INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH
LIFELINES Born: daughter for Kanye West and partner Kim Kardashian, who arrived five weeks early while he was away touring Europe. Injured: Eric Clapton cancelled two European shows due to severe back pain. Injured: The Dillinger Escape Plan’s guitarist Ben Weinman suffered an injury to his right hand and wrist. Hospitalised: Mumford & Sons bass player Ted Dwane needs surgery after being diagnosed with a brain clot. Recovering: former Journey singer Steve Perry recently had cancer treatment for a mole on his face, five months after his girlfriend died of the disease. Ill: Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Ill: Chris Isaak’s drummer Kenney Dale Johnson being treated for cancer. In Court: Lamb Of God frontman Randy Blythe has been freed of charges of killing a fan by pushing him off-stage during a Czech show in 2010. Investigated: Justin Bieber’s bodyguards, already up on three charges in Miami of roughing up people who took photos of their charge in one week, were hit with a fourth complaint. Arrested: US rapper 2 Chainz for possessing drugs at Los Angeles’ LAX airport. A day before he was mugged of his wallet during an incident in San Francisco during which the assailant fired a gunshot. Died: former Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna drummer Joey Covington, 67, in a Palm Springs car crash when it crashed into a wall. His wife thinks he had a stroke or heart attack before the accident. Died: long time Ramones collaborator Arturo Vega, 65. The Mexican artist created their iconic logo and was also their lighting tech. Died: Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx’s mum Deana Richards, 74, who brought him up as a single mother. She abandoned him but he reconnected with her later.
MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP
with Christie Eliezer * Stuff for this column to be emailed to <celiezer@netspace.net.au> by Friday 5pm BETTER KATE THAN NEVER
Something For Kate played an unexpected acoustic [V] Guerilla Gig for 300 passers-by at the Bendigo Centre of songs off Leave Your Soul To Science.
BIG SCARY LANDS US DEAL Big Scary landed a North American and South American deal with Seattle-based label Barsuk Records, home to Death Cab For Cutie, Menomena, Phantogram and Ra Ra Riot. The multi-album deal will see their Not Art album out in those territories in mid-September. Barsuk co-founder Josh Rosenfeld said, “In our 15 years as a label, we’ve never worked with an artist from Australia, since it’s so logistically challenging for them to tour in North America. But the music that Tom and Jo make together – its intelligence, originality, and sophisticated balance of complexity and accessibility – it’s just too compelling to let geography get in the way.” Not Art is released in Australia and New Zealand on June 28 through Pieater /Inertia. Its cover art is by Melbourne artist Adam Stone.
SAMBROOKS LAUNCHES HIGHER PLAINS
Ashley Sambrooks of Show off Services this week launched a new publicity company Higher Plains (higher-plains.com) which will focus on digital publicity and marketing. It will service local and overseas music to online sites, music blogs, e-mags, internet radio and online newspapers. Sambrooks has been in music PR for five years. Higher Plains will work closely with two parties overseas – Londonbased digital outlet Whiteboard Publicity and Los Angeles based artist development group The Planetary Group – which Sambrooks says will offer Aussie acts a global campaign. First client is NZ pop band She’s So Rad who have success in NZ, Australia and the UK with the In Circles album.
NEW BAND BOOKER FOR THE BARLEYCORN
Mik Destar’s Punk-A-Billy Touring has taken over band bookings for the Barley Corn Hotel on Johnson Street, Collingwood. Destar says, “We are working closely with the new owners and are hoping to restore this great venue to its former glory as an iconic Melbourne band venue.” For all bookings and gig enquiries contact Destar at punkabilly. touring@gmail.com.
THE PAPER KITES FLY TO WONDERLICK Wonderlick Recording Company, the new joint venture between Wonderlick Entertainment and Sony Music Australia, signed The Paper Kites. Wonderlick’s Gregg Donovan said, “They make some of the most beautiful music we have ever heard.” They’re recording their debut album with Wayne Connolly. The Kites’ Sam Bentley added, “Wonderlick were the first label that came to us that had a real passion and understanding about what we were already doing.”
