Peter Chellew steps down as The Push Executive Officer

Peter Chellew, the dynamic Executive Officer of Victoria’s peak youth music agency The Push, has stepped down after 15 years in the business.

Under his watch, the not-for-profit association went on to open access to music industry jobs for hundreds of young people through a myriad of initiatives.

Chellew was also a Director of the Face The Music conference.

“It has been an honour to help young people achieve their goals in music – so many Push graduates have gone on to have successful music careers and to take up senior roles in our industry,” he said in a statement.

Chair of The PushDarren Sanicki acknowledged Chellew’s “guidance, foresight and dedication to The Push, the benefits of which will be with us for many years to come.”

These included giving young people the chance to organise all-ages concerts in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, as well as skills-developing workshops, the Push Over all-ages festival and The Push Songs songwriting mentorship program.

The all-ages live music series New Slang, the Push It! lab to foster collaboration between electronic dance and hip-hop talents, and a young musician exchange program with Singapore were also among highlights ofChellew’s career.

Last year, with a 160-strong team of volunteers, The Push staged 345 professional development events and activities, as well as 279 skills-developing workshops.

The statewide band competition FreeZa Push Start Grand Final was staged before 10,000 while the Live At The Steps at Melbourne Parliament drew over 5,000.

In 2017, Face The Music posted a 14% increase in ticket sales and female participation in panels reached 53%.

This month the organisation announced The Push Group Diversity in Audio program, a mentoring stream with venue operators The Corner Group for women, trans and non-binary people and people of colour interested in a career in the audio and technical industries.

Chellew – who started out as a bass player in bands – went on to start booking gigs before going into community radio.

He was GM of Melbourne’s PBS and was an instrumental figure in the setting up of Sydney’s FBiRadio.