News

WIN A FAB ZILDJIAN MERCH PACK IN OUR ’20 SECONDS OF STICKS ON BITS’ COMPETITION 0

The fine people at Zildjian Australia have put together a fabulous prize pack consisting of T-shirts, sticks, lanyards, and all manner of merch. For a chance to win this Zildjian prize pack, send us a 20 second video of yourself creating beats on everyday items. You might create a fill on a windowsill, beats on a seat, a paradiddle on a griddle, a roll on a pole! You don’t need to be a drummer, just have a go! Those videos deemed to be the most creative will win the prize pack. READ MORE

During the duration of the competition (Friday September 18 to October 18, 2020), video entries will be shown on Australian Musician and Zildjian social media platforms, so you can see what you’re up against.

To enter, send your file or link to info@australianmusician.com.au

If the file is over 10mb, you may need to compress your video entry via a file compression app, otherwise send us a dropbox link or send via a large file sending service such as We Transfer OR simply upload to your own social media, give us a link and we’ll download it from there.

Be Like Dan Kerby (Bliss N Eso, 28 Days) below and send us your 20 Seconds of Sticks on Bits

Get drummin’ and get creative!

LISTEN: NAMM MUSIC HISTORY PROJECT - 5O YEARS SINCE HENDRIX PASSING 0

News

LISTEN: NAMM MUSIC HISTORY PROJECT - 5O YEARS SINCE HENDRIX PASSING



It has been almost fifty years since the passing of Jimi Hendrix and this week on The Music History Project podcast, the NAMM Music History team is honoring the man and his music by sharing the impact he made. You will hear from Recording Engineer, Eddie Kramer; Bassist, Billy Cox; Founder of Seymour Duncan Pickups, Seymour Duncan; Studio Musician, Mike Finnigan; Founder of Luthier’s Workshop, Tony Louscher and Founder of Spector Guitars, Stuart Spector as they honour the iconic guitar hero! Listen and subscribe HERE

ORIANTHI ANNOUNCES NEW SOLO ALBUM 0

Orianthi at She Rocks Awards NAMM Show 2019

Australian born recording artist and acclaimed guitarist, Orianthi has announced the release of her new album, “O” on November 6, 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl. This will be Orianthi’s first new studio album in seven years and her first new music as a solo artist in six years. The first single, ‘Sinners Hymn’ is out now. Watch the lyric video HERE

“The album O is a very inspired album….kept things pretty raw and didn’t overthink it. Marti [Frederiksen, producer, mixer, songwriter] and I wanted to create a unique sound and vibe with every track and we experimented a lot with synths and different guitar tones. Lyrically, a lot of this record comes from life experience and other people’s stories. It’s going to be so fun to play these songs live!” says Orianthi.

And speaking of playing live, Orianthi will host a livestream of a set from the world famous Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, September 20 at 11.00am Australian eastern time. Tickets are available HERE

In addition to her album release with Frontiers this fall, Orianthi also has a signature acoustic guitar being released in partnership with Gibson Guitars with first-of-its-kind engineering that will be revealed in early 2021. She is additionally endorsed by Orange Amps.

Orianthi’s first major solo artist success, as a singer-songwriter and guitarist, was with the Geffen Records release of “According To You,” which is now RIAA-Certified Platinum® and has over 17 million streams on Spotify. Her music’s ability to transcend time and remain relevant cannot be more clear than it’s recent resurgence on TikTok. There are over 83 million views on the “According to You” hashtag making it a viral trend that is introducing Gen Z to Orianthi for the first time in a big way. Career-long fans are used to seeing their favorite world class guitarist playing arenas with rock royalty and global superstars like Michael Jackson, Carlos Santana, Carrie Underwood, Alice Cooper and more. The juxtaposition of her newly arrived online popularity and her lifelong pursuit of artistic credibility is the nebulous of this shining star.