THINGS WE HEAR
* KFC and Vodafone happily capitalised on Joel Madden’s national Voice profile this year. But they’ve distanced themselves after Madden was heaved out of the Star after 5g of cannabis was allegedly found in his hotel room. According to marketing site Mumbrella, neither plans to work with him again. KFC said its involvement was a oneoff campaign during the cricket and “it’s long done now”. Vodafone officially stated to the site, “We have no current plans in place for Joel Madden appearances.” * Real Estate: After recording in Byron Bay, former Brisbane resident Wolfmother leader Andrew Stockdale is staying on. He paid $1.6 million for a four-bedroom pile of bricks with three bathrooms and a wraparound veranda … The Lilyfield , Sydney, house (348 Catherine St ) in which Icehouse’s Iva Davies lived for 32 years – the original “icehouse” in which he wrote Great Southern Man, the Primitive Man album and Razorback soundtrack – is for sale for about $900,000. … Axl Rose who is renting in New
York is thinking of buying his own apartment. He already owns a 2.3-acre spread in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Meantime, live music venue The Terminus Hotel in Abbotsford is taken over by pub group Sand Hill Road who say they will pump $2 million in renovations. The Town Hall Hotel in Bridge Road, Richmond, also has new owners. * The video for Empire of The Sun’s Alive has had three million views. * Guitarist Adrian Belew quit Nine Inch Nails ahead of the release of their new album and tour, saying that “no one is at fault” but “it just was not working.” Kim Deal, bassist for Pixies, left the band after 25 years * Melbourne’s House Vs Hurricane are calling it quits after almost seven years after their tour this month with I Killed The Prom Queen and Buried In Verona. * During the live finale of Britain’s Got Talent when two opera singers were warbling away, a woman from the audience ran on and threw eggs at the judges.
SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS COMPETITION Ballina Byron Gateway Airport is the official airport sponsor of the 2013 Splendour in the Grass festival, being 30 minutes away from the site. It has a competition offering two Gold Bar VIP tickets with camping not offered to the public. Go to ballinabyronairportcompetitions.com, deadline is Monday July 1.
ADEN MULLENS TO HEAD ETCETC Stepping up from his position as A&R/Compilations Manager for Ministry Of Sound for seven years, Aden Mullens was appointed to the newly created post of Head of etcetc. Distributed through Universal Music, etcetc is home to electronic acts Pnau, The Knife, Two Door Cinema Club, Duke Dumont, Duck Sauce and MSTKRFT. After scoring a club and Top 40 hit with Dumont’s Need U, upcoming are releases from Chris Malinchak, Ben Pearce, FCL, Nora en Pure, UK garage producer Youan, Australia’s Kilter and Pnau’s fifth album later this year. July marks the arrival of Favored Nations, a trans-pacific super band comprising of Morgan Phalen (Justice, Phenomenal Handclap Band), James Curd (DFA, Exploited) and Surahn Sidhu (Empire of the Sun, The Swiss).
PERFECT, WHELAN, HOST THE HELPMANNS
Cabaret performers Eddie Perfect and Christie Whelan Browne of Shane The Musical fame will host the Helpmann Awards on Monday July 29. Held at the Sydney Opera House, they will broadcast on Foxtel’s ARENA from 8.30pm
NEW AUSSIE CROWDFUNDER ZOSHPIT DEDICATED TO MUSIC A new Australian crowd-funding service Zoshpit has launched, with its headquarters in Perth and another office in Noosa. The likes of Pozible, PledgeMusic, Kickstarter and Indiegogo have served Australian acts in the past well. But Zoshpit emphasises that it will focus solely on music. In addition to getting funding from fans, it also allows acts to upload tracks to sell directly to them. Such sales are not included in the ARIA charts but they’re planning to address this. Zoshpit plans to be a one-stop for acts wanting to make a record,
UK FANS DRAWN TO SEX, DRUGS, NOT MUSIC AT FESTIVALS Up to 55% of UK festival goers admit they go to drink, take drugs or have sex rather than listen to music, according to a poll carried out by MSN. Only 45% said they went for the music. A quarter of them had sex – even with a stranger – at the top of their list, while 21% preferred taking drugs and a few would rather burn their tents or get into fights. George McKay, Professor of Cultural Studies at Salford University, said this was normal: many see festivals as a way to escape everyday life and hang with friends, even paying up to £423 (almost $700AUD) for a weekend. Up to 9% experimented with drugs for the first time.
ANDY BULL SIGNS US DEAL
Singer songwriter Andy Bull of Keep On Running fame signed a US deal with Republic. Its A&R chief Brett Alperowitz called his music “fresh and unique” and “we look forward to introducing American audiences to Andy Bull and what is shaping up to be a terrific album.”
JMC ACADEMY LOOKS FOR LECTURERS The JMC Academy in South Melbourne is seeking lecturers for different Music Business units in the Bachelor of Entertainment (Business Management). The head of the department, Simon Smith, points out, “Our best practice industry focussed courses will suit highly experienced industry practitioners. This opportunity will suit those that wish to pass on their knowledge and experience to the next generation of entertainment industry managers. Industry experience is essential and previous lecturing experience will be highly regarded.” Submit resume and enquiries to Smith at ssmith@jmc.edu.au or 03 9624 2929.
