INTERVIEW: ASHENMOON’S GARRY BEERS - NEW MUSIC, THE CURRENT WORLD CRISIS, & LIFE AFTER INXS

I had a wonderful chat with Garry Beers, bassist of world-renowned Australian rock band INXS and now, Ashenmoon!
Personally, I grew up listening to INXS and handfuls of other classics, some of which are also thrown in throughout the interview, and this might just be the biggest interview I’ve done. Garry was a wonder to talk to and I can’t wait to see what else Ashenmoon has in store for us.

We covered the new releases and the writing process, the effects of the current COVID situation, environmentalism and dog rescue, his high school dance featuring AC/DC, life during and after INXS, and a bunch more.

It was a phone interview so I’ve culled sections down to what makes most sense, but my appreciation for this experience is astronomical. Thankyou to Garry, Toby, and Jimmy, and everyone else involved for bringing this new project to life, and for Garry’s time chatting to me from wherever he may be at the moment!

Enjoy!
-Jahmiele

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JAHMIELE:
So Ashenmoon started as a ‘passion project’ between you and Jimmy and Toby, and ‘passion project’ is a kind of a favourite term of mine. Was there any deliberate intention going into that to make it a fully published act or was it sort of just ‘let's have fun and see where this goes’?

GARRY:
We were already in a corporate covers band called Stadium so it was already fun. We just really wanted to see how we’d go with original material, so we just sort of played together and hung out more. We listen to each other's bits of music and songs and, and um, and then beginning of last year was just in my little home studio which is where we started everything. Yeah. Just spent the whole year just putting together the songs, honing them and rewriting them and starting all over again and talking about just, just taking our time. There's no one watching the clock. It's just made the record that we really wanted to make, all 3 of us.

J: Yeah. Awesome. I think, I guess that's probably the best way to go about it. No pressure,

G: Exactly! There’s no record companies breathing down our neck, the no deadlines, and yeah obviously no real touring schedule to keep in line with. I think we'd all been looking for someone to write once in a while. I know I had.

J: Okay. Amazing. And the debut for Ashenoon came out as the double single. Was there any kind of background between each of those tracks? Like I know a lot of songs aren't necessarily written with a particular dramatic meaning behind them, but was there anything like that with these ones?

G: Yeah. It just all this happens to be pretty indicative of what we wanted to say about, y’know looking after the world, looking after each other and look what happened. I mean, it just seemed to be a pretty bit of a no-brainer to get that one out now. And Mosquito, you know, Toby's Australian, he’s from Melbourne, and he just had the big fuzz bassline and my little singing, and that all came together and sounded a bit like a mosquito, someone actually commented saying it sounded like Cartman from South Park! He just grabbed the acoustic and started writing the song and it became Mosquito. We wanted to write a song about, a metaphor for mosquitos.

And we keep using the word ‘organic’ but it really was that way. I produced it and recorded it, and Toby at that time was living just up the road, and Jimmy was always here with a bottle of red wine anyway. We just sat in that little room, day and night and had fun, recording guitars here and there, laying down keyboard. A friend of mine owns a studio up the road, we got an English fella called Jason Gamble in to play drums on the majority of the album, so you know it just really grew like good music should grow. I mean, there's no deadline no pressure, the songs just came to life by themselves

J: Yeah. That's amazing. And I take it that you previously knew Toby before all of this. How has it working together on something like this? Do you prefer working with someone or on your own when it comes to song-writing and putting things together?

G: No, I'm definitely a working with someone kind of guy. I mean, I do write a lot of music but as far as you know, vocals and melodies and lyrics, I'd much rather leave it up to a real singer, a real composer. I met Toby 3 years ago at a party so the friendship is still pretty new, but became pretty much best mates. I met Jimmy at a party when I first moved here 14 or 15 years ago, so I’ve known him forever but we never got around to playing in a band together, so I asked him to join Stadium my corporate band. And then he joined and Toby joined. We wanted to see how far we could take it, and rename it because we wanted it to be different again, so we became Ashenmoon and here we are!

J: All right! And knowing so many names, like you would have worked with a lot of people over the years, and coming into the new ‘modern era’ of technology with the different ways of promotion we have now and all that kind of thing- what is it that you've seen change over the last, what is it, 30-40 years, something like that?

G: Yeah, it's been a while. Um, you know, it's funny you look back and you miss the age of CDs, and CDs replaced vinyl. I’ll always complain about downloads, seeing how the qualities isn’t great, and you don’t get the visual. Like I remember vinyl records as a kid, sitting there and pouring over every word and every image on the album cover while listening to the music, and I feel like it’s a forgotten art in many ways so, you’re hearing the first few singles but when you hear the whole album later in the year it’s a journey just like the good old, you know, Zeppelin records, Queen records, every song had its place. You know, we worked out which song goes to the next song and their running order and then it’s got side 1 and side 2 just like the old-fashioned records. When it’s out and you hear it on vinyl you’ll get the real idea of what it’s all about.

J: I'm sure you've probably been asked this already, but is there any kind of meaning behind the band name, Ashenmoon, where did that come from?

G: I think it's just an interesting visual image, really lending itself to artwork, but it's also got a really big sorta quality to it, and then also we wrote Dustbowl about how we know we abuse the planet, we abuse animals, we abuse each other, and what we’ll be left with is pretty much just a barren planet, so I guess it's a bit of a downer way of what describing it, but I think ultimately it's just, it just sounded cool. And then we did all this stuff ourselves. We found an artist when I went to our Facebook page, and Toby did a lot of the artwork, and then I did the graphics for the actual name, I used to do graphic design at school. So, it’s been a real, at home kind of project. And a friend of Jimmy’s, that he played in a band with at school back in Massachusetts, mixed the album so he's been a really strong part of the project as well. So, it's been a really good team and a really good time.

J: So, you've mentioned a couple times now the whole environmental effect that we're having and things like that. Is that something that you're personally passionate about?

G: Yeah, I am. I mean I'm more into my life and particularly more into dog rescue and finding homes for dogs. A real big issue is humans just don't get it. I mean, they just don't get it that the planets gonna give us a big kick in the ass that’s what it’s doing right now. You don’t eat bats, you just don't abuse animals. Mother Nature is just gonna, y’know, take you out. I mean, that's, what's going on now. It's taken an interesting turn. I mean, you see the planet’s actually recovering a bit because people aren't driving, industries are shut, the planet’s kind of having a bit of a breather right now. So, maybe there's a good side yet.

J: Yeah. There's a lot of things they've already seen, you know, positively changed since we've been absent.

G: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No one knows what the future's going to hold, I don't think you can ever get back to normal. We just have to see what, what we have to adjust to in the rest of their lives. I mean, it's interesting I have 8-9 year old twins and like there obviously not in school, we're failing miserably at the home-schooling thing. But it's just, it's just interesting time for that. I mean, they’ll look back at their second-third grade as the weirdest time in history, so I'm just really intrigued to see what's going to happen as the world tries to get back to what we’d considered as normal, you really can’t go back to what was normal anymore.

J: Yeah. I think there's a thing going around at the moment that was, uh, comparing what our, our prior our previous normal was and that we shouldn't go back to that because that's gotten us where we are.

