Recent Media Appearances
-
Cancellations of music festivals due to climate-related events have increased dramatically in the last five years. The Black Summer 2019-20 bushfires drove away Falls Festival (Lorne, Victoria), Lost Paradise (Glenworth, New South Wales) and Yours & Owls (Wollongong, NSW). Floods throughout 2022 held up Strawberry Fields (Tocumwal, NSW), This That (Newcastle, NSW) and Vanfest (Bathurst, NSW). Dozens of other Australian festivals have also been affected.
-
The perennial question of what to do with musicians and their work when they are found to have been abusive has arisen again this week, as distressing video footage of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting his then girlfriend Cassandra Ventura in a hotel in 2016 was released by CNN.
Last year, Combs settled a lawsuit brought against him by Ventura, which accused him of sexual and physical violence over the course of more than a decade.
Following the video’s release, Combs posted an apology video in which he states “My behaviour […] is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video”. This is at odds with a 2023 post in which he wrote “I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth”.
But why does it matter if artists are abusers? And what impact does it have on fans when these cases emerge?
-
Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector.
The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live:
to provide essential support to live music venues and festivals showcasing Australian bands and artists – to ensure the long-term sustainability of the live music sector.
This investment builds on the Revive national cultural policy introduced last year.
Music was clearly a priority for Revive, with the creation of Music Australia, a dedicated body inside Creative Australia, “to support and invest in the Australian contemporary music industry”.
-
This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature.
The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s solidarity with student protesters occupying campuses across the globe in response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be a genocide.
-
Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current big hit, but you can only hear nails on a chalkboard.
Every time a major artist releases their new album, the critics are there to tell you exactly how the artist got it right – or how they got it wrong. And the fans are there to tell the critic how they got it right or wrong, in turn.
So if we all have our own opinions on music, is it ever possible to judge it objectively? Or are we all subject to our subjective disagreements forever?
We asked five music experts to let us know what they thought. Here’s what they had to say.
-
-
Sociologist Catherine Strong is an Associate Professor at RMIT whose field of interest is the effect of climate on music events held during the summer.
"In the past five to 10 years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of festivals that are being cancelled due to extreme weather events such as floods, fires and heat," Dr Strong said.
"This is directly related to what the scientists are telling us about how heat is increasing overall."
-
Celebrities, and their fans, wield tremendous economic, cultural and political influence – and none more so than US pop superstar Taylor Swift. Academia is getting on board, with university courses now entirely dedicated to studying the icon. But celebrities and their fans have not always been taken seriously, by academia, or broader society – particularly when it’s someone idolised by young girls.
-
Fans and the internet have a symbiotic relationship. The digital era increased the productivity and visibility of fan culture, which in turn has largely influenced the ways that we all act online.
Fan communities existed long before the internet, but the proliferation of online platforms changed the ways in which they connect and participate.
Here is a brief history of how fan cultures shaped – and were shaped by – the internet.
-
It has been 50 years since Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Kiss launched their thunderock-doused debut album into the pop culture stratosphere. The eponymous album, released on February 18 1974, became a platform-stacked foot in the music industry’s door.
What followed established Kiss as one of the most memorable hard-rock bands of the 1970s and ’80s, with a globally recognised legacy.
-
Kate speaks on the impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and her role in organising both Swiftposium and a Taylor Swift Fanposium, world-first academic Taylor Swift events.
-
Taylor Swift has emerged as a force for change in the music industry, impacting everything from streaming services to artists’ contracts. Swift has also been vocal about the treatment of women in the industry, famously suing former radio DJ David Mueller for “one symbolic dollar” for sexual assault.
This panel discussion examines Taylor Swift’s influence as a feminist, artist businesswoman. It will explore how she has generated such a strong fandom, how she is a significant force for change in the music industry, and her impact on other artists.
-
I was recently among a curious Melbourne audience who turned out to see a hologram of the long-dead soprano Maria Callas singing with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
The stage was moodily lit, with 30 musicians in shadows. Loud reverberating footsteps foreshadowed Callas’ entrance and indicated potential humanness. When she eventually appeared centre stage, the audience gasped. Ripples of laughter followed when she and conductor Daniel Schlosberg played out a manufactured exchange of acknowledgement.
-
Tami Gadir talks to writer, editor, broadcaster, and Walkley Award winner Jeff Sparrow about his book, No Way But This: In Search of Paul Robeson.
-
"First and foremost, she's consistently released a lot of music," said Kate Pattison, a PhD candidate at Melbourne's RMIT University who specialises in the music industry and fan studies.
"While each song has Taylor's signature songwriting, the albums cross different genres, from pop to country to folk, and she's gained fans with each release."
-
Academia for most brings up images of serious old men with dusty wizard features but in February 2024, Melbourne University is hosting a three day conference about the pop-culture phenomenon that is Taylor Swift, puncturing that musty stereotype.
-
This week, it was reported that Taylor Swift is now a billionaire, with revenue from the 33-year-old pop star's Eras tour pushing her net worth to $1.1bn.
Taylor Swift's most recent tour was so successful it's changed the economies of the cities she's performed in, and Melbourne will be hosting the first global Swiftposium — an academic conference centred around Taylor Swift.