MAKE SOME NOISE: HIP HOP AND ELECTRONIC WORKSHOP As part of the City of Yarra’s Leaps and Bounds festival, Music Victoria presents ‘Make Some Noise’ – hip hop and electronic music workshops for both emerging and advanced artists. Practical, real-world advice on topics including getting a gig, management, sampling, getting airplay, press releases, crowdfunding and grant writing. Speakers include M-Phazes, Nate Flagrant, Anthony Colombi, Andy Rantzen, Jon Hanlon and Chris Johnston. It’s on Saturday July 6, at First Floor in Fitzroy. There’s a session for beginners (2pm-3.30pm) and one for advanced (3.30pm-5pm). Booking is at trybooking.com.
‘YOUR SHOT’ EVENT DATES 72 finalists were selected from thousands of registrants in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne for Your Shot – The Search for Australia’s Next Big DJ. They are receiving six weeks of free DJ training via DJ Warehouse and now play a 30-minute set on Saturday August 3 and Sunday 4 at Royal Melbourne Hotel: 629 Bourke St, City. KYLIE EARNS $7.3M During her 25th year in pop, Kylie Minogue earned £85,000 ($11, 250AUD) a week, the London Sun reported. Accounts for her company Darenote revealed she made £4.5million ($7.3 million) before costs between 2011 and 2012. She made a profit of £3.27million ($5.36 million), up £1million ($1.6 million) from the year before. Celebrations included a Hits album and the Aphrodite: Les Folies world tour. The accounts showed that sister Dannii quit the Darenote board before this.
MAC’S DAY ON THE GREEN SELLS OUT
The 14,000 tickets for Fleetwood Mac’s A Day On The Green show at the Hill Winery outside Geelong, sold out in 90 minutes. This was great news for local authorities which recently contended with bad unemployment figures. “Tourism brings more than $1 billion to the region every year and you cannot underestimate the importance of events like this,” Geelong Otway Tourism boss Roger Grant told the Geelong Advertiser. “This type of event will bring in millions of dollars.” This year, A Day On The Green also drew big crowds for a Hoodoo Gurus-headlined Aussie bill (7,000) and Neil Young & Crazy Horse (10,000). Events as Lorne’s Falls, Meredith, the National Celtic Festival at Portarlington and Apollo Bay, Queenscliff and Anglesea also played an important part.
DEBONAIRS CELEBRATE TENTH The tenth anniversary of the monthly music industry charity lunch, The Debonairs, celebrated with a capacity 170 guests at FOG in Prahran with many more arriving for drinks after. The original Debonairs all made it down: Wendy Stapleton, Paul Norton, Geoff Cox, Bobby Valentine, Jo and Margaret Imbroll, Ron Murfett, Jilly
Moffitt, Tony Naylor, Penny Dyer, Craig Newman, Nikki Nicholls, Annette Philpot, Wilbur Wilde and John Grant. During the lunch, David Johnson presented a cheque for $1,000 to Support Act Ltd’s Brian Cadd, bringing his total donations from his book The Music Goes Round My Head to $3,000. SAL in return presented the Debonairs’ lynchpin Dom Barbuto with a plaque. In ten years, The Debs raised $500,000 for charities including SAL.
MELBOURNE JAZZ BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORD In its 16th year, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival broke its own attendance record set in 2012, with more than half of the events playing to full houses. In a triumph for its artistic director Michael Tortoni’s programming, over 40,000 people went to nearly 100 events over ten days, with 80 international and 400 Australian acts performing and collaborating at 19 venues across Melbourne. The finale, by US vocalist Cassandra Wilson, got a standing ovation.
FRACTURES GETS FRACTURE!
Fractures aka Melbourne based singer and multiinstrumentalist Mark Zito has lived up to his name. His first headline show, this Thursday at the Toff (June 20), had to be cancelled when he had a fall at home and fractured a vertebrae in his neck. Bad timing: his debut single Twisted is getting airplay on triple j, FBi and RRR and getting profiled in blogs globally.
SANE BENEFIT ‘Swingin’ The Blues Away – A Charity Gala” is held at the Thornbury Theatre on Saturday June 22 for SANE Australia, the charity that supports Australians with mental health issues. Playing are The Pearly Shells feat. Hetty Kate, Simon Palomares, MC Mikelangelo and The Swing Sisters with burlesque, fire dancing, and swing troupes with a free swing dance lesson for beginners.
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