G: Yeah. I think, that’s totally it. Totally. Ultimately, they’ve been talking about it for years that there’s gonna be a super-virus. Here it is and you have no idea what it is, what it’s going to do and where it’s gonna go and I mean, it seems like it’s a lot better in Australia out here, and that's just phenomenal.

I’ve been saying I’m just happy to have music out at this time because I've always thought music is a good healer. Music is always there for people when they’re happy or sad. So I'm just hoping Ashenmoon can help with that and maybe take people's minds off what's going on a bit.

J: And you’ve been quoted as saying that ‘not since your days with INXS, have you felt more connected to music until this’, this record and this band, I guess. What is it about this particular project that you feel so much more connected than your previous supergroups and things like that?

G: Well INXS was a six piece, um, you know, Andrew and Michael were the predominant songwriters ofcourse , that's just the way it is when we got two of the best songwriters in the world in your band.

Absent Friends with Wendy Mathews and Sean. Um, was just, that was just a fun band, you know, party band, that was a fun project too. And then the other time I tried to get a project I was called Mudhead, but they never released the album. It got a 5 star review but just didn’t release it, it became too hard.

I haven't really found the right people to write with and that I believe in. And that gives me the confidence to put all my time and effort into something that I know is going to be worth it, and that's what happened here. Toby has become one of my best friends. He's a good Aussie guy. Jimmy, I've known him for 15 years. He's one of my best friends. He's from Boston, he's a character. He's always got his bottle of red wine in his back pocket, and he’s just there to play. It's just kind of the same ideals that I've always had. I just want to play, I've always wanted to, so it's great to find like-minded people that still love music. A lot of people lose the passion for it. I couldn't imagine not being passionate about it and not playing, so, it’s great that I’ve got a new outlet and I’m loving it.

J: Fantastic. I guess that's a little bit more difficult to come by these days, is the genuine passion for it.

G: Yeah. And think I'm very lucky. When I was growing up deciding which Zepplin album to buy, you know, Zepplin, Deep Purple, and Queen were all releasing records and The Beatles were still releasing records. So I was really lucky to grow up in that time and be completely surrounded by amazing and also Australian bands. I mean, AC/DC played at my school dance so there's really, there's no experience like that. I just think having had that experience, I can't not be passionate about music and I think Jimmy's the same.

Jimmy did this beautiful thing, he started writing a big piece of paper with all these names and songs and I was like ‘What’re you doing?’ and he said ‘I'm just writing down which guitar player is gonna play on this record’ and it did a list of all his favourite guitar players, which considers that they all influenced him and taught him how to play, you know all the Jimmy Page’s and Jimmy Hendrix’s and he wanted to give them credit, so he sat there and wrote down all the names. I thought ‘that’s really cool!’ because you gotta remember where you came from and that's what we're all about too. We're just trying to put out a record that the people that inspired us would like to hear. And I know that if another band put this record out, I‘d love it just as much, but just because it's mine and I’m writer, producer, you know, I'm very connected with it and very proud of it.

J: Well, all of the acts that you've been a part of - I've had a quick listen to Absent Friends and things like that - they all definitely seemed to have a particular sort of cohesive similar sound to them, and so does Ashenmoon, I think. So, who would you say are the primary inspirations and influences that you've had that have added up to these creations?

G: I guess it changes. I mean, I'm really kind of boring in the fact that it's very rare that I hear something new that is, that inspires me or doesn't make me just go back to wherever we originally came from. I mean, it's kind of sad, but I mean the last artist that really, really changed my world was Jeff Buckley, and that was a long time ago now. So, I always go back to the Zepplins and the Queens and all the bands that you still would be hearing in 50 years’ time. And I don't know if you’ll be hearing many of artists on the radio now in 50 years time, but you'll always be hearing the Beatles and queen and hopefully Ashenmoon. I mean, we just want to make a record that was like, that was a good old fashioned record that just takes you on a trip. So I think we've done that.

J: And you mentioned, I think right at the start, something about, in terms of putting together your records and not currently having to keep to like a touring schedule or something like that. Does that mean that we are to expect some sort of tour from Ashenmoon or anything like that?

G: Oh yeah. We'd love to play it. I mean, we’ve actually we've actually taken this time. We've all been tested (for Covid-19) we all trust each other, you know. So we did a video of Dustbowl on Toby’s rooftop last week. And yesterday we set all of the gear up in my garage, we're going to start doing live broadcasts onto our Facebook pages and stuff. We just spent the day doing that. We're setting up our PA and sound we’re gonna start working that out and start trying to get ourselves out live to people as best we can. As soon as this clears up, if it gets back to any sort of normalcy as far as heading out to play we’ll be there, cause yeah, we got together to play together, we’re not answering ads in the paper or getting drunk at the bar, we just love playing together and we are a really good band live. I mean, I think we're actually probably better live than on the record to be honest.

J: Well, I think that's a good thing.

G: It is. Yeah. I mean, nothing more disappointing than seeing a band that can’t play. I ended up with one of the best rock singers in the world and I'm in a band with one of the best rock guitarists in the work so I'm pretty happy.

J: Well, to be perfectly candid you are, you are all clearly to a certain extent, you know, famous and very well-known and incredibly talented musicians and individuals. So, what is it like having that background/reputation behind you and knowing that there's going to be people waiting for your next thing and knowing that it's got to be, you know, to a certain standard?

G: I always second guess. We really pride ourselves on our performance. INXS was the same, we sort of critiqued every show, that made us better, and Ashenmoon is no different. I mean we love playing and we love playing well and we love playing properly and you know, we’re not one of those bands are gonna stagger out with a bottle of Jack Daniels and not want to give people their value for money, and we obviously also make them come back. And it's not just a side project, we’ve just signed this two-album dissolution deal with Golden Robot Records, we’re just going to keep going. We can't wait to get some more recording done. So even though we just got our first record out we just, I just want to get out there and play. I can't wait to bring it to Australia.

J: Well, that's, that's fantastic. That's the best thing to have, I guess that's exactly what you want.

G: Yeah. I'm pretty happy right now. I mean, as far as an album, I mean I still sort of sit there with a glass of wine still going ‘wow, this is pretty good’. And I’m not being egotistical, I just got the right team because I had the right circumstances and we just pulled it together. We made what we think is our statement, and in the process, we became a band. We had a first proper band meeting today. It’s like being back in school again. I was setting up the garage I was hanging, like cellophane paper behind the band so it looked cool, and it all fell down when I opened the garage door, but yeah, we’re just having a good time.

J: Ah good ol’ days!

G: I mean, yeah, these are the days. These are the days.

J: Well, it's good that you can know that you're creating something that you're proud of.

