Future Education. Hopes and Dreams and Everything In between.

I have some how made it through 2011 and the final week of study before summer break has brought upon me thoughts of my goals and opportunity for future education. I have enrolled in The Diploma Coarse for 2012 at CMIT Leederville Campus in Music Business. Another year of being a broke-arse student living on a diet of instant coffee and Migoreing I am hoping that 2012 will bring smarter choices and wiser distribution of my time and efforts. The Summer timimg also brings into play my two projects for the warmer months. The first being my zine 'Silent Syntax' which will hopefully help to record and document the Western Australian Hip-Hop Scene in 2011 and the second a mixtape distribution strategy to deliver Western Australian hip-hop to the Kimberly Region. 

Heading into 2012 I will also start my application plan for The Seed. I am at full understanding that the opportunity to be part of The Seed is a privilege and some may say I am not ready for this movement at the beginning of my career. I feel since I have come into the industry I have displayed dedication and commitment for the industry which I am part of and the music community in which want to help develop. Over the coming years I want to learn the skills to give the artist and musicians around me the best possible chance of getting their music recorded, produced, loved and admired by this I want to obtain all the information, experiences and positive energy of the experienced peers in the industry.

Inspiring Me

2011 has introduced me to many people but there are a few in the music industry in particular who have had a real impact on me. Since leaving the mining industry and being part of the Western Australian music community I feel I have learnt some very valauble lssons and witnessed some very inspiring experiences.  It's thanks to some of these characters for giving me a little or a lot of their time.

The first is my Music Business Lecture and Coarse Coordinator at Central TAFE Leederville, Scott Adam. Scott has not only designed an excellent coarse for students to take part in but has offered his personnel experience as examples of lessons that can be learnt without doing things the hard way and fucking up yourself. Watching a man being so honestly excited and enthusastic about his latest project 'Ruby Boots' displays that after years in the entertainment industry it certainly doesn't get old.  Scott has provided me with some excellent advice which included attending Big Sound in 2011 where I feel I absorbed so much information, tips and ideas that I didn't know where to even start when I returned to Perth. He has also relayed the cold hard truths of the Music Business and watched many of us in the class fall apart at times but also offered support and assistance when required. Below is a first single of the Ruby Boots debut EP 'Sleeping Alone' which I freaking love !

Before I reached Big Sound is Brisbane I created a list of people that were going to be attending the conference that I wanted the opportunity to chat with. One of them was Nathan Farrell who I admire for his work with Thundamentals and hearing him speak on the 'Sync Up: G'day Touring Down Under' panel. So I tracked down Nathan at Big Sound and whether he was ready for it not I had a series of question that I wanted to rack his brains with. So why does Nathan inspire me, because he has been in the industry for years as a artist manager and concert promoter and still had the patience and time to answer my questions. There has not been one promoter that I have met since being part of the industry that was willing to discuss his artists and experiences with-out a hidden agenda or without bag-mouthing others in the music business. Nathan shared some tips with me that I often think back to and that will help shape my business in the years to come. Below are two videos; the first is to the panel he spoke on at Sync Up and the second a clip from one of the acts that he managers Thundamentals.

On the 20th of October 2011 a legend in the Australia Music Scene and Pioneer in the Australia Hip-Hop scene Hunter from SBX Crew sadly passed away from terminal cancer. I have memories of early Hunter shows at the Hyde but they are nothing compared to the years of memories many in Australia and in particular the SBX Crew will hold close to their hearts forever. Now not for a second I am going to say I was close with Hunter, I was not that privileged. Since moving back to Perth we had brief conversations through Facebook and at shows but my admiration and inspiration comes for this man through the work he has done for his community, the support he offered to artists, the on-going production of music that he created and last the love that was undeniable for his son. Hunter has pathed the stable foundations where hip-hop will continue to be created for years to come in Perth. Below is link to a track dedicated to his son Marley and his Rappertag contribution. RIP Hunter.

