Unsigned & unrepresented: meet the acts taking a DIY approach to BIGSOUND

For the dozens of acts that make the annual pilgrimage to the sunshine state for BIGSOUND, the name of the game is exposure.

Many acts have some form of representation, be that managers, PR, booking agents and more, who will schmooze with the best of them to get their acts to the next level.

However, a small number of acts will go in cold, doing the solo dance to get their foot in the door.

We caught up with five of these unrepped acts from this year’s event to find out what it’s like going into the Southern hemisphere’s biggest musical conference with only your bandmates to back you up.

ARSE – Punk trio from Sydney

For you, is being 100% independent a choice or a necessity, and why?

It’s a necessity because it’s the only option available. And it’s a good option because we can do whatever we want. Which is to make records.

Luckily we don’t owe anyone for the privilege of being able to do that. We’ve licensed some small distro in Europe. Everything else we own and can fuck up all by ourselves.

What’s the most beneficial thing about doing it by yourself?

The most beneficial thing about DIY is the limitations mentioned. To quote the late Bourdain, you get to decide how big your shit sandwich is going to be. Time, money, output… All that stuff is on you, based on the parameters the world has given to you. So you learn to work with them.

In your experience, how much harder is it trying to be heard within the industry without a team around you?

Being seen is where the difficulty lies. Playing live is still the only real thing. It’s the last and only medium where artists can convince people of something because people remember the show above all else.

If you’ve got a team then maybe you’ll get to play more, or play bigger. Get seen where you wouldn’t otherwise. Convince more people about whether you’re good or not.

Eilish Gilligan – Singer-songwriter from Melbourne

What was the process you went through to land on the BIGSOUND line up and the work that went into getting to that point?

It’s been many years of work to get to this point. I’ve had several unsuccessful BIGSOUND applications over the last few years, which, in hindsight, I’m kind of grateful for, I really don’t feel as though I was truly ready for a BIGSOUND showcase until this year.

In terms of the work that’s gone into it – it’s been so, so much writing (about 20 bad songs to every decent one), a lot of gigging, several different project iterations, a billion emails, working three day jobs and then going home to work on my music career – I think every musician/creative person would understand how that feels.

How sustainable do you think being totally independent is?

Personally, a main negative thing I’ve noticed as an independent, self-managed artist is there’s a lot of fatigue – make sure you don’t bring your laptop to bed with you, it’s the worst thing I ever started doing! Fatigue is NOT sustainable, that’s for sure.

What’s the most beneficial thing about doing it by yourself?

It’s hard to explain, and it’s not really ‘beneficial’; as much as it is satisfying, but I think the moments that stand out to me the most are those mornings finding out that a song of mine got added to triple j, or even receiving that acceptance email to BIGSOUND; there was something magic about experiencing those things and thinking to myself ‘wow, I did that’.

The Merindas – Dance-pop duo from Perth

For you, is being 100% independent a choice or a necessity, and why?

Being independent is important for us as artists to grow in this business to understand the ins and outs of the business. This also gives us the freedom to try things in our art to broaden our creativity. So in saying that, it is a necessity to spend at least 70% of our career as an Independent artist.

How sustainable do you think being totally independent is?

If you know your business, opportunities are endless as an independent. You need to have a strong concept and story to tell behind your music and it will sell itself. Being independent gives you the freedom to hustle and make decisions based on your situation.

 What’s the most beneficial thing about doing it by yourself?

The biggest reward that we get from being Independent is TIME! Time for creativity, time for body, mind and soul. Financially it works out better because we can make enough money to put back into our show for costumes, new music, lighting, dancers, photos, videos etc without getting into debt.

In your experience, how much harder is it trying to be heard within the industry without a team around you?

If you don’t have a team of people in a room talking about you, it’s hard for the industry to take you seriously if you are talking about yourself. For such a long time we have known our worth as artists and have been ignored for such a long time. This is the true struggles of an independent artist.

Hobsons Bay Coast Guard – Surf-rock quartet from Melbourne

Can you run us through the process of getting onto the BIGSOUND lineup and the work that went into it?

Landing BIGSOUND was the biggest surprise for us this year! We played a large number of support slots before putting on a headline show, so that was a good opportunity to make friends and ask questions to more experienced people in the music bizo. As for applying, we don’t have a manager so we did the write-up, graphics and photography ourselves.

For you, is being 100% independent a choice or a necessity, and why?
It’s definitely not a choice! We’re just too fresh and young of a band to have link up with managers, labels etc. We need all the help we can get through at the moment so we aren’t partial to keeping things fully independent.

What’s the most beneficial thing about doing it by yourself?
I think having full control of our sound and image. We are determined to push the boundaries of our sound and are passionate about staying innovative – we don’t want to lose any opportunity to do that.

In your experience, how much harder is it trying to be heard within the industry without a team around you?
I think the worst thing is being in direct contact with blogs, radio etc that reject your submissions. It can be a little disheartening, would be great to have a middle person to let us down softly haha!

What are you hoping to gain out of your BIGSOUND showcase?
We’d love a label to release our album, and more shows! We love playing and hope to do some touring next year both in Australia and abroad.

Tape/Off – Punk-rock quartet from Brisbane

 For you, is being 100% independent a choice or a necessity and why?
We all come out of the DIY scene in Brissie, so that has kind of set the tone for most of the decisions we’ve made. This doesn’t mean that it’s a necessity, but it does mean that we definitely think about the people we have around us.

How sustainable do you think being totally independent is?
It’s sustainable, to a point. Keeping up with everything on top of working, seeing friends, having a family etc. is pretty tough. We’re lucky that we’ve made a bunch of solid mates over the years and that we have two sound engineers with studios in the band. But still, booking shows, tours, plotting schedules, keeping up with social media, it creeps up on you.

What’s the most beneficial thing about doing it by yourself?
I’d say it’s the paddock to plate experience. It’s cool to get to experience the whole process, especially when it comes to fruition. You can hold up a record and say, ‘Hey, we did this thing.’

In your experience, how much harder is it trying to be heard within the industry without a team around you?
It can be hard to break through the herd of other acts that are out there, but the artists that stick to their guns will prosper at the end of the day. It’s about engaging with a wider and wider group of people you want to be around.

What are you hoping to gain out of your BIGSOUND showcase?
We’re hoping to get a booking agent on board that can help with coordinating tours and also get an international radio plugger to hit some ears overseas.