Connecting with the global music market
- 16 Mar 2015
Jeremy Neale, 2013 Billy Thorpe Scholarship recipient reflects on his experience as a musician and of attending music markets...
Being born in Brisbane’s outer suburbs is kind of like being a young Annakin Skywalker trapped on Tatooine. At first it might seem like your life choices and career prospects are limited but then at some point it all clicks and you’re on an intergalactic adventure. Of course Annakin later became Darth Vader but you don’t have to. You can explore the stars in whatever manner you see fit, and truth be told, with the right amount of persistence, song craft and a bit of luck, you may yet become one (a star, that is).
My experience as a singer / songwriter in Brisbane has been reasonably long in pursuit and full of trial and error – which is the best way to learn and the fastest way to temporary bankruptcy. A universal acceptance – knowing that what you’re doing might be objectively great but that the timing wasn’t right and being at peace with that – combined with being true to yourself will be your greatest ally in these fiscally hard times. Success is uncertain but if you create work you’re proud of, at the end of the day you’ll still be able to self-five yourself and that is a very beautiful thing.
I’ve explored all the parts of Australia that form the basis of the national touring circuit and travelled to The UK, Europe and Singapore to try my hand at the international market. These attempts were both made possible via my own persistence and with the financial assistance of Arts Queensland in the form of grants to attend Music Matters Live and The Great Escape Festival as well as The Billy Thorpe Scholarship to further my recorded work and gear situation.
Attending conferences outside of Australia is essential. Whether you do this as a delegate (the most financially viable option) or as a performer, it will help you to better understand the true depth of your competition, to inspire your work with new ideas and ultimately help you find another market that may suit you as well or better than your current location.
After playing The Great Escape Festival with Velociraptor and my solo band in 2013 and 2014 respectively, it wasn’t until I attended Music Matters in Singapore on the trip home from the UK last year, that my entire perspective on my preferred international market changed. Music Matters Live sees delegates coming from all over to learn more about the greater Asian market – a market far more affordable for us to visit as Australians and in a lot of ways more interesting as it is the path far less travelled. I have seen a lot of potential in this market and just as you should always be creating music you are proud of –– you should also extend this to your musical path of travel. It is because of this that I will return to Singapore in 2015 and hopefully in the years to come, I will get to explore many other areas of Asia as a performer.
As a gambling man, I gotta’ suggest you play the odds. Making a living as an artist might seem a little bit far-fetched but I’d always rather know than wonder what might have been.
So if you’re a lifer like me and in it for the long haul, be sure to check out these international markets and the support available locally to help find the one that’s right for you.
Jeremy Neale performs under his own name as a solo artist, fronts garage pop guitar orchestra Velociraptor and contributes the middle register harmonies in melodic surf band Teen Sensations.
Over the years he has served as drummer in a smorgasbord of Brisbane bands, toured Australian many times over, played shows in the UK, Europe and Singapore, released a bunch of EPs and albums across different acts, won some awards and played a lot of suburban sports.