Rock & Roll Writers Festival expands to Melbourne

Last year, the inaugural Rock & Roll Writers Festival was held in Brisbane, and drew 340 attendees over two days. They listened to 40 speakers from around the world at 12 panels. The event also included two ticketed gigs.

In its second year, the festival has upgraded to a larger Brisbane venue, is also being staged in Melbourne, and anticipates a draw of 1000.

Leanne de Souza, the former artist manager turned academic who devised the festival with business partner Joe Woolley, says such conversations affect the way people think and act, and that the whole process of rock journalism remains important.

“Musicians need good words to be written about them to help amplify the integrity and the meaning of the music, so when a good music writer unlocks that artist and can talk about that, it’s powerful,” she points out.

“The process is important for anyone trying to get music heard above the incessant din of the daily newsfeed. I don’t market music anymore directly, but as a fan and consumer – yes, the words that are written by great writers and publications I trust will have an impact on to what I listen to, tickets I buy and ultimately connect with.”

In 2017, the Rock & Roll Writers Festival is staged on April 1 and 2 at the Old Museum in Bowen in Brisbane, and on April 9 at Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne.

Speakers include You Am I’s Tim Rogers, Magic Dirt’s Adalita Srsen, Mike Noga, Hugo Race, photographer Tony Mott, triple j’s Zan Rowe, Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd, Rob Snarski, Mick Thomas, Iain Shedden of The Australian, Sosefina Fuamoli of AU Review, and Michael Dwyer of Rolling Stone Australia.

Others include US biographer Holly George-Warren, Paul Barclay host of RN show Big Ideas, Dom Alessio of triple j, Mikey Cahill of the Herald Sun, Woman of Substances writer Jenny Valentish, and authors Nick Earls, Melissa Lucashenko, Peggy Frew and Kirsty Eagar.

Topics include what aspects of our environment shape our creativity, the battle to keep freedom of expression, the role of music writing, and what you get at the intersection of writing, music and social commentary.

‘The Male Monster From The Id’ examines the myth of masculinity in music. Others will try to unravel how photography captures the experience more than writing, if songwriting is magic or science and the influence of women on the creative process.

One panel will try to identify the significant musical and cultural moments and influences that changed generations and gave rise to new movements in the past 25 years.

“Building the themes is really the critical spine to the program,” de Souza emphasises. “We [she and Joe Woolley] both have our favourites, but there are a few topics I am personally really passionate about and bring to the table.

“We both have to agree on the arc and what we want the panellists to really dissect without soapboxing or giving a rote promotional sales pitch.”

For over 20 years, de Souza managed acts including Thelma Plum, Kate Miller-Heidke and The Medics. In 2015, she quit management and took a break. Within the space of a week during that time, she attended Splendour in the Grass and the Byron Bay Writers Festival.

“Having time to experience both as a punter, it struck me how much I wanted to attend an event that had the format of a writer’s festival – ie panels and conversations – but with the vibe and discourse of a music festival that spoke to my lived experience as Generation X.”

The discussions at the inaugural event exceeded all expectations. Writers in different formats pulled apart topics, themes and ideas that gave their audiences, and themselves, a new slant on their work.

Deborah Conway and Don Walker were among those who were extraordinary in the way they cast light their creative process. ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ studied the cultural authority of Australian indigenous stories and history.

One special story was Walker recounting Paul Kelly arriving in Kings Cross to play him a new song he’d written on the way from Melbourne, to ask if he thought it was any good. It was called From St Kilda To Kings Cross.

On ‘Freakin and Peakin’, members of Dune Rats and Bluejuice opening up about drugs, alcohol and mythology was, de Souza says, “cathartic for the whole room”.

Of last year’s 340 attendees, 11% were from interstate, 12% from regional Queensland and 77% from metro Brisbane.

70% of the audience were women, 60 were in the 36—55 age bracket and 95% rated it “very good to excellent”.

The 40 speakers came from around Australia, UK and New Zealand. 30% were songwriters, 20% fiction writers, 20% memoirs or biography writers, 20% were commentators and 10% were music critics.

In a further breakdown, 33% of them were women, 17.5% were indigenous and 58% were aged over 40.

The event injected $140,000 into the Brisbane economy.