G: Yeah. And I get caught up with all my critics and my wife, my kids, the whole. It's just funny, because like my kids, they’re growing up. This is ‘Dad’s band’, Ashenmoon, and every now and then they hear and sing INXS and they’re like ‘oh that’s right, Dad’s other band!’ They haven’t really discovered INXS yet, I haven’t really had the time to show it to them.
In fact I'm just discovering all these YouTube sites that have all our videos and all this stuff from live performances I've ever seen before. So, you know, it's just interesting. Actually Toby's the one that does all our social media stuff so he’s the one that’s been sending me the links. In fact, he sent me a link to this, I didn’t even know it existed but Andrew and Michael did and interview on a rooftop in London I think it was. They play a bit of The Stairs, acoustically, and we just latched onto that because I've always wanted have Toby sing The Stairs, that I always thought was one of Michael's best sets of work. So, we did an acoustic version, as per the way Andrew was playing it on the rooftop. So we've just finished that, that’s just been finished now, so that'll be coming out cause we've been getting you could say bored, so we’re doing acoustic versions of all our songs just to give you, but as it turns out we’ll have a heap of original material to put out as well, so, we just can’t help ourselves.

J: And what was life actually like, during and after the INXS era?

G: During was obviously massive. It was my life. I mean, we’d make a record with all our time and we live and breathe that and then we go on tour for sometimes 12 - 18 months, just keep touring the world over and over again, that’s how we lived. And then we have a bit of a break and then do it again. I didn’t have much of a home life. I still managed to have a dog, but I didn’t see much of her. And we did that from high school, so, you know, it was a pretty massive part of my life and I was and always will be very proud of INXS. When that stopped, obviously it was a horrible way for it to stop with Michael, but that was out of my control. I had no, I had no say in it. So me personally, I just sort of went into that ‘she’ll be right mate’ mode.

And Michael’s still around, I still dream about him all the time. He turns up like nothing happened and we start playing again. So, I know I have a guardian angel as well, I think maybe it’s Michael, maybe my dad, but he's still around. That sorta spirit isn’t gonna leave. I've just been kind of concentrating on my, on my personal life since all that happened. Moved to America, fell in love, got kids, you know, so I'm just trying to do that, but then as luck would have it, I meet the Australian singer that I’ve always wanted to meet, at a party in Los Angeles, it’s very L.A. y’know, the whole story.

And we tiptoed into it, we didn’t rush straight into making a record, we got to know each other better and - I'm sitting, watching my dog chew up my kids toys…

Yeah, it's cool. Life. You just take it as it comes around and adapt. It was a horrible way for INXS to end, but also I enjoyed the time of JD Fortune. I mean, that was a pretty good incarnation of the band. We made a great record called Switch, went platinum in America, sold a million records. So, I mean, it wasn't too shabby. Then that stopped so y’know. So, and I remember touring Australia with JD was great. Yeah.

Life’s a journey and I’m just happy to be on it. Above ground, still playing.

J: Well, that's awesome. That's amazing. That's, that's really nice to hear that you've gone on regardless of whatever setbacks and you're doing the best you can, sort of thing.

G: Yeah. You know, my legacy is always gonna be just making music, whether I do it in my garage or I do it on a laptop. I'm just happy to have a band that I can get out and play with.

J: Yup. Okay. Well, I only have one more question... What we try to ask every single person that we interview is; what are your top current top three Australian artists at the moment - they can be old. They can be new, but just Australian artists that you're really in love with right now.

G: No, I'm really out of, out of the loop. As far as Australian bands down there, I spent the last year just concentrating on my stuff. So, I’m probably the wrong person to ask, but I mean,

J: It can be old school stuff!

G: If I'm homesick, I just put on Chisel. Yeah. I play Circus Animals to death. I play Letter To Allen endlessly to all who’ll listen. I was actually was actually in my studio, just the other day with a tech, and I put on Ariel, a band I grew up with when I was a kid and he just thought it was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard. I just always go backwards. I mean, as I said it's hard for me, I'm a bit of a music historian now, I’m a bit anal that way. And I think when I hear something, I go ‘Oh, that's a rip-off of so-and-so’, which I shouldn't say that, I’m sure people would say that about Ashenmoon ‘well Ashenmoon’s a bit of a rip-off isn’t it?’. I just tend to listen to what I listened to and just get on with my day. But yeah, it’s hard to figure out when you’ve got half an hour to listen to some music, it's just hard to not put on old Genesis or…

J: For sure, go with what you know.

G: It’s like pulling on an old pair of jeans.

J: You pick what's comfortable.

G: Yeah. Australia's got some, Billy Thorpe, Richard Clapton and you know, obviously I said Chisel, and Oil and all that stuff, all the bands that influenced us, taught us how to play, you know, some good stuff.

J: Yeah. Okay. Well I think I've already gone over time technically but thank you so much.

G: Oh, you're welcome. It's really nice to talk to you.

J: Yeah, you too. It's great. It's a bit of an idol moment for me, so thank you so much.

G: Can’t wait to bring the band to Australia and be down there and play.

J: I'll definitely be there. Okay. Well thank you. Um, have a nice day!

G: You too, stay safe, see you down the track!

Once again, a huge thanks to John from Golden Robot Records for the opportunity, and to Garry for the fantastic chat. We’ll be waiting for what’s coming next - ‘See you down the track’!

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TRUTH HURTS WITH THE MOTION BELOW

“The Motion Below are back to finish what they started with "Truth Hurts", part two of their mini music series that encapsulates the inner turmoil of a man lost within himself and ultimate descent into madness.”

Jahmiele had a chat to vocalist Ryan Matheson about the release, the process, mental health, how to get the best out of your own band, and whats coming up next. We had a lot more to say so be sure to check out the full interview in the upcoming podcast episode!

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Jahmiele: So, Truth Hurts is the most recent release with the video and everything, and the second half of the series. Why did you decide to do that in a two-parter?
Ryan: We had spoken about doing a multiple part like thing, for quite a few years and um, we just sorta like never got around to actually completing it. And then after we did Chronus complex, um, last year when we went into the studio, we were going in for two singles and we'd spoken about like, like addressing a particular topic and wanting to attack it in like a multiple part series. So me and the boys like had quite a few conversations about it. And, um, Tom and Aidan had this idea that they wanted to address substance, or not necessarily like, uh, um, what's the word? Like addiction, but it wasn't, we didn't want it to be addiction in the sense of like it was particularly substance abuse or any type of like alcohol or drug. We just wanted it to be addiction in like an umbrella term. So it could be multiple things or it could be anything that someone could be dealing with or something like that. 

J: So make them more relatable across the board.

R: Yeah, exactly. So the main thing was we wanted it to be particularly about the vicious cycle of addiction though. So even though like it wasn't necessarily about substance, it sort of loosely was based on that particular concept of someone being addicted to substance. So sorta how people or people will be addicted to whatever it is and their daily life will be based around solely that particular thing that they do. So whether it's drugs or alcohol, they'll go through the cycle of getting up on any day that you will usually sleep in for majority of the day. Go about doing a few things and then end up reverting back to the substance, so the substance rules their life. And then from there, you know, they sort of, in like the story, the protagonist knows that he's addicted to something and the substance is ruling his life and you can visually see it in the music videos that he's struggling with that fact. And even though he's trying to free himself from the chains of addiction, he can't and he feels ostracized from the rest of the world and paranoid I guess. And because of that he ends up just drawing back to being addicted to something and ends up basically losing his mind because of that.

J: One of the things I kind of picked up in the music video was when he went to walk out the front door and saw someone, it was kind of like a confrontation he didn't want to deal with. 

