The Muso Podcast

Ben Dennis, Peking Duk: advice for young managers

This week we welcome Ben Dennis (Myriad Management) who shares his learnings he's picked up along the way managing acts such as Peking Duk, Hands Like Houses, and Benson.Time Stamps:0:00 Intro to Ben0:45 His musical Journey1:21 Getting the first gig2:25 Starting to manage artists4:37 Advice for early-stage managers6:03 Early Peking Duk 12:17 Creating Demand14:00 Festival shows: marketing exercise for people that have never seen your act15:21 Transformation: DJ set to live show16:58 Importance of collaborating with brands 23:19 Coping during COVID24:11 Single release vs. album release27:11 Different platforms (TikTok)28:13 Collaborations DO's or Don’ts29:31 Following advice for bands vs stay true to yourself31:31 Treating yourself as a business and the importance of budgeting32:40 Pinch yourself moment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nikki Tuckwell, APRA AMCOS: An intro to copyright and royalties

Nikki began working for APRA more than a decade ago, starting out in the General Licensing Department before moving into her current, much more enjoyable role in Writer Services.Her first contact with APRA goes back much earlier than that though, to her time as a teenage, fledgling singer-songwriter and hearing a presentation from an APRA Representative. Little did she know then it was this type of APRA Representative she was destined to become! Nikki’s interest in music copyright and the role that APRA AMCOS performs was compounded further while studying music performance at JMC Academy.It was a friend from JMC who worked at APRA AMCOS, that encouraged Nikki to apply for a role herself. Having accepted the fact that she was not going to be the Lorde of her time, it seemed a great fit to instead be working to support those who might be (or actually are!).An average day for Nikki could include everything from responding to writer member queries (which will vary from how to join APRA AMCOS, to obtaining payments from both here and overseas, to demystifying copyright). Nikki can be found visiting students at Universities, TAFEs, specialist music courses; or helping manage estates of deceased writer’s such as Michael Hutchence or Chrissy Amphlett; performing checks and balances so the APRA royalties can be paid out, creating new memberships, and interviewing artists like Alex Lahey during an in-house performance. No two days are exactly alike but there are always opportunities to help musicians and that’s what makes Nikki’s day – every day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Poppy Reid, Rolling Stone: Publicity

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Fil Palermo & Mike Christidis, Untitled Group: Hustle Part 2

Mike Christidis and Fil Palermo, two co founders from the UNTITLED Group, have flexed some major live music feats in their young but large careers. They’ve brought us the likes of Beyond The Valley (BTV), Pitch Music & Arts Festival, Grapevine Gathering, Wildlands, and Ability fest, plus hundreds of landmark dance music events over the past seven years with still forever to go. You might remember them from their Anyway Nights series at the Palace Theatre, or not realised these guys were responsible if you were vibing to Solomon at The Wool Store, thinking “am I seriously doing this in a warehouse in Footscray right now?!”Part 1 recap Last episode we relived the whirlwind journey which took them from their first ever DJ and promo gigs (charmingly attained with fake I.Ds) to owning a club, turning to major festivals after the success of BTV, and then starting UNTITLED Group. We got a glimpse into their entrepreneurial style, how they met challenges along the way, and best of all, how they saw an opportunity to bring house music to Australia in a big way. Part 2 Episode SummaryThis episode we get a little deeper into the do’s and don’ts of running a festival, including all the learning curves which came with BTV. We get into why Pitch festival has such a perfect lineup (spoiler alert; it’s the date), and how the boys brought a European style dance festival - from it’s unique, left of field brand and programming, to life. The merging of underground artists like Maceo Plex, Sven Vath and Kiasmos amongst the likes of Floating Points and Mount Kimbie. We hear some stories about touring with the Wu-Tang Clan, and being dubbed honorary Wu members, the infamous Solomon ironing board set at the after party that would never end, and Ability Fest, a collaborative passion project with the Dylan Alcott Foundation.Key takeaways The only way to end a never ending Solomon afterparty is to turn the power off. The pure joy of pulling off a festival regardless of the economic value, and getting to dance in a crowd to your favourite artists, once it’s all come together. For musicians, take the pressure off attempting to impress your peers around you. Do your best and do it uniquely, and the right promoters, peers, labels, etc. will notice, because they’re all on the lookout. The Benefits of embracing extra costs and complications, like pursuing big ideas and festival excellence by bringing stage design to the next level. Anything is possible, if you create a road for it, you’re guaranteed to find a way, like delving into your touring dreams by bringing hip hop legacy like the Wu-Tang Clan to Australian shores. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Christidis & Fil Palermo, Untitled Group: Hustle Part 1

Introducing Fil Palermo and Mike Christidis - Untitled Group For Episode 5 of the Muso Podcast, we bring you part 1 of a tale of two lads and an Australian empire they’ve built on this thing we call house music! Mike Christidis and Fil Palermo, two of the co founders of UNTITLED Group, have been responsible for Ability Festival, Beyond The Valley (BTV), Pitch Music & Arts Festival, Grapevine Gathering, plus hundreds of landmark dance music events over the past seven years. You might remember them from their Anyway Nights series at the Palace Theatre, or not realised these guys were responsible if you were vibing to Solomon at The Wool Store, thinking am I seriously doing this in a warehouse in Footscray listening to deep house right now?!Episode SummaryIt’s been 7 years, and they’ve achieved a lot, from charming stories of fake IDs so they could DJ and promote at a club, to teaming up with said club owner Nick Greco and then coming clean when he asked if they’d like to go into business with him, a match was made in club heaven. Together, they embarked on an adventure which started with a successful and disastrous pool party night which ended in slashed inflatable pools on a club rooftop to become the inspiration for UNTITLED group inflatable stage designs. This bestfriend/business partner duo were made for this life, where some find it daunting to get numbers through the door, fill floors and build a legacy from nothing, these guys thrived on the fast-paced competition. After killing it in the promotions game and pioneering analytics way before Facebook could do it for us, they turned their sights to pastures worthy of festival stadiums. Unbeknownst to them, they would become leaders in the Australian electronic house movement, bridging the gap between commercially successful Australian acts like Rüfüs Du Sol, and The Presets, to underground legends like Nina Kraviz and Green Velvet. A genius revelation at Falls Festival had them thinking, what about house music though? And just like that they were off, the festival circuit was theirs for the conquering, real underground electronic music fans rejoiced, and a community of DJs and producers will forever be thankful for the privilege of finding festivals to aspire to which rival those we admire across the large pond, in Europe. Key takeawaysJoin us for part 1 of a 2 episode journey, to see how these two lads invented a signature entrepreneurial style out of true passion and hardwork and built a solid team around them in an ‘all in together’ business model. We see the humble beginnings of BTV, all the learning curves along the way, to the surreal moment their festival sold out its second year in 1 minute and they realised they could do this forever!Mike and Fil give artists some advice on how to get noticed, by working on your craft and being the very best that you can be. They liken it to their equivalent of knocking on doors, handing out flyers, studying their analytics and individually following up hundreds of complaints to figure out how they could make their event the best it could be. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.