Kate Pattison is a PhD candidate from RMIT and is on the steering committee for the Swiftposium, and she joins Lisa Leong to talk about the phenomenon that is Taylor Swift.
-
I remember when my family bought Innocent Eyes, at a JB Hi-Fi off the Nepean Highway. I was 12 and had just started high school. It was the first time I really understood the power of music; I felt like Delta was imparting words of wisdom through this time of transition. I played that original copy so much it started skipping and I had to buy a replacement.
Delta’s music has continued to define my life. It was the catalyst for lifelong friendships. The music bonded us, but our relationships transformed into something greater. We’ve worked together, travelled the world, and stood by one another on wedding days.
-
Catherine Strong, associate professor of RMIT's music industry program, told ABC Radio's The Conversation Hour that Australia's festival scene might have reached saturation point.
"There is a point at which there are going to be too many of those to sustain all of them and you're going to see a whittling away of some," Dr Strong said.
"Whether what we're seeing now is something about changing audience habits, where people are more interested in certain types of festivals ... or whether we are seeing people withdrawing from festivals because of the cost, [it being] too difficult to get places, too much uncertainty. (…) I think we're still in the post-COVID churn that means the patterns are still becoming emergent."
-
Paige Klimentou, an academic at RMIT University with a PhD in tattoos, fandom and hardcore music, said tattoos were linked to sailors and criminals during the early 1900s.
"Tattoos have been culturally or socially associated with lower classes, like people in prison or criminals," Dr Klimentou told the ABC.
"And people still definitely have those kinds of opinions today."
-
Last week, USA Today/Gannett posted a job ad for a Taylor Swift reporter, seeking an experienced journalist and content creator to “capture the music and cultural impact of Taylor Swift”.
It’s not the first time Swift has been the focus of professional and academic work. In 2022, New York University’s Clive Davis Institute announced a course focused on Swift, taught by Rolling Stone’s Brittany Spanos. They also gave Swift an honorary doctorate in fine arts, as “one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of her generation”.
-
Women participate in Australia’s music industries – as musicians and workers – at rates well below men. On average, women receive less airplay on Australian radio, less pay and less representation on music boards, awards and line-ups than their male counterparts.
Understanding why women might leave their music careers and what could bring them back is an important part of solving the puzzle to increase their participation.
-
Tami Gadir sits for an interview about her new book Dance Music: A Feminist Account of an Ordinary Culture, and about the ways in which her research “addresses the mechanisms that promote or hinder participation in musical life, on the one hand, and the mechanisms in musical life that promote or hinder political imperatives beyond musical life, on the other.”
-
TIR speaks to scholar Tami Gadir, author of Dance Music: A Feminist Account of an Ordinary Culture.
-
Matt Davis and Joel Stern built up and ripped down an abstract soundscape within 33 minutes, then didn’t see each other for 20 years.
When they celebrated their reunion last week by opening the final night of Make It Up Club’s month-long series of 25th-anniversary shows, you could hear the old friends reconvening in the language they know best: avant-garde conversation.
-
From Sounds of Solidarity:
In the second episode of our "music and politics" miniseries, Tami Gadir talks to John Street, Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia (UK), about his AHRC project "Our subversive voice: the history and politics of the English protest song". After discussing this 400-year history, John also addresses to what extent culture has political utility, and whether the cultural turn was a reasonable or reactionary response to the as-yet-unfulfilled promise of revolution.
-
In the pilot episode of our "music and politics" miniseries, we talk to Dr Tami Gadir, Lecturer in Music Industry in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. We ask Tami about her new book, Dance music: a feminist account of an ordinary culture (Bloomsbury Academic, 2023), and through this discussion, introduce some of the bigger questions about music, politics and society.
-
On Monday, psychedelic rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard announced they were withdrawing from their scheduled headlining appearance at the Byron Bay Bluesfest in April.
On their social media they attributed this decision to Bluesfest “presenting content” that did not align with their values of being opposed to “misogyny, racism, transphobia and violence”.
Sampa the Great has since also withdrawn from the festival.
-
This week, Harry Styles finally kicked off the Australian leg of his much anticipated tour. Fans have been preparing for months, creating handmade outfits and learning the “boot scoot” – a dance associated on tour with Styles’ song Treat People With Kindness.
As one of the world’s biggest pop stars, the ex-One Direction singer has amassed millions of fans, referred to as “Harries”.
-
In its new national cultural policy, the Australian government grapples with issues extending well beyond the creative arts.
The policy document places issues like First Nations representation, work and wages, technological upheaval, discrimination and sexual harassment front and centre.
This holistic approach has been welcomed and takes important forward steps in many areas.
But it is silent on one key issue.
-
Although many within the late 00s/early 10s DIY Brisbane scene would be quick to call themselves slackers and layabouts, a few were industrious. From the countless hours of recorded music deep in Bandcamp and YouTube, to the prolific output of seminal zine Negative Guest List, there is a fragmented archive of great music to come from, or pass through Brisbane that’s worth searching for and understanding. Pouring over the defunct MySpace pages, inactive blogs, and forgotten interviews, I got some sense for the spirit of the underground scene in my hometown without having ever met any of the figures. Grainy footage of dispassionate shows in venues that no longer exist, hastily put-together album artwork, throwaway liner notes and above all, the tunes themselves, insinuated to me a similar artistic philosophy as Bukowski’s ‘don’t try’ sans the cringe-y literature and notoriety.