R: Yeah. Basically. It was pretty much, yeah. He felt like as soon as he went to walk out the door, he felt like the rest of the world was sort of like just, you know, everyone was looking at him, is basically the deal. So, he feels like as soon as he leaves his comfort zone, which is his own, his own house, um, he feels as if he's being ostracized from the rest of the world and everyone is sorta just judging him from a distance, I guess. And that's why in the video he ends up just turning back around and going straight back into the house where there's nobody else. 

J: And what would be like the ideal message you'd like to convey when talking about all of these things to your audience?
R: I guess in a positive sense it would be to try and make sure that if someone is in that position, then I guess try not to do what we sort of orchestrated in the video and actually reach out to people. And you know, even though if you feel like you are being ostracised from the world, there's always someone that's going to be there that's gonna want to listen to you and gonna want to help you. Like, all you have to do is ask for help.

We obviously don't want to send the message out to people that ‘this is what you should do’, it was more sort of like, we want it to orchestrate, we wanted to attack that message in a way that, you know, people could relate to it in a personal way and then hopefully they would obviously do something positive about it.

J: Yeah, for sure. The videos for Dead End and Truth Hurts were both directed by Martin Wood. He's worked with a bunch of amazing local bands including some friends of mine. It all looks amazing, but what was it like working with Martin?
R: He’s so easy to work with. He's such a good dude and he just like, he just has the knack, he knows what his vision is and how to attack it. So we first met Martin when we shot our previous music videos with Colin Jeffs, and Martin assisted on those videos. So that's how we kind of met him. And then when we did the singles we wanted to work with him because we had already worked with him before and because he's Melbourne based as well. So that was kind of why, but working with him in general, like we told him what we wanted, what the vision was and how we wanted them to come out and he just took that idea and then just, just basically everything, the whole video, like all of it was his idea.  We sat down with him on a phone call one night and he was like, ‘This is what I've got’, like ‘this is what I think we want to, how we want to do it’. And you know, ‘this is the setting that I've got’. And even with Dead Ends, the idea of having that backdrop behind us while we’re playing, and you can visually see that it's clearly a backdrop we’re playing in front of, that was all his idea as well. He took ideas from different band concepts and music videos that he's seen in the past and worked on, and we sort of took those and tried to, I guess use it in our own way. And like all of the story in the actual videos themselves, all of that - he shot it all obviously, but the way that the actor sort of portrayed himself in the character, that was basically like just him. We just sorta just like stood there and watched and we were like, ‘Yeah, man, that's cool. Like your ideas are great. We trust you.’ Pretty much. So yeah, it's really good. he's really, really good to work with.

J: So where did the original interest in metal in particular come from? What are your roots?
R: I guess when I first started playing music I personally was like more of a rock fan, like I was always playing Green Day covers and stuff like that. And then as I guess I sorta got that into music and got a little bit older, obviously spanned out to like Escape The Fate and Parkway Drive and all that kind of stuff in high school. And I just sort of went from there. My first band we started when I was in Year 12 I think, we were more like a death core/melodic metal core band. All the inspiration from back then was definitely like those, you know, early two thousands, post-hardcore bands like Bullet For My Valentine, Escape The Fate, Parkway Drive, all that kind of stuff. And I'm sure the rest of the boys would agree, like we all pretty much have the same sort of roots there.

J: I think you'd also been asked a similar question to this before, but it's a few years later. Um, what important things have you learned in more recent years as a band? Are you still doing what you set out to do? Have you got like different perspectives or anything has changed?
R: I think, um, like the vision was always from the start- So obviously like the name itself, The Motion Below, like we always felt like we were sorta like the underdogs. We always wanted to be the band that sorta come out from underneath from nowhere, creating waves, you know, whether it's in a local level or not, that slowly emerges through, you know what I mean? And like over the years, like most of the bands that were around when we first started aren’t even around anymore. And I think that sort of goes to show, I guess in a sense, out of determination and like what we originally set out to do. I suppose like from the beginning, we went through a phase where we tried to do everything DIY and you know, like, I guess, I don't know, we sort of tried to do things where we tried to save as much money as we could.  

And no matter how hard you do it, it works for some bands, but if you try and DIY everything, it just doesn't work. You need to put the money into the band, into the right places, you know, to make the content, make those music videos, make the band sound good in the studio and take the time to make sure all those things will make you look good. Especially online like these days. Especially like obviously in the music industry and especially now with everything going on. Your online presence is everything. And if you know, someone sees you online and you have a really crappy image, you have poor quality music, your music videos aren't produced well, all that stuff, It takes away from your band and who you are. And we have definitely learnt, especially through all the process of like basically through the cycle of Chronus Complex, doing everything right and putting the money into those particular things, Like PR studio, all of the content that you create, it is really important. And we personally ourselves have seen the results putting that money in, in the last year than we have before that. I think that's like a really important thing that people sort of like don't grasp until you actually do it.

Don’t get me wrong, it costs a fortune. Like it costs money to do your band that way. But the results in saying like, I was talking to our PR agent this morning and we're all talking about how well Truth Hurts has done in the last week. And literally a year ago we had 29 monthly listeners on Spotify and like, you know, no one listened to our band, no one cared who we were, And then from that stage we made sure we did everything right. And as much as it burns out a hole in your bank account, you know, the results show. So doing those things and putting the money into it and obviously putting the money where your mouth is, it gives you results 

J: You get the delayed satisfaction.

 R: Exactly. And if you look now like almost 12 years on from release of State of Decay, sorry, 12 months. And, um, we're now, you know, comfortably sitting at over 10,000 monthly listeners. The new single came out a week ago and it's on 7,000 streams. Like, you know, the numbers don't lie. Yeah, that's sort of like one thing when we're at shows and hanging out with all the bands and friends and stuff. Um, especially bands that are younger, younger than us and sort of ask us for those that like, you know, advice or how a lot of people seem to be really impressed when we did Chronus Complex cause we sort of obviously like went from a band that was just a, you know, a local band like everyone else to sort of somewhat making a name for ourselves.  And I've had a few conversations with a few bands and like, you know, how did you do it? Like what's it like working with those people and stuff like that. And I always tell people like, you just have to put the money in. Like that's sort of at the base of it all. That's where it all stems from. Because if you put the money in, you'll get the results.

J: For new bands who haven't quite started and grasped what to put their money towards - what would you say is the first priority? 
R: It would be production. Like making sure you go to producers and engineers that are going to give you the best product. So like, in the past we've gone, don't get me wrong, previous producers we’ve gone to have been fantastic, but we didn't have that hands on experience where we went into the studio with material and we sat down for, you know, three days straight and just tore everything to shreds in pre-production. And I think it's really important these days, especially in an industry that's so built up, you know, so oversaturated, there's so many bands in Australia alone and you know, a lot of bands sound the same and when you're in an industry that is so oversaturated and everyone's trying to do the same thing, like, you know, it's hard to make a name for yourself. Production step one is really important because you can stem from there….

Once you sort of grasp the concept of letting all the right people sort of have some type of artistic direction over your music, it opens up a whole new world for your band.

Of course as musicians, we’re artists, like you do have to make sure that you still maintain some type of integrity to what you're creating. We have a really good relationship like that with our producers where they know - I suppose we've worked with them for so long now they know what our vision is and they just help bring it out that step further where we can't do it ourselves.

