NZ industry pulls back on piracy chase; Vance Joy out “for the foreseeable future”; Nick Cave doco premiering at Sundance

Three inaugural festivals get set for a stronger 2014

Three festivals which launched this year look set for a stronger showing in 2014 after impressive debuts. Yarra Council has voted to increase its funding for Leaps and Bounds from $35,000 to $80,000. It was impressed that the first event, in July, drew 80,000 to 293 events in 34 venues. Jon Perring (The Tote), Mary Mihelakos (Yah Yahs) and Justin Rudge (The Standard Hotel) set it up to focus on the dynamic music scenes of Collingwood and Fitzroy. Perring told us the extra funding was most welcome. “This year we were under-funded for what we were trying to do,” he explained. “The first festival was about getting the concept up, but it was a massive struggle.” The extra money means more initiatives, higher pay for the artists and the capacity to run the festival on a more “professional” basis, he said. Being negotiated for 2014 are a Leap and Bounds beer, more PBS FM live to airs, tours through studios, and greater inclusion of migrant, refugee and senior citizen members of the community.

After drawing a capacity 10,000, Queensland’s Big Pineapple Music returns next May with a more eclectic bill. Bliss N Eso and The Living End headline the first announcement of 24 acts, with electronic acts unveiled next month. There’ll be 35 acts, extreme sports and 2500 camping sites.

Hobart’s Dark Mofo festival will expand to include Launceston next year, with the Tasmanian Government announcing extra $200,000 funding. The inaugural event was an instant success, attracting 126,000 visitors and interstate tourists spending $6 million during their stay. Dark Mofo will go for a mix of arts and sports, with premier Lara Giddings pointing out, “Some people might see that as a clash of cultures. But there are people in the community, including me, who love both.” Dark Mofo opens in Hobart to coincide with the winter solstice on June 21 and then heads to Launceston the following week, coinciding with the Gold Coast Suns-Hawthorn AFL match at near-by Aurora Stadium on June 28.

Nick Cave doco premiering at Sundance

20,000 Days On Earth, the documentary on a day in the life of Nick Cave, will makes its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in America. It is one of 118 movies selected. It is surprising that the immensely-private Cave allowed cameras to intrude in his life. But he’d worked with directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard on the video for 2008 single Dig! Lazarus Dig!, He liked their approach. The scenes were devised by the pair and Cave would improvise. He’s seen writing songs for The Bad Seeds’ Push The Sky Away (Cave estimated he was 20,000 days old when writing began), arguing with Brit tough guy actor Ray Winstone about the quality of English versus Aussie fish and chips (“why don’t you go home, then?” Winstone snaps) and watching the bloody ending of Scarface at home with his kids. His crooning mate Kylie Minogue makes a cameo.

Certifications

John Legend’s tour with Alicia Keys has seen his #1 single All Of Me (only Australia and Portugal has given him that position) go Gold after four weeks … Magic!’s Rude went gone Gold on the eve of their promo visit as did Ed Sheeran’s I See Fire  … Ellie Goulding’s Burn is now 3 x platinum. Eminem and Rihanna’s The Monster, at #1 for three weeks is 2 x Platinum as is Avicii’s Hey Brother … Guy Sebastian’s Like A Drum, Taylor Henderson’s Borrow My Heart and Havana Brown’s Warrior are all Platinum. So is Zedd & Hayley Williams’ Stay The Night … Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 is the only album to pick up a Platinum certification in the past seven days.

Jeremy Neale awarded Billy Thorpe Scholarship

Queensland’s Jeremy Neale took out the $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship. It allows him to start work on his debut album earlier than expected. With triple j playlisting his Stranger Times, Neale won the Courier-Mail People’s Choice Most Popular Male artist at the Queensland Music Awards in August and was a finalist in the 2013 Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship.

NZ recording industry pulls back on piracy chase

The New Zealand recording industry is pulling back its pursuit of pirates, peak music Recorded Music New Zealand general counsel Kristin Bowman told stuff co.nz. It is because despite the high cost of bringing infringers to justice, it considers the Copyright Tribunal’s penalties low. Since the ’’Skynet’’ streamlined justice system kicked in, in January, only 17 infringers were taken to task. The maximum penalty for piracy is NZ$15,000 but the highest penalty so far was $914.35. So now the cases it plans to bring will be those which are high-offending enough for the Tribunal to be “a little gutsier”, Bowman said.

