ups and provide them with expertise and mentorship.

In the latest move, the program has teamed with Asian digital company SparkLabs Group, which runs incubator programs in Seoul and Taipei, to foster the next wave of Asia-based digital music start-ups.

MARDI GRAS, GOOGLE, BRING BACK PARADE GRANTS

After the success of its first Community Parade Grants Program in 2017, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras announced that Google has returned as sponsor.

It provides support to individuals, community groups and not-for-profit groups to create their parade entries and take their ideas to greater heights – an important step as the Mardi Gras celebrates its 40th anniversary next year and looking for more fabulous-er floats than ever before.

The parade normally draws 12,000 participants and is televised nationally.

RESERVOIR SIGNS JV WITH GRAMMY WINNING WRITER PRODUCER

New York based publisher Reservoir has struck a jv with writer-producer Warren “Oak” Felder to find and launch new talent.

Felder is on a golden streak, winning Grammys for his work with Alicia Keys and Rhianna, as well as working with Usher, Alessia Cara, Demi Lovato, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Miguel, Kelly Clarkson, Jason Derulo, Wiz Khalifa and Big Sea.

The jv hit the ground running, signing up LA-based production and writing team The Orphanage (aka Trevor Brown and Zaire Koalo) who with Felder this year wrote Demi Lovato’s chart topping two million selling ‘Sorry Not Sorry’.