New Signings & Team Ups: Torren Foot legs it to OneLove; Peter Andre back to major-land; Plini at New World Artists; Jack Daniel’s to pay musos in booze; 1D inspired a Burger King menu item

Torren Foot legs it to OneLove

Melbourne based ‘G-House’ producer, Torren Foot (pictured), poised to make a breakthrough this year, signed with indie label ONELOVE. As a live drawcard, Foot played to 8000 at Falls Festival, toured nationally with Crooked Colours and performing to a packed room on the Splendour In The Grass Smirnoff Stage. His remix of the major clubland hit Bugatti by Tiga, was released in the US on Diplo’s Mad Decent label.

Recently signing to Select agency, Foot is hitting the road again, doing 13 dates behind 1, 2 Step, a club friendly recut of the Ciara ft. Missy Elliot hit. Foot’s version, from his forthcoming ONELOVE Digital Love – Mixed by Torren Foot compilation, is out as a single and debuted at #11 last week on the ARIA club chart.

Manager James Fava of LTM Crew says of the signing: “It was love at first sight, founded the moment we worked-up a dance floor sweat at those mighty ONELOVE club nights past and continued in those random 3 hour conversations we’d have depicting the current state of a thumping bass line – ONELOVE’s passion will always be geared towards those who dance and we are excited to sign Torren with such an established music brand.” ONELOVE A&R Manager Ant Celestino, was more succinct: “Torren Foot’s music fits on us like a 'Nike Air Huarache'!”

Peter Andre back to major-land with Warner Music

UK-based Aussie expat ’90s hitmaker Peter Andre is now with East West Records/Warner Music as part of a worldwide signing for a reported six figures. His last album was on his own label. The first Warner album is out in October and will include some classic covers. Andre will appear on UK television screens on Strictly Come Dancing, after which he will cash in with a UK-wide tour.

Wilding grooving; with Half A Cow

Melbourne singer songwriter Wilding (aka Justin Wilding Stokes) tapped Sydney’s Half A Cow for the release this week of his second album Molecules To Moons through MGM. Generations ago, one of his UK ancestors won a fortune on a horse called Wilding and all the men in the family have had the name since.

Globally rising prodigy Plini at New World Artists

Sydney 23-year-old guitar virtuoso and composer Plini, slowly expanding his overseas base, is strengthening his position in Australia. He’s signed with New World Artists just as his current headlining tour with The Helix Nebula sees Sydney and Melbourne selling out. A recent UK visit included Techfest UK, with a visit to Japan in the works. Plini, who previously went under the name Halcyon, during which time he released the Pastures EP, got his first electric guitar at 11, is a recently graduated architecture student and has an EP The End Of Everything out currently.

Jack Daniel's looking for musicians – to be paid in booze

Jack Daniel's, who unveiled the world’s first crowd-sourced bar in Sydney last year, is taking it on the road as part of its 100th anniversary. In association with Mack Trucks Australia, it will land The Bar That Jack Built in six regional cities in NSW and Victoria September 10 to 15. There’ll be workshops on building or donating to the bar and tradies, artists and designers will be paid in Jack Daniels.

The brand is also looking for bands, singers and entertainers to perform at Jack’s Bars in Melbourne’s Federation Square (Sept 18 to 20) and Sydney’s Parramatta Park (Sept 25-27). In keeping with the spirit of the initiative, they will also be paid in Jack Daniels product. Full details at https://www.facebook.com/JackDanielsAustralia.

How One Direction inspired a Burger King menu item

Fans of Burger King’s new spicy Fiery Chicken fries have the Buzzfeed site and One Direction to thank. A Buzzfeed post last year included the chicken fries, which Burger King sold between 2005 and 2012 in a list of “35 Foods From Your Childhood That Are Extinct Now.” It triggered a spike in social media mentions, so Burger King resurrected them.

A few months later came a bigger surge when One Direction’s Liam Payne tweeted to his 20.7 million followers, “I’m so fulllllll!!! Think I just ate my body weight in chicken fries and sides owwwwww.” It was retweeted 94,000 times. The problem is that chicken fries were not on sale then, so obviously Payne had missed out on a comma, and meant to say he ate chicken and fries, not chicken fries. Mistake or not, the excitement generated was enough to bring chicken fries back last northern summer initially for a month, but made permanent this March. Sales were up 7.9% in North America in the latest quarter.

Gympie Music Muster continues zebra marketing theme

The Gympie Music Muster continues to tap a marketing association with Australia Zoo and Sunshine Coast Destinations. First the festival adopted a zebra called Zambeze, which was used for the festival’s publicity events. Now it’s using three of them – Michael, Stevie and Zambeze – in a billboard seen by 75,000 vehicles which travel the road to Brisbane Airport every day. It depicts the three stripies “singing” into a vintage microphone to convey the fun patrons will have when they attend the event August 27 to 30. It is not known if Michael, Stevie and Zambeze will be invited up onstage for a jam session with Michael St(r)ipe on a medley of REM covers or with John Butler Trio on Zebra.

Wall of Sound pacts global deal with Believe Digital

UK label Wall of Sound inked a worldwide physical and digital distro deal with Believe Digital to work on its latest releases through services through the world.

Music Tasmania announces Amplified+ bill

Music Tasmania’s initiative with Junction Arts Festival has chosen the acts to showcase at the Junc Room as part of Amplified+ on Thursday September 3. They are acoustic singer songwriter Thomas Fowkes, indie pop performer Summer Edmunds, husband and wife folk blues duo Tiffany Eckhardt and Dave Steel (they recently relocated to Franklin in Tassie’s South), Hobart skuzz music band Heart Beach (triple j recently named them one of Unearthed’s 10 Quiet Achievers of 2015) and indie four piece The Saxons

Tremor Video buys Australia’s TVN

America’s Tremor Video bought Sydney-based programmatic video advertising platform TVN as the New York company expands into the Asia Pacific ad market. TVN was set up in 2010 and worked with premium publishers like Southern Cross Austereo, Foxtel, Network 10 and MCN as well as broadcasters in 9 Asia Pacific territories including New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. TVN founders Peter Ostick and Josh Ismin will join Tremor Video’s international team as Vice Presidents.