Lynette Irwin gets lauded for jazz contribution

At Jazz Queensland’s 30th Anniversary Party, at the Jazz Music Institute in Brisbane, president Lynette Irwin got a surprise when she was presented with the association’s 30th Anniversary award for her contribution to building up the sector in Queensland. Irwin is also a long time QMusic board member.

SWIPE

Maybe it was just the wine talking? But which recent ARIA winner was expressing with some anger at a Christmas party that none of his fellow nominees had bothered to come and congratulate him on his win

Which musician named his new dog after his booking agent?

Which video director’s move into making movies is put on hold for the moment? He pissed off the financial investor.

A possible addition to the “reality music search” market is Rising Star, a hit in its native Israel, during which viewers vote for live performances in real time via mobile and tablet apps. It’s been snapped up by ABC for America and ITV for the UK. Its production company Northern Pictures is hawking it to the major TV series here. But its $25 million production costs may be an issue.

Hot on the heels of the barney between Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate and aerosol spraying Justin Bieber, Radio Hot Tomato’s breakfast team put together an avatar-style send-up video, which they gleefully played to Tate.

It looks as though New Zealand is no longer beating the war drums for Australia after a poll of greatest Australian songs included their own Split Enz. The Kiwis are now planning to invade Los Angeles where the Grammy organisers described Lorde as an Australian. Lorde’s Grammy appearance means she’s had to pull out as headliner of Laneway Auckland. Instead she’ll play a free concert a few days later at the festival site for ticket holders.

Which Armidale bar owner has been charged with providing fraudulent information to secure a liquor licence?

UK music retailers are facing a nightmare in the busy and lucrative run-up to Christmas, reported Music Week. Arvato, which handles physical distribution for the likes of Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music and PIAS, is running late delivering their stock to the stores.

Darren Riley, who runs Ipswich, Queensland live music venue The Prince of Wales, took matters into his hands when he noticed that $6000 had been stolen over eight weeks from the till and the bar staff’s tips glass. He installed cameras and a monitor in his room, When he monitored someone creeping in, he ran down armed with a stick, tied him up with cable and called the cops. He then named the guy, who faces court this month, on the venue Facebook.

The latest issue of Australian Creative magazine is to be its last.

Qantas sheepishly apologised and replaced Cody Simpson’s guitar, which arrived in Perth during the Bieber tour with cracks in the body, head and neck. Rather than wait for the wheels of compensation to start creaking, the 16-year old merely complained to his 6.1 million Twitter followers. 1200 of them harangued the Flying Kanga.

LIFELINES

Ill: Vance Joy has been ordered to rest his voice “for the foreseeable future” leading to his cancelling his set at this week’s Meredith23 festival.

Ill: last minute dental surgery saw actor/singer John Waters pull out as a presenter at this week’s Screen Music Awards.

Injured: Damien Wicks, frontman of Darwin band Dr Elephant ended with a black eye and four stitches to his eyebrows, after being glassed at the Vic Hotel. A man was dancing with a cup and split it on him. When Wicks took the cup away from him, the guy hit him with a bottle (NT News).

Injured: Sydney bluegrass performer Jimmy Rush was involved in a car crash on his way home after appearing at the inaugural Mountaingrass Bluegrass Festival at Harrietville, Victoria. He broke a bone in his neck and was hospitalised in Canberra. His car was a write-off.

Split: New Zealand singer songwriter Anika Moa and one-time Melbourne burlesque dancer Azaria Universe (Angela Fyfe) who became NZ’s poster couple for gay marriage with their civil union in 2011. They will jointly look after their twin two-year old sons, Taane Diamond and Barry Kowhai.

In Court: Terrence Reche Smalls, a 23 year member of Justin Bieber’s entourage who was arrested at Brisbane airport when customs found 13g of cannabis in his luggage, failed to appear at Brisbane Magistrates Court on December 6. His lawyer said he was in Perth with the tour. Magistrate Chris Callaghan issued a warrant for his arrest, delayed until January 24 when he has to front up.