J: You supported Buried In Verona at Max Watts? You’ve said was your favourite venue to play because you had that massive final, final show for them. Who would be part of your sort of dream lineup to be a part of? 
R: Oh man, that's a hard question. Um, God. I think a big one for all of us would probably be Kill, Switch, Engage. Anyone who saw us in the early days, we used to play My Curse at like every single show.
Probably Parkway Drive.
Bullet For My Valentine. Architects.
These days Polaris, like that would be sick. Those guys are just insane. I think that'd be a big one. especially being in Australia. And Wage War. I mean the boys love Wage War. We went and saw them when I came out early this year and yeah, that really good. Get onto em.

J: Is there anything else coming up for you guys?
R: Obviously it’s hard to do anything at the moment. So, well we've been sort of trying to think of ways to obviously keep engaged with our audience once Truth Hurts sort of starts to die down a little bit. We’re hoping to see, you know, release a few different things, like some play throughs and maybe some covers and stuff. At the end of the year we might be going back into the studio to do another record.

J: Backbeat’s priority is to support Australian music specifically, mainly. We try to ask everyone we interview what their top three current Australian artists are at the moment. They could be new or old, but Australian.
R: Yup. Um, Polaris. Yup. Um, Oh God. Who else? Um, I gotta think about it. Polaris um, geez, that's a hard question. Well, obviously definitely Polaris. I think Alpha Wolf at the moment, they’re making waves there. They're doing great at the moment, and To Octavia, they're really close friends, so definitely To Octavia.

J: Was there anything else you wanted to check in and chat about? Any last words?

R: Check out Truth Hurts!

LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW IN PODCAST EPISODE FORM HERE!

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GROOVY LOCAL GALS - YERGURL

Victoria’s teen queen, yergurl AKA Fae Scott, is a songwriter, vocalist and producer, making dreamy pop beats in her bedroom.

Yergurl describes the moments of growing up as a rebellious teen and explores the power emotions have over hormonal adolescents, through confronting, raw and honest lyrics. Yergurl’s unique story-telling is paired with atmospheric synths, lo-fi beats and layered, reverb-laden vocals to create pop you could swim in.

Yergurl’s unique sound is derived from her life-long appreciation for pop music, and takes inspiration from the 80s, to horrorcore, alt rock, and the works of The 1975, Charli XCX and Lana Del Rey.

Most recently, yergurl has been peppin’ it up at St Kilda Fest 2020, just before her featured release with Mars And Bones, her announcement of her place on the bill for Grampians Music Festival, and (the part that we think is the coolest tbh) her feature on the cover of Beat Magazine.

“It’s a sound that’s dreamy, atmospheric, other worldy and heavily rooted in pop. It’s a fully immersive and emotive ride that has darkness, radiance and everything in between. If you were to look into space with a ritzy telescope, you’d see yergurl in the middle of the galaxy, lounging on the rings of Saturn.” -Declan Byrne, Triple J

Starting out as an independent bedroom creative from Bendigo, Yergurl has been slowly but surely making her way up the rankings, becoming a Triple J Unearthed finalist, scoring various festival performances and her first headlining show in late 2019, and regularly updating her socials with new covers (including her latest dreamy cover of Metro Station’s ‘Shake It’) and original songs to keep us comin’ back.

You can catch her tracks also featured in our Spotify Playlist dedicated to all Aussie (and a few NZ) acts!

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GROOVY LOCAL GALS - YARA

We recently put together a small Instagram story series featuring a bunch of local gals who are killin’ it right now, doing what they love and doing it well. Here’s a more in-depth series-style look at each of those featured legends and a few more sick chicks we wanna mention! First up…

YARA

(also featured on our Industry News Page)

YARA (Yara Alkurd) is a Palestinian singer/songwriter with a melting pot of smooth sounds, stemming from jazz, soft RnB and neo-soul.

Yara is a personal friend of ours who has seen some serious ups and downs but consistently keeps her head held high and keeps smashin’ it* out of the park (* - ‘it’ being her personal and musical achievements, and well, everything else she does). We love this gal and can not WAIT to see what she does in the next few months…years…forever… Yara is a shining example of what it means to do what you love, do it well, and do it regardless of what others may say/do to see your downfall, in both personal and professional scenes. Seriously, she’s the bomb dot com.

Following a rewarding yet strenuous upbringing at the heart of the Gaza strip, Yara migrated to Australia in 2009, to the small Victorian town of Colac. Learning english from countless hours of western television, she found herself hopelessly in love with the language and in particular, the music.

Yara’s been heavily influenced by the sounds of Amy Winehouse, Lianne La Havas, Emily King, H.E.R and Snoh Aalegra. She made the move to Melbourne to study and pursue music, which is where she founded her 7 piece band and is now an active musician in the Melbourne scene. She’s since worked with the likes of Eliott, Velvet Bloom, Emma Volard, SKŸE, Rara Zulu, Meiwa, The Senegambiant Jazz Band and Jack The Fox.

YARA’s very excited to be releasing her first track, ‘Man Hater’, into the world. According to her, it’s a piece about the poor way in which society treats women, specifically outspoken women, who request change.

“I’ve experienced an uncomfortable amount of difficult encounters with men in my life, which have been unpleasant to say the least, but what has been even more problematic are the people (men and women) who witness these situations, stand by and do nothing, or worse, dehumanise those who stand up for themselves and call them man haters”

YARA ’s debut single ‘Man Hater’ is to be released on the 8th of March 2020 (International Women’s Day).

LOVE FOR MAN HATER

“I just love the contrast between the lighter instrumental mixed with heavier, real talk. It’s like you've mixed pissed off with joy to make it more musically digestible, but topically not holding back.” - SKŸE

“So beautifully written - with such a strong message that EVERYONE needs to hear. Your melodies and voice are like honey. This one’s gonna be in my head for a while.” -Eliott

“It’s like you’ve got some real Billie Eilish tonal qualities but in this soul genre. And In terms of lyrical tone and mood it’s really unapologetic, and you’re really owning the space you’re in and not apologising for yourself.” -Sannia

You can also catch Yara on our next episode, to be released the weekend of International Women’s Day - keep your eyes peeled for that one, we’re pumped.

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ICYMI: BackBeat’s Spotify Playlist - Full Of Local Goodies

Ecca Vandal

In case you missed it; the BackBeat has put together a playlist to end all Aussie playlists (…maybe). We think it’s pretty cool anyway.

Featuring both well-knowns and a bunch of unearthed gems, ‘The Back Beat’ includes a mix of releases we’ve covered in our News Updates, as well as a bunch of local artists that we’re just personally diggin’ at the moment! Tunes from artists like Tonight Alive, Tame Impala, Spacey Jane, Stella Donnelly, The Kite String Tangle, Ocean Grove, and of course, The Veronicas, all the way to more local lesser-knowns (but still just as eargasm-ous) such as Velvet Bloom, Mia Rodriguez, Redferrie, Forever Renter, Astronaughty, Nothing Really, and Barefoot Bowls Club - and the list goes on!

