What we could all learn from Radiohead

Last night with tens of thousands of other people I was brutally assaulted, seduced and made to feel like I was privy to something huge yet private all at once. The circumstances of this bizarre yet thought provoking situation was seeing Radiohead at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Here’s the disclaimer: I am a card carrying Radiohead fan. I’ve often joked I could say my life is complete once I finally get to kiss Thom Yorke’s bung eyelid.... Read More

The A to Z of Aussie Freelance Resources

If you freelance and you are in Australia, here are a few things that’ll probably make your life easier. If you have any to suggest, by all means send them through! Couple of notes: I have tried to be accurate with URL and description, however if I have got something wrong somewhere, do let me know this too! Any mistakes are not intentional. This list has been done voluntarily. I’ve tried to keep it relevant and helpful to Australia but not include... Read More

Revised for 2012: Music Marketing 101

These are the tips and tricks you should really employ to get your band coverage… start here and the foundation will grow! Record a demo, even if it’s in your garage or bathroom or your Nanna’s house. We are not talking sending this puppy to record companies- we are talking having something to put on your MySpace Reverbnation or Band Camp. You are selling an auditory product and no matter how schmick your photos may be or your bio, funny, ultimately... Read More

Sydney, now it’s your turn…. Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!

After a successful Melbourne event in late 2011, Pozible now brings “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” to Sydney. This free event is for anyone who wants to learn more on crowdfunding for creative projects or simply for people interested in self funding through platforms like Pozible. Join us for a helpful, informative and passionate discussion on crowdfunding your dreams and ideas with like minded individuals. The evening is aimed at giving anyone... Read More

Your Project on the Operating Table

Make no bones about it, it really sucks when an idea or project doesn’t work out the way you want it to. But how do you tell the difference between natural causes and misadventure? And what should you do to avoid another untimely demise of a beloved project? Consider this your autopsy and next steps guide to the projects that go belly up! Nurse, I need 10cc’s of Ego, stat! First and foremost, when a project fails to achieve a benchmark, please... Read More

Calling all freelancers!

Are you tired of auction sites trying to get you to work for $2 a 500 word article or deploy a whole website for $200? Have you had to mop up after countless el cheapie projects for your clients after things have gone drastically south? Do you sometimes wonder why employment agencies or digital/ad agencies pay you 30% of what they bill you out for? Are you working at places that don’t allow you to stretch yourself as much as you would like? Do you... Read More

Pozible hits the Million Dollar Mark

Australia’s first crowd funding platform, Pozible, has hit an amazing $1million in pledges. Since humble beginnings in May 2010, Pozible has become a viable option for creative and innovative projects around the country as a source of funding through peers pledging their support through crowd funding. Reaching the million dollar mark is yet another milestone for a platform dedicated to helping more ideas become reality in the Australian creative... Read More

What is WOM [Word-of-Mouth] worth?

Crowdfunding is a pretty amazing thing. Watching one dollar add to another dollar and another until a target is reached just shows how much every little bit counts. But what most people may not realise is that even when you don’t have any money to spare, you can still manage to support a project and create a positive outcome. And there is a group of these people already that have made a huge in-direct impact to projects. Pozible has always been... Read More

The Dinosaur’s Guide to Dance: Sydney style

Shaking your tail feather in Sydney can be a little bit of a problem, especially at live gigs. It appears it just isn’t cool to shimmy around and let your inner funkasaurus out. This is even worse when you are well past the hipster expiration date. However if you are in your 30’s or beyond and want to dance about, you do have some places you can go. So never fear, here is the Dinosaur’s Guide to Dance! Tone Yes, she is leaving us at her current... Read More

The Crackhead’s Get Rocked

As you know, Richard Berndt has donated his time and talent to creation of the musical score for the Crackheads. I can now share with you a sample of that hard work. With the Crackheads film, we toyed with the idea of taking off two well known songs- namely the “Home and Away” theme (changing it to “Homo and Away”) and “Fishheads” (changing that to “Crackheads”) ala Weird Al Yankovic. But unfortunately,... Read More