Jailed: Sean Spence, 38, owner of Evolution Lounge nightclub in Karratha (WA) for six-and-a-half years by Perth District Court. He attacked Irish tourist Adrian Armstrong, 19, in February 2012 after he was ejected from the club leaving him with severe brain injuries. He had to have part of his skull removed. Spence attempted to obstruct the course of justice by switching CCTV cameras when police investigated the assault.

Vale: Sydney radio presenter and voiceover man (2GB. 2CH) John Martin, after a long illness.

INSIDE TRACK

Spirit of Morning Of The Earth returning

In 1972, Albe Falzon’s Australian cult movie The Morning Of The Earth proved a game-changer, in how it approached surfing as a total lifestyle, philosophy and religion package. The hip soundtrack was the first local to go gold, and its single Open Up Your Heart went to #1. Over 40 years later comes Spirit of Akasha with same surf/movie ideals, making its world premiere at the Opera House on January 25.  Australian filmmaker Andrew Kidman (Litmus, Glass Love, Last Hope) was mentored by Falzon himself. To coincide with  the release of the film and soundtrack, Warner Music Australia is in late January also re-releasing Morning Of The Earth as a two-CD set – the original as well as Morning of The Earth Reimagined. It features Xavier Rudd recreating Day Comes, the title track by Mick Turner and the Xlyouris Ensemble, Matt Corby redoing First Things First, POND on Bali Waters, Busby Marou on Getting Back while Machine Translations test out the folky Simple Ben. Also on Reimagined are Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & The Cairo Gang, Tom Curren, Goons Of Doom, Jack River, The Sand Pebbles, The Autumn Defense, Blake Mills, Andrew Kidman & The Windy Hills and Andrew Van Wyngarden.

Lorde Team video debut causes a crash

With Lorde’s career in the stratosphere, it’s not surprising that the rush to see her new video Team saw Vevo’s YouTube page crash. As with the 17-year old’s music, the video has some striking images. Sporting boss dreads in a mystical commune, she croons,  “We live in cities you’ll never see on screen / Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things / Living in ruins of the palace within my dreams / And you know, we’re on each other’s team.” Lorde posted on her Facebook page:  “This video was borne from a dream I had a few months ago about teenagers in their own world, a world with hierarchies and initiations, where the boy who was second in command had acne on his face, and so did the girl who was Queen. I dreamt about this world being so different to anything anyone had ever seen, a dark world full of tropical plants and ruins and sweat. And of this world, I dreamt about tests that didn’t need to be passed in order to be allowed in: sometimes the person who loses is stronger. Enjoy.”

The Dead Daisies hit an electric charge

Australian/US band The Dead Daisies started in Sydney, but it looks as though the rest of the world has embraced their “new music for classic rock fans” approach before Australia. After dates through the US, the band is winding up a successful run through the UK this weekend. Their debut album is getting played on radio there, and hard rock magazines Classic Rock and Kerrang! have taken them on board. Next week, The Dead Daisies play Israel, and plans are already drawn to return to America and Europe through 2014.

“We’re essentially a new band, and doors are just opening,” singer and co-founder Jon Stevens said on the line from London. “When we go on, no one knows what to expect. But they’re singing along to the songs already. Coming to the UK we didn’t realize how much we’ve been played over here. On the US tour, we clicked so cohesively and were excited about playing together. Everyone has ideas. The musicianship in this band is amazing. I stand onstage and watch Daryl Jones and Charley Drayton in awe and think, What a rhythm section! I’m having the time of my life!”

Already they’ve started slipping in songs from their second album. Three songs were cut in New York and Los Angeles at the end of a US tour. The Face I Love and Your Karma are raucous and rocking, while Angel In Your Eyes is a 12-bar stomp that wallops a fist to the bollocks. The three will be in the set, along with a blistering rendition of The Beatles’ Helter Skelter, when Daisies play Australia in February/March when the debut album is finally released on these shores. “It’s a shame Australia is the last place to release the album,” Stevens says.

By March, The Daisies will lose two of their current lineup: Daryl Jones has to take his bass skills back to The Stones, and guitarist Richard Fortus to Guns ’N’ Roses. Stevens says there is no shortage of musos who want to play with the Daisies. “The musician’s network is amazing, one player tells another, This is what they’re doing, and straight away they want to get involved.”