Ocean Grove - Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

With already over 130 tracks added since it was initially pulled together in the first week of Feb, we know that there are plenty more to be included, so we’d love y’all to put your hand in and suggest some amazing local Australian (and maybe some cheeky NZ) artists and their tracks to add. Whether they’re super well known or totally new to the scene, if they’re Australian, we wanna hear about it! Hit. Us. Up.

In the meantime, get ya boogie on and give it a listen, pop it on shuffle and who knows, you might find your next favourite Aussie act - can confirm we already have!

LISTEN HERE

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BackBeat Season 2, Comin’ At You!

Photo: Falls Festival Byron Bay

Hello, and welcome to 2020!

We are well into the new year now and we’ve just uploaded our first episode of Season 2 for the new year! We want to wish you all a warm welcome into the new year, and if you’re new here, a warm welcome to us and the BackBeat podcast. We’re up to our 7th episode now, and we figured we’d start the new year with a new season too!

In this episode we’ve gone back to basics with just Jahmiele and Gabby havin’ a chat, recounting our previous episodes, our December of 2019 which featured Good Things Festival and New Years, along with our plans for BackBeat in 2020 - including some funky new announcements coming super soon!

We also briefly talk about our New Years resolutions and what we personally want to achieve - both within BackBeat and elsewhere. We’d love to know what your resolutions are, and what you’d like to see from us over the next 12 months. Whether that be particular topics, guests, interviews, reviews - whatever it may be, we wanna know! Contact us via email, Facebook, or Instagram and shoot us a message telling us what you’d like to see and hear from us., and while you’re at it, check out the latest episode and catch up on our previous episodes if you missed ‘em.

Listen To The Full Episode Here

We wanna send out a huge thanks to those who’ve followed and supported us so far. It’s been slow and steady but we’ve got a good feelin’ about it, and we’d love to see this get bigger and better in 2020 so don’t stop (me) now! We’ve got some big plans in the works and you don’t wanna miss out, I promise.

Much Love,
The BackBeat.

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS! - But Gigs?

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

The holiday season is in full swing, and while festive events are of course booked on every block, we wanted to push a reminder of all the local artists performing and doing their own thing over the Christmas and New Year period. Be honest, would you rather go see a sick band or listen to Aunt Gladys talk about her food baby from Boxing Day leftovers.

Here’s a small collection of what caught our eye, from late December to the earlier half of January 2020 - because yeah, we’re pretty much there already…yikes.

This isn’t an extensive list by any means and is primarily focussed around Melbourne because being the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’…there’s a lot goin’ on

(and it’s hard to find extensive gig guides for the entire of Australia so…I tried)

FRIDAY DECEMBER 27

We Got You: Bushfire Relief Benefit Show
BENDIGO HOTEL, 125 JOHNSTON ST, COLLINGWOOD VIC
6PM
LINEUP: DESECRATOR, HARLOTT, HYBRID NIGHTMARES, INTERNAL NIGHTMARE, BUNYIP, AWOL, SHREDDER
GENRE: METAL
PRICE: $15

Harper Bloom
Memo Music Hall, 88 Acland Street, St Kilda, Victoria
7:30pm – 10:30pm
GENRE: COUNTRY/FOLK
PRICE:  General Admission: $10.00
Reserved Seats: $15.00

STEPH BITTER / FRANK BELL
THE THORNBURY LOCAL, 635 HIGH ST, THORNBURY VIC
10PM
GENRE: ACOUSTIC
FREE

Make Emo Great Again – The Live Band Edition
STAY GOLD, 133 SYDNEY ROAD, BRUNSWICK, VIC
7:30PM
LINEUP: THE FIOR, IN VANITY, THE MOTION BELOW
GENRE: PUNK
PRICE: $10

SATURDAY DECEMBER 28

Feeling Good As Hell Party
STAY GOLD, 133 SYDNEY ROAD, BRUNSWICK, VIC
9PM
GENRE: POP
PRICE: $10

Earl Grey’s Breakfast Tea
HOTEL ESPLANADE, 11 THE ESPLANADE, ST KILDA VIC
8PM
SUPPORT: CALICO SUNDAY, ELIZA JOAN & THE RENEGADES
GENRE: ROCK
FREE

SUNDAY DECEMBER 29

Hoodoo Gurus With Special Guests
Driftwood Estate, Caves Road, Wilyabrup, Busselton-Dunsborough and Surrounds
5:00pm – 11:00pm
PRICE: $59.61
GENRE: ROCK 

HARPER BLOOM + PENY BOHAN
OLD BAR, 4-76 JOHNSTON ST, FITZROY VIC
3PM
GENRE: ACOUSTIC
FREE

SPIDERBAIT
GRAND HOTEL MORNINGTON, 124 MAIN ST, MORNINGTON VIC
8PM
GENRE: ROCK
SOLD OUT

BOATS
THE TOTE HOTEL, 67-71 JOHNSTON ST, COLLINGWOOD VIC
4:30PM
GENRE: ROCK
FREE

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

MONDAY DECEMBER 30

NYE ON THE HILL
NYE On The Hill Site, Loch Wonthaggi Rd, Kernot, Bass, Phillip Island and District
DECEMBER 30 2019 – JANUARY 1 2020
PRICE: General Admission - $269.00
GENRE: VARIOUS

TUESDAY DECEMBER 31

British India NYE
Solbar, 19 Ocean Street, Maroochydore, Queensland
8:00pm
Part of New Year Celebrations
GENRE: ROCK
PRICE: General Admission: $34.70

FRIDAY JANUARY 3

RUBY FIELDS
GRAND HOTEL MORNINGTON, 124 MAIN ST, MORNINGTON VIC 3931
8PM
SUPPORT: LOSER
GENRE: ROCK
PRICE: SOLD OUT

PAGAN
BENDIGO HOTEL, 125 JOHNSTON ST, COLLINGWOOD VIC
7PM
GENRE: PUNK
PRICE: $42.59

Dancing In The Dark – A Bruce Springsteen Dance Party
STAY GOLD 133 SYDNEY ROAD, BRUNSWICK, VIC
11PM
GENRE: ROCK
PRICE: $10

ALI BARTER
HOTEL ESPLANADE, 11 THE ESPLANADE, ST KILDA VIC 3182
8:30PM
SUPPORT: BAKERS EDDY
GENRE: ROCK
PRICE: $22.50

Convenience Store + Majak Door
BENDIGO HOTEL 125 JOHNSTON ST, COLLINGWOOD VIC
8PM
GENRE: ROCK
PRICE: $10 

Excuse For An Exit
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE, 524 LYGON ST, BRUNSWICK EAST VIC
8PM
SUPPORT: ALL WE NEED, A NEW WAY HOME, REPEAT SCRIPT
GENRE: PUNK
PRICE: $15

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

SATURDAY JANUARY 4

CRATE DIGGER RECORD FAIR
HOWLER, 7-11 DAWSON STREET, BRUNSWICK, VIC
11AM
FREE

FOMO
Brisbane Showgrounds, 600 Gregory Terrace, Bowen Hills, Queensland
11:30AM
PRICE: Second Release: $139.90
GENRE: VARIOUS

PRODUKTVE: REJINALD, EKINSPLIF, FACELESS, ROWAN RENNIE, CONNOR WALL
LOOP PROJECT SPACE & BAR, 23 MEYERS PL, MELBOURNE VIC
8PM
GENRE: ELECTRONIC
FREE 