Pre-order “O” on CD/LP/Digital and stream the new single ‘Sinners Hymn’ Now! https://orcd.co/orianthi  

Check out our last conversation with Orianthi at the 2019 NAMM Show, as part of the NAMM Oral History project:

VALE MIKE NOGA 0

Mike Noga (far right) with The Drones. Photo by Marty Williams

It was with much sadness that we heard news yesterday of the passing of singer songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and former Drones drummer Mike Noga. Mike will be forever remembered for the wonderful performances and recordings he made with The Drones such as Gala Mill, Havilah and I See Seaweed albums. He left the band in 2014 to pursue a solo career and released three albums, After Folk Songs (2005), The Balladeer Hunter (2012), and KING (2017).

Mike’s sister Ali revealed the news on Facebook: “We are absolutely devastated to inform you of the passing of our beloved brother, son, uncle and dearest friend Mike. “We know how much he and his music meant to so many of you and there’s nothing we can say to make this hurt any less. “We miss you and love you so much, Mike.”

The reaction from the local music community has been one of disbelief. Close friend, Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey paid tribute to Mike on social media yesterday.
“Mike Noga was one of the funniest people I have ever known. He was also a ridiculously great all-rounder musician and songwriter and as well as watching him blow my mind with The Drones, I had the great pleasure of working with him both in my solo band, as a touring buddy and as producer on his ‘KING’ album. But whatever we were doing, mostly we were just laughing like idiots. By the time we finished recording KING in my spare room we could virtually hold entire conversations in a ‘private joke’ language that no one else would understand. I am going to miss those conversations.
Our love and thoughts go out to his family and friends. xo”

On his Double J radio show today, Tim Rogers farewelled Noga with the words, “See you on the Lost Highway, dear boy…”

Longtime friend Kim Salmon posted a Youtube clip on Facebook of one of Mike’s songs, ‘Long Summer Days’ with the following words:
“It’s seems any song is unbearably sad this week. I was looking for a song by my fellow Stomp warehouse worker Mike Noga. It was called Stolen Day – it was about taking a sickie from the endless days of clowning round, taking the piss and, oh yeah….. packing boxes. It was on Folk Songs. I couldn’t find it on youtube but this one is equally poignant. I don’t miss the box packing but I miss the clowning and piss taking, I miss all my fellow workers but right now.. most of all I miss YOU mate!”

Australian Musician got to know Mike back in 2008 when The Drones guest edited an issue of the magazine. One of our favourite articles of the issue was Mike’s collection of hotel bed photos and the stories that came with them. Mike photographed every hotel bed he slept in on tour, with a view to collating them one day into a book. Unfortunately that never happened but you can view the article and some of the photos HERE

Last time we spoke to Mike was for the promotion of his King album, which you can view HERE

Mike Noga’s fourth solo album Open Fire was made in the US late last year with Low founder Alan Sparhawk doing production. The album is scheduled for release in early 2021 through Part Time Records to which he signed in July.

We remember Mike as a friendly and extremely talented guy with a wicked sense of humour. Condolences to Mike’s family. RIP our friend

AMEX LAUNCHES MUSIC BACKERS STUDIO WEEK. WIN RECORDING TIME! 0

Applications open today for the American Express Music Backers Studio Week, which will give 50 Australian musicians sought after access to some of the best recording studios and industry experts in the country. This is the third initiative announced as part of the $1 Million American Express Music Backers Fund.

Music Backers Studio Week launches in response to fresh insights from American Express that found while four in five (79 per cent) Australian musicians said lockdown has allowed them to focus more on their music, almost seven in ten have been unable to access the expertise (68 per cent) or equipment (67 per cent) required to record music because of COVID-19 restrictions. On top of this more than a quarter (27 per cent) said that mentoring from industry experts would be valuable to them in order to continue making music during COVID-19.

Successful Music Backers Studio Week recipients will receive:

Studio access: Each artist, band or group will have a full day at one of 10 recording studios during week commencing 9 November, across the country to enable them to produce their latest demos with some of the nation’s most renowned producers such as Simon Cohen, Rohan Sforcina and Anna Laverty.

Virtual mentoring workshop: Ahead of Music Backers Studio Week, industry leaders in artist management, producing and music media will host a mentoring workshop.

The pandemic has created many new challenges for artists with 64 per cent of them releasing no or less music than originally planned since March. As a result, the industry is facing a gap in new music. Following the week in studio, the Music Backers Studio Week judging panel will review all recorded tracks and select one recipient artist, band or group to be awarded a $5,000 grant to go towards releasing and promoting their new track.