Artist Profile: Rich Berndt

Over ten years ago, Richard Berndt left the country to pursue his dreams of becoming a rock star in the big city. The goal posts may have shifted, but the journey is no less fulfilling. Read More Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you need custom content created or marketing help!  Read More

Artist in Profile: Ryan Linnegar

The beauty and darkness of Ryan Linnegar is explored time and again through his photography and lyrics. But who is this poet, musician and artist really? The Courthouse Newtown is not your usual choice for conducting interviews if a journalist and I soon start to understand why. Here I am sitting in front of a rather nervous Ryan Linnegar with the cursory jug of Coopers Pale at the ready whilst I sit there trying to test levels on my Sansa music... Read More

The Thylacines- Taking a Bite Out of the Sydney Music Scene

Imagine if you knocked on a door and there before you was a sweet little old lady with a quietly elfin smile above a lace collar and cable knit cardigan. Imagine she asked what you wanted in a smoked encrusted Scottish brogue but didn’t wait for the answer. Instead, as your lips part she is grabbing at your collar, pulling your face to her knee and just at the moment you think you will wet your best undies in fear of the blood nose you surely know... Read More

Sydney Music Scene Study

In response to the purchase of the Excelsior by Merivale and the perceived decline of viable music venues in Sydney, myself (Rebekah Lambert) and veteran indie rocker about town Rich Berndt devised and conducted a survey about the state of live music in Sydney. The responses were collected via Survey Monkey through publicity on online channels- notably this website and interested social media groups- February 2011 until July 2011. We collected 137... Read More

Puppet on a Shoestring: The Story of Birthing a Puppet Film

From moving to script to actually getting things done is a pretty hard process. It is rewarding though. Time consuming, at times very overwhelming, and punishing because you finish on task and several more sprout up like snakeheads on Cerberus. I am learning as I go along. Music and Sound Anyone who has ever done anything remotely linked to sound will tell you if you screw up the volume or the mix, it just won’t work in your favour. Thankfully,... Read More

Musicians are doing it for themselves

Sydney has certainly moved to a brighter future in the music scene since the 2000’s when poker machines ruled, entertainment licences cost venues a kidney and bookers chose bums on seats over quality, but the scars still linger. Audiences are still not brave enough to trust venues to walk in and take pot luck, some bookers persist in fragmenting bills and not knowing the style of music that gets played and venues and bands collectively barely break... Read More

Band Photos: How not to bore people to death

Having recently flicked through the TripleJ Unearthed site in search of some new indie bands to follow, I have realised that musicians probably operate a secret society, complete with five point starter kits for their bio photos. Why do I say this? Well, why else would almost every photo feature the same five key points? The dreaded five key points Choose exotic location such as graffiti wall, brick wall, wooden wall or something which features wall... Read More

Social media for a good cause

Social media attracts a wide variety of reactions from people and not always good ones. Take for example www.lamebook.com which has enjoyed highlighting some of the sillier things people will share on their www.facebook.com profile who are now subsequently being sued by the social media giant for trademark infringement  by the very same platform well known for sharing their users content with third parties through settings changes, software updates... Read More

The rise and rise of Swap Creative

Now that the holidays are out of the way, the Unashamedly Creative office has come back with a lot of bang and buzz for 2011- with the majority of interest being generated from Swap Creative. Swap Creative came about through wanting to satiate the desire to assist small businesses, most of whom usually lack budget to do major marketing activity, as well as regain some of the “niceties” lost after moving away from a steady salary towards working... Read More

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre

  Sydney cries out for culture. Her inhabitants get a strange set jaw and bristly look about them whenever someone suggests Melbourne may be more cultured. We join Facebook groups in the tens of thousands bemoaning the demise of iconic places such as the Hopetoun. We are eager to stand in front of the Petersham Roller-rink, Glebe’s Valhalla or Luna Park with cardboard signs and talk vehemently and with passion about the evil sell outs who bow... Read More