The Mountain Goats - This Year

This time last week I was feeling unmotivated, dis-heartened and unenthusiastic about where I was at and what the coming years held. I had spent all weekend working at the cafe and at my Nana's house so I could find some peace and quite to concentrate on my assignments, many which are now over due. I found support in The Mountain Goat's track This Year. I posted it on my Facebook page as I have found it is the easiest way to replay a song that you want to listen to 30 times on repeat that you done have in your own itunes. After posting the song Archie, a Perth MC who I have met through hip-hop gig through out the year, posted a link to his Soundcloud where he had sampled This Year. I found solace in someone else connecting with this track. "If Archie was going to be okay, if Archie could make it through this year and it hadn't killed him then I was going to be okay"

Archie's Cover of This Year

There is nothing I can see myself doing next year other than studying music. Since part-taking in this coarse 6 months ago I have experienced hard times financially and emotionally but the knowledge I have gained, the experiences I have had and the people that I have met reassure me that there is light at the end of the tunnel. So today I will enrol in the Music Business Diploma Course at CMIT for 2012 and pray to God I win the Tuesday Night Oz Lotto draw tonight so I can re-connect my phone.

My Big Plan

I live in the most isolated city in the world, Perth. We have famously provided Australia and the world with a rich vein of musical talent, but now I am seeing some of that talent miss out on fantastic opportunities. Artists from here are constantly being skipped over for support slots for national and international tours, and I want to create a network of contacts that will make this process achievable for the very talented characters that make my sleepy little death toll town amazing!


My Big Plan:
http://www.planbig.com.au/international-exposure-for-wa-musicians#details

18 Month Goals

What are your planned career goals for the music industry ?
I have a a huge passion for helping people, travel and music. Ideally I would like to combine these three traits to create my dream job even though I don't know exactly know what the title of this is yet. I do know that want to play a vital part in the support and exploration of new and young artist.

Below I have listed goals I would like to fulfill in the next 18 months:

• Attend South by South West 2012 and establish new contacts national and internationally 
• Use community support and networks to make the trip to SXSW to its full potential.
• Write a successful grant application
• Put on a successful TAFE assessment event 'Friends with Benefits'
• Participate in an Internship with an established business such as Modular, Elephant Traks, Illusive, Obese Records etc.
• Pass Cert 4 in Music Business 
• Complete an application for the The Seed

The goals listed above are achievable and I am already making the steps towards making these dreams a reality. Below I have listed links that have assisted me so far: 

SXSW website: http://sxsw.com/music

Propel Perth: http://www.propel.org.au/

JUMP Mentoring: http://www.jumpmentoring.com.au

WAMI: http://www.wam.asn.au/

At That Point I Enrolled In This Cert 4 Music Business

So here we go, I have been in Mining industry on and off for the last 4 years as a Rigger and Trade Assistant for Boiler Makers and Fitters, previous to that I did a traineeship as a Florist in East Fremantle where I won Western Australia Rising Star Award in 2007 and had my wedding work published in Australian Wedding Magazine for two consecutive years. Last year I moved to melbourne where I realised I wanted "in" into the the music industry. I felt that being a punter was not enough. Over my working years I have not saved a deposit for a house, I have not purchased a car or travelled the world. I have flown myself to and from the West Coast to the East to watch music of many genres being performed and shouted many friends along the way. Whilst in Melbourne I met many inspiring and uninspiring people which had me thinking two very different thoughts "If I believe in me and they believe in me I can do this" and "If they can do this, I can do it better" At that point I enrolled in to the Certificate 4 in Music Business.

My earliest recollections of music is travelling in the passenger seat to my Nanas house in Perth from Wooraloo with my Mum, who was a single parent, driving.  Mum at this stage was a Skyhooks, Fleetwood Mac, Cat Stephens fan but most of all she loved The Divinyls and adored Christina Amphlett.   With that came author Louise Hay and her books and "love yourself" quotes blue tacked around the house in obscure places, such as above light switches and on the back of the toilet door, the two seemed to go hand in hand with each other. I have never really understood why you need inspiration quotes whilst your on the toilet but thats my Mum for you. I'm not saying I did not get my sing-alongs in the car either but as a 5 year old was it that appropriate to be singing " I don't want anybody else, when I think about you I touch myself" so Mum and I had a Sound of Music/ The Jungle Book compromise.

These days my focus is mainly on Hip-Hop. More particular the Australian Hip Hop Genre. I love how weekly I can watch, listen and participate in the sound being formed, a community growing from each others achievements and contributing to the success of the scene and its ever evolving artists.