-
The bar is nearly empty. A couple of semi-conscious regulars slouch in stools that have the smell of their ass cracks permanently inscribed into the long worn-down varnish. The person pouring drinks is neatly dressed, bow-tie a deep red, whiskers on their face bristling against the air from a rotating fan in the corner. A loud creak from behind purple curtains announces the entrance of the house band, three figures walking out on-stage, each with a drink in their hand and bags under their eyes. “Where the hell is she?!” yells the pig-manager from the back of the room.
-
Formed in the bustling Sydney underground, Optic Nerve’s sophomore tape ‘In A Fast Car Waving Goodbye’ was one of Stew Mag’s favourite releases of 2021. Frontwoman Jackie’s voice carries enough force and edge to carve stone, her spitting delivery being propelled by a devilishly tight and energetic band. There’s never an appeal to tone or contrived shredding in Optic Nerve’s sound, they’re fuelled with a primal sort-of aggression but the execution is surgical. The cowboy twang, pick drags, gatling-gun snares, and hard-transitions all come together in a violent and calculated way that feels at once fresh and timeless. ‘In A Fast Car Waving Goodbye’ appeals to the part of me that wants to stab a motherfucker. I’m sure Jackie’s songwriting is more layered and nuanced than that, but everytime I throw on ‘Crash’ it’s like a breathless call from the void, the dark realisation it can happen. There is quite a bit of punk music made in this country but lemme assure you there’s not too many bands like Optic Nerve. The palette they’re pulling from feels distinct from any of the Australiana, ‘internet punk’ or superficial political tropes present in lotsa trendy punk around. The technical aspects of Optic Nerve and above all, the overflowing authentic and raw emotion of the music has marked them as one of Stew’s favourite bands around. I was very excited to call Jackie and ask her about the band, especially given the lack of any information about them online (no social media making context scarce).
-
A new digital-led exhibition explores the overlap of big data and the extremes of AI, encompassing online projects, workshops, talks and an online publication.
-
Pablo Picasso, on the political importance of art, claimed “painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war.”
-
Olivia Newton-John was a versatile artist with an appeal that spanned generations, and who played an important role in claiming a space for Australian popular culture on the world stage.
She was the rare performer whose career flourished through different phases, and who found success exploring many facets of her talent.
-
Sally Coleman and Ian Rogers have been named as the first recipients of the Digital Futures grant, which will give each of them $20,000 to support projects at the intersection of Australian music and new technology.
The grants are courtesy of the Australia Council for the Arts and APRA AMCOS. They aim to increase audiences for Australian music, establish a critical base of knowledge and develop new ideas with innovative distribution platforms.
-
News the prominent live music venue The John Curtin Hotel is up for sale, with the current lease expiring at the end of this year, has been met with grief and outrage by the Melbourne music community.
In their announcement on social media, the long-term leaseholders of this much-loved venue said the building had been put up for sale by the estate of the recently deceased former owner and is expected to be sold to developers.
-
RMIT University's Catherine Strong, who has researched gendered aspects of popular culture and the music industry, has welcomed the ARIA move.
"It is really good at the end of the day that people are having these discussions in that organisation," she told SBS News. "But there are still some big stalwart organisations in the Australian music industry that hasn't been having these conversations in the way they needed to. It is very encouraging to see this taking place - and hopefully it will lead to much more."
-
“From the beginning I knew I was referencing a music style that links to Latin America more than anywhere else,” says Iten. “I never had any illusions that Australian people would understand what this music is. It’s not only Latin American, but very African too. It sits outside what you’d listen to on the radio here. It’s not just world music or salsa or anything we’re familiar with in Australia, and because of that, there wasn’t any way to rely on anything here and it was all focused on the international scene.
Read more
-
The report Understanding challenges to the Victorian Music Industry during COVID-19 reveals the extent of the damage the pandemic has had on music professionals.
"Before the pandemic, Melbourne was one of the great music cities of the world," lead author Dr Catherine Strong said. "The impact has been devastating."
Read more -
Melbourne duo Trace Decay have followed up on their recent single “Empty Handed” with “Surprised At Something” which is another beautiful slice of indie-pop. We are delighted to be premiering it prior to its release on Friday. From the guitars kicking off proceedings to the warm resonating vocals of Jordan De Pas chiming in, it’s all class. The harmonies offered by the other half of the duo, Jeri Karmelic are sweet and leave you wanting more. This is moody, emotive pop with buoyant leanings. At times the vocals remind me of Morrisey, but thankfully without the baggage.
-
Having sold out shows in their hometown Melbourne, up-and-coming duo, Trace Decay have released their latest single, “Sad Dance”. To date, the indie-rock pair have released two singles, “Hindsight” and “Passivity”. Gaining popular demand from multiple radio stations such as Triple J, Purple Sneakers and Abduction Radiation (USA).