GARLIC NUN
CHERRY BAR, 68 LITTLE COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE, VIC
11:30PM
GENRE: ROCK
FREE

TAKING BACK SATURDAY
STAY GOLD 133 SYDNEY ROAD, BRUNSWICK, VIC
11PM
GENRE: PUNK
PRICE: $10

SUNDAY JANUARY 5

Sunset Sounds 2020
Victoria Gardens, 361–381 High Street, Prahran, Victoria
5:00pm – 8:00pm
GENRE: VARIOUS
FREE

DAYDREAMS
GASOMETER HOTEL, 484 SMITH STREET, COLLINGWOOD VIC
12:00PM
FREE
GENRE: ELECTRONIC

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

TUESDAY JANUARY 7

NOW.HERE.THIS
THE TOFF IN TOWN, 2F/252 SWANSTON ST, MELBOURNE VIC
9PM
GENRE: JAZZ
FREE

FOREVER RENTER
RETREAT HOTEL, 280 SYDNEY RD, BRUNSWICK VIC
7PM
SUPPORT: BELLHOP, HEIR TRAFFIC
GENRE: ROCK
FREE

ur welcome

Chats with; Jess and Jay - Don't Fret Club

In our most recent episode, we chatted to Jess Hope and Jay Wennington about, well, everything. Here’s a funky snippet where we talked about one of their primary projects (amongst many others, including Bad Seed Agency), Don’t Fret Club, a podcast about mental health in the music industry - what it is, how it came to be, and where it’s going next! Check out the full episode here.

When and why was Don’t Fret Club started?

JESS: It started about 4 years ago just before we moved out here. It basically started because I completely burnt out in the music industry, no other way to really describe it. But it was also kind of everywhere; it was in a lot of the interviews that I did, like mental health would always come up and at the time – it doesn’t really happen so much now but at the time it was always either edited out or glamourised, or I remember it becoming art of the taglines or headlines when it wasn’t really a major part of the story. I think back even 4 years ago people didn’t really know how to talk about it. I hadn’t really thought about doing a podcast, even podcasts weren’t big then, so I didn’t really even know how to do it, but it was the only way that it couldn’t be edited, we could kind of give people a platform.

The idea was to talk to musicians about topics related to mental health and it was kind of broad enough that people didn’t feel forced to say a certain thing or touch on a certain topic. And luckily, I obviously have relationships in the industry with managers and artists and people who knew the right people to be on it. So, we actually started the podcast with Jenna from Tonight Alive and obviously she was the perfect person to start with, she steered the convo as much as I did and was very open to that, but definitely when we started no one was talking about mental health in music honestly.

We’re still not completely, in terms of the wider music industry, but it was just to get the conversation out there and not have it changed or misguided or anything like that, it was exactly what people wanted to say. That being said, being a podcast format can be a bit tricky in the sense that a lot for the artists will come to us when they’re on their promo cycle or when they’re in the mind of being very positive, not really always ready to talk, so every interview is very different and 4 years on every conversation is new and kind of challenging because we have to put a lot of ourselves into it as well. In order for people to feel comfortable, we have to create that safe space and be quite honest and open, so there have been dips in it when I’ve personally been not feeling like I was in the place to do it or vice versa.

It’s definitely been well received here in Australia, and we’ve had artists from all over the world do it and luckily we can jump on the phone with them, but I always [preffered] the face to face time versus a 10-minute phoner - it’s kind of like, I’m not really willing to put someone in that position of having to go over delicate topics on the phone with someone they’ve not met, so a lot of the episodes are with people I know or have worked with a lot, or interviewed before, it was helpful that I had already done those things that so I had those relationships already there. It was basically something that I needed to hear, and nobody had made it yet.

There’s a hashtag ‘#ShreddingTheStigma’ that pops up a lot on your social media and the website, where did that come from?

JESS: We’ve done a lot of content and admittedly a lot of it isn’t even out there, we’re very protective of it and almost to our detriment a lot. We have a lot of videos and interviews and an almost finished documentary that’s just not out because we want it to be right and perfect, and we don’t want people to think that we’re trying to glamourize the topic, which since we launched has happened a lot. People launch clothing brands with ‘I Am Sad’ and they’re almost proud of that, and we’re very wary of the reception we were getting. Some people thought they kind of had to say that they were depressed so that they could be part of the club, which is not the case at all. So [Shredding The Stigma], it’s essentially what the future documentary will be called I think, tying it back to music and widening the conversation. A lot of it is around stigma and that people aren’t ready to talk about it or deal with it or kind of put in mechanisms for people to cope with it and that's at every level.  Like its artists, managers, labels, its people at the venue, everyone, and there are different kinds of stigma at every level. So, I guess the hashtag is an overall kind of thing, to kind of battle that in a way.

A lot of people kind of think that we're at the point where we can talk about it and that the stigma is not there, but I think that’s just not the case. Obviously, it is in certain cases, but so often we talk about it and there's no kind of repercussion or act after that - there's no aftercare if you like. So, we still think talking is what's needed to kind of lead to the next step.

Do people from the general public come to you, either in person or online, asking for advice or telling you their stories?

JESS: Kind of. The ‘zine fairs that we've done, I think was kind of us there and offering that space for people to come up, but a lot of the time if I've ever brought it up people don't really realize, that either it’s us or that we've done it, or we haven't put a lot of ourselves. It's weird because even though there's obviously a lot of me on the podcast whereas on our socials there’s not. You wouldn’t know the people behind it, and even that was a transition from in the UK when we started, my profile as a writer was bigger there, so when I moved here nobody knew me, nobody kind of connected me to the podcast, which is a good and bad thing. It’s obviously important to have that so that people feel comfortable [knowing who they’re talking to] but it’s also good not to have a single face because if someone doesn’t necessarily feel they can identify with me, I don’t want that to stop them finding something in the brand.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #worldmentalhealthday, here are some ways you can steadily help to manage your own mental health, even as they serve as a reminder on those difficult days. On days like today, it’s important to listen to yourself and your body, and if you feel overwhelmed or concerned, to speak to someone you trust about how you’re feeling. 💙

A post shared by Don't Fret Club (@dontfretclub) on Oct 9, 2019 at 3:09pm PDT

And that branding change that we’ve seen on the socials and the website, what boosted that to be changed?

JESS: I think selfishly we just needed something fresh because we've obviously been working with the same ‘creative’ if you like for four years. And also, I think it's been kind of done and other people have done it and we just wanted to broaden out and I think we almost want it to become, well I think it's naturally become a wellness general space. It's not necessarily a heavy music thing even. And I want to, because we've done other content like video and some written posts and obviously we did a ‘zine and that was super popular - I want to make sure that it's maybe not even just a podcast or it doesn't just rely on that content and that other people can start kind of putting their voice into it without me even needing to kind of interview or do a podcast or anything like that. And we've kind of built the community but I think it needs other voices, not just mine and the person I'm talking to at that time.

