Michael Chugg - It's Amplified.
It may be considered the nether regions of Australia, but Tasmania has certainly come a long way in the live music world. With the advent of the third annual Amplified festival, for artists and music lovers alike it would seem that the sky is the limit.
Legendary tour promoter and Tassie ex-pat, Michael Chugg, who served as patron to the Amplified festival in 2005, acknowledges that the scene has come a long way since the first gig he organised at the Launceston cycling club.
“That was about forty years ago,” Chugg recalls, “it certainly has come a long way since then.” With the relationship between music and the internet fast developing, Chugg believes that this has opened up equal opportunities for Tasmanians to put themselves out there.
Citing Tasmanian success stories such as Pete Cornelius and Monique Brumby, Chugg enthuses over the potential in such incentives as Amplified as “a huge learning curve for everybody.”
Amplified was first initiated in 2004 during a contemporary music industry forum hosted by Arts Tasmania. There was a general wide spread belief that local artists were denied opportunities to mingle with mainland industry types, and in turn, those on the mainland weren’t getting a chance to realise the potential in the talent bred from Tasmania.
This led to Arts Tasmania developing its first Amplified Festival in November 2005, getting Michael Chugg on board to act as the festival’s patron.
“It gives people from the mainland a chance to come down to see what’s going on and it also gives for the Tasmanian music scene and its musicians, a chance show their abilities and their music.” Says Chugg of Amplified’s importance.
Amplified reached out across all musical genres and catered to young and old musicians alike, and it achieved what it set out to do – allowing musicians an opportunity to network and showcase to others the wealth of talent that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Its overall success has made Amplified a regular event, being held again in October 2006 and now again in 2008.
Looking back over the progress Tasmania has gradually achieved in carving out their own credible live music scene, Chugg points to the community as an instigator.
“There’s a lot going on down there, like community radio station – Edge radio and there’s a lot of events that are happening.”
This years submissions for the Amplified Awards reflect the growth seen by Chugg. There were a reported 82 submissions from Tasmanian artists, hoping to secure themselves one of the 23 awards dished out during the festival. This is a 37% increase from last year alone. Awards include “Most Promising Tasmanian Act” and “Outstanding Contribution to Original Tasmanian Music”, you couldn’t say that this festival wasn’t completely home grown.
Chugg credits the internet for raising the profile of local musicans.
“Because of the web you’ve basically got a level playing field.” Chugg says.
“You’ve got the potential there and the technology – the world’s getting so much smaller so. Last year you got people in Tasmania setting up websites, selling their music there, downloads, people are starting to make a bit of a mark.”
Chugg is quick to dismiss past notions of Tasmanians being at a disadvantage due to their geographical isolation.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re from somewhere in Idaho or the top of the Japanese islands or from Tasmania, you have the opportunity to put your wears out there for everybody to see.”
Amplified also seem keen to dispel the belief that Tasmanian musicians and music lovers are at a disadvantage. With the national release of the Amplified CD, showcasing the finest of local talent, distribution is running hot and fast.
The festival scene, which of late has become popular in metropolitan and regional areas alike have also attributed to the increase in live music down south.
“A lot of national and international bands are coming down there now.” Asserts Chugg.
In spite of the occasional disastrous tour – “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was one…then there was the Alternative Nation festival in the 90’s”, throughout his career, Chugg has managed to put the Australian music scene on the map, credited as the sixth biggest tour promoter in the world.
With a plethora of awards under his belt, including an Order of Australia and Father of the Year (in which, good friend and all-round legend, Billy Thorpe paid tribute), Chugg takes it all in his stride.
“All these awards are tribute to the Australian music scene,” he claims modestly.
Amplified is also a great opportunity for up and coming artists, with Workshops and Conferences being held by the likes of ABC radio and presented by Amplified and the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA), with talks on issues such as “Demystifying the Music Business” and the “James Blundell Songwriting Master Class”.
Chugg also has some of his own advice to offer any local bands who are yet to get their foot through the proverbial door.
“Get their music on the internet and get your stuff out on the mainland get their music out there and make the opportunity. There are lots of bands now getting out there and making a name for themselves.”
So there’s no excuse not to go down and embrace the nether regions!