Nick Yates, Senior Artist Manager, Unified Music Group and Studio Week workshop host comments: “The pandemic has impacted artists hard; it has made creating and releasing music, and connecting with fans, more challenging than ever. This latest initiative from American Express will provide signed and un-signed artists the opportunity they need to keep doing what they do best, and in turn ensure the country is able to continue to listen to new music.”

Music Backers Studio Week recipients will gain access to the some of the most valued resources they need to help them continue making music during the pandemic. When asked where funding support would be most valued, artists listed recording studio time (43 per cent), marketing/ publicity (37 per cent) and access to producers (32 per cent) as their top three.

Simon Cohen, Studios 301 SYDNEY, Producer and Engineer says: “For an artist, time in a quality studio to create and collaborate is priceless, especially during these current times. Due to pandemic restrictions, many Australian musicians have been unable to access the expertise they need to create and finalise their music. The American Express Music Backers Studio Week will give artists a much-needed boost by providing them with full access to equipment, sound engineers and producers, like myself.”

The pandemic is not only impacting artists but music lovers too, as two in five (43 per cent) Australians are concerned the impact of COVID-19 will cause their favourite artists to release music less frequently, and three in ten (30 per cent) are concerned their favourite artists will stop creating music.

The $1 Million American Express Music Backers Fund, the next evolution of the 2018-19 American Express Music Backers Program, launched earlier this month with two initiatives; Nominate a Mate who has been doing something great for music to receive $1,500*, and Grants between $2,000 to $50,000designed to support music businesses and artists. Both initiatives are still open for applications.

Applications for Music Backers Studio Week are now also open and close on Sunday 13 Sept 2020, 11.59pm AEDT. To get involved and to learn more, visit: www.amex.com.au/MusicBackers.

Terms and conditions apply

WINTER NAMM 2021 CANCELLED. BELIEVE IN MUSIC WEEK ANNOUNCED 0

As many had feared, it was with much sadness that today we received official news of the cancellation of the physical 2021 Winter NAMM Show. However, in this morning’s video announcement NAMM CEO Joe Lamond asked the global music products industry to still come together in January for their virtual event Believe in Music Week.

“We’ve held off a long as we could but the reality is, there is no path forward at this time to bring our industry family together safely in Southern California at the NAMM Show,” said Joe Lamond.

“It’s hard to imagine isn’t it, it’s the first time not had a physical gathering in almost in 80 years and just like back then in times of trouble, the world has turned to music, the one thing everyone could believe in.”

“Today I would like to introduce Believe in Music Week, our global online gathering to unify and support the people that bring music to the world. This virtual event scheduled for our show dates in January will be fun, interactive and productive, using state of the art technology to connect us all… robust market place, to launch new products, share your brand story, ‘Believe in Music’ will also feature networking with AI facilitated match making for our buyers and our sellers… education for all our sectors of the industry and live music and concerts to raise awareness and financial support for our NAMM family, especially those in the live event and tour industry which has seen their world come to a halt with the global pandemic.”

“While in my opinion nothing can compare to the excitement of our global family reunion at the NAMM Show, this foray into the virtual world has been an exciting project and in some ways could bring new value to all involved .. pretty exciting and likely something we would not have jumped into had we not been forced to. We must all adapt and change I guess and why does that remind me of every NAMM U Session from the past decade?”

“While we are not out of the pandemic woods yet and we will likely see more news before it is over, Believe in Music will be a critical step for our industry to help us prepare for the new year and new opportunities.”

“We’ll have much more to share in the coming days but in the meantime let’s ll do our best to take care of each other. Many have thought of the NAMM community as a global family and being there for each other is just what family do right? Especially in times like this. In a world filled with uncertainty there is one thing that we can believe in and that’s music and we believe in the future of music and we believe in the future of our industry and we look forward to seeing you in January.”

Our association with our media, Australian Musician online, looks forward to participating in, supporting and covering Believe in Music Week and bringing you the latest product releases, performances and other news that comes out of this exciting week. Standby for more Believe in Music Week news as it comes to hand.

#BelieveInMusicWeek