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Have you stumbled upon our Feel Good Playlist yet? It’s on @spotifyaunz with new additions from @thehardaches, @bugsbandau & @essieholtmusic! 💙 #nowplaying #playlist #feelgood #dontfretclub #positivity #posivibes #newmusic #ausmusic #wellness

A post shared by Don't Fret Club (@dontfretclub) on Sep 27, 2019 at 4:53am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Today is #worldmentalhealthday, here are some ways you can steadily help to manage your own mental health, even as they serve as a reminder on those difficult days. On days like today, it’s important to listen to yourself and your body, and if you feel overwhelmed or concerned, to speak to someone you trust about how you’re feeling. 💙

A post shared by Don't Fret Club (@dontfretclub) on Oct 9, 2019 at 3:09pm PDT

So you’ve been primarily covering the heavier music but you talk about interests elsewhere, where else would you like to see it go?

JESS: Yeah that's kind of happened just again because that's where my relationships with artists are and I want to make sure that they feel comfortable. But we've actually done one with Kwame which is only out it’s like a 30-second video. He's maybe the first hip hop artist we've done and we've had we've been given the option recently of a few more, we definitely want to do more within that kind of scene, but it’s just it’s making sure we really know the artists and that they’re comfortable and not just doing it in a 15-minute phoner when they’re allotted that time, because we’ve done that and it’s just not ideal for either party, you’re not given the time to really delve deep or explain who you are.

JAY: Yeah it is tricky because like Jess says, with the whole you kind not necessarily ‘stick to what you know’ but like, all of our friends and the connections we have are in a heavier world and I think it's hard sometimes for merit to translate into other genres. For example, just under a year ago we were lucky enough to have Corey Taylor on the podcast, and if we mentioned that to kind of anyone in the alternative scene obviously he's like royalty and we're very proud of that because it carries a certain level of merit to his name, but to someone in the hip-hop scene or like an urban scene or even a pop scene to an extent it perhaps doesn't quite carry the same thing as it does here. I do think that we both feel that we've kind of hit a bit of a glass ceiling with the genre, I mean we've done the frontman of one of the biggest bands in the world. I think Jess and I both agree that there's only one person that we would like to do more and that is Ozzy Osborne. I think once we had those two, we could die happy, we’d be done.

JESS: I've not actually thought about it until this moment, about what he'd say, but I think the best ones we've had are where people have no inhibitions and say how it is and have a lot of stories to tell.

GABBY: I feel like he'd be an open book.

JAY: Definitely, though I'm not sure what language that book would be written in.
But yeah, I don't know. It's a good question. I don't know where it's going to go next and I think that's why we feel like internally we feel like we've perhaps plateaued slightly because we're a bit confused in ourselves where it's even going to go next.

JESS: We are very protective. We want to make sure it's done for the right reasons. We've had lot of offers from bands which obviously is amazing that people want to be involved but I always kind of want to make sure it's in their interests as much as ours and if someone's mentioned anxiety in one song on one album, it doesn't mean they're going to want to sit there and talk to Don't Fret which is absolutely fine. We’re kind of we're getting ready to record what I'm calling a second season. We've had a bit of a rebrand we'll finally bring the documentary out and then I think we'll just see where the conversation’s at and what people want Don't Fret to be and go from there let people kind of take it for what they want it to be.

We’d like to say a huge thanks to Jess and Jay, and all of our other guests, for dropping by and lending their time to chat with us .

Listen to this and more in the entire interview with Jess and Jay, in the full episode here, give them a follow below, check out our past episodes and stay tuned for our next one (and last one for 2019!) with Laura Imbruglia!

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Jahmiele: "What This Is Actually About"

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

So we’re just over 1 month into our official debut of The BackBeat - and it’s early days, I thought I’d take a moment to delve a little deeper into what it is we hope to achieve here, and what you can expect from us.

The Big Picture

We want to create a resource for everyone in the music industry, put together by everyone in the music industry. While this is definitely a passion project for the both of us, this is also something that we hope will turn into somewhat of an entertaining educational tool for all aspects of the community. Whether you’re interested in live events, booking, recording, touring, management, publicity, performing & actually creating music and/or entertainment, or anything else, we aim to dig into it and find out what makes those cogs turn.

Why?

Originally, this project was (and technically, still is) a project for my final trimester of university at Collarts, and like anything else I do, it’s go big or go home, so here we are.

But seriously.

Ideally, the world would be a pure, transparent, honest, and kind place where everything is fair and justified and true - unfortunately, that is often not the case, and the music industry is no different. Don’t get me wrong, I love the industry. I love being a part of it, as both a consumer and a creator. I’m grateful that I’ve been born into a generation where we are so lucky to have the things we do have, including the modern music industry. I am. However, there’s just a lot of…well, dodgy sh*t. Everywhere. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors and misinformation. There are people struggling to get by because they can’t keep their head above water - financially, mentally, the list goes on. There’s also a lot of amazing things. There’s sometimes so much to learn and do and see that sometimes it all seems a little too good to be true - sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t and you’re truly blown away and blessed by your experiences, but sometimes…just sometimes, you gotta learn the hard way that not all is as it seems in the land of dreams.

…What?

Sorry, nevermind.
My point is - there’s a LOT going on out there, and sometimes you can feel lost in the current and genuinely not know what the heck is going on. I’ve been lucky enough thus far to (more-or-less) know what I want, and what I want to do with myself and my life. I am painfully aware, however, that that’s rarely the case for many people. I want to bring together everyone who has (again, more-or-less) figured it out for themselves and can pass on their wise words, to help the newbies who’re coming into it blind.

Photo Credit: James Proctor

Thinking about it, I felt like there wasn’t really something that pulled that all together in one place; there are plenty of mentor programs out there (like The Push’s Music Industry Mentor Program, which I was lucky enough to participate in myself), and there are a few random forums and a bunch of courses out there to help you specialise in whatever it is you choose to do - but the problem there is…what if you don’t know what you want to…choose to do?

What I’m Trying To Say Is…

I want this to be an entertaining yet informational support hub of sorts; for music fans, for those who are even just slightly interested in entering the industry, for music and industry pros, and everyone everywhere and in between. I want this to be entertaining and educational. I want this to provide knowledge, comfort, assistance. I want to ask the questions that everyone really wants to ask, find out the things you really want to know - and maybe even the things you didn’t know you wanted to know - and do it all in a space that is safe, comfortable, and real for everyone involved, without all the bullsh*t. Most of all, I want it to be honest.

So, Thanks In Advance.

Thank you for reading, liking, following, listening, sharing, whatever it is you may have done or do for us while we get things rolling. Thank you for supporting Australian music and arts, whether that be through buying an album, streaming a song, sharing a local band with your friends - whatever you do, keep doing it. This could very easily flop on its face - but we’ll do our best. We at least owe ourselves that.

Stay hydrated, and keep streamin’.

-Jahmiele

Introductions

Photo Credit: Bree Wallace

The BackBeat Podcast.

Monthly episode updates on the Australian Music Industry, direct to your ears. Featuring interviews and performances with guest artists and industry pro's, letting you know what really goes on behind the scenes.

BackBeat Podcast aims to bring the behind-the-scenes of the Australian Music industry to the audience, with an entertaining yet honest, transparent look into all facets of the industry, all while bringing new local music to new ears.

We’re working out the kinks here, but we hope you’ll stick around - we promise we’ve got a great playlist for the ride.