News.com.au 13 March 2006

Article by: Peter Mitchell


Deal or no deal

Hoping to impress ... The Living End THE Troubadour, a venue that launched the careers of hit bands such as Guns N' Roses and Franz Ferdinand, is a decaying, uninteresting building near the West Hollywood-Beverly Hills border on busy Santa Monica Boulevard.

But tomorrow this dusty hole that fits 550 will be taken over by five Australian bands - led by Melbourne's The Living End - in a showcase concert, aptly named Los Angeles' Aussie Assault.

The LA concert is the first of travelling coast-to-coast showcase concerts of Australian bands in the US over the next fortnight.

The Troubadour, where a drunken John Lennon was once thrown out for heckling comedians The Smothers Brothers, and where Elton John performed his first American concert, also will play host to Sydney's Decoder Ring, and The Mess Hall, Fremantle's The Flairz and Melbourne's Kisschasy.

These bands will then join 18 others - including Missy Higgins, Wolfmother and Gyroscope - in Austin, Texas, later this week for the world's largest music conference, South by Southwest.

With the assistance of Austrade, they will be competing with 1300 other bands from around the world, hoping to impress music industry and media representatives, including American radio stations.

The Australian contingent then heads east to New York, where two concerts will be played at two other legendary venues, The Mercury Lounge and Crash Mansion.

In Los Angeles tomorrow, each of the five Australian bands will spend 30 minutes on stage - potentially the most important half hour of each band's life.

Sprinkled in the sellout crowd of American music fans and Australian expats will be 150 representatives from US record labels, music publishers, talent managers, agents, and American journalists.

All of the major record labels will be represented - Universal, Capital, Warner Bros, Sony BMG and Interscope.

The tickets have become one of the hottest items in LA.

Tony George, who heads the Australian Music Office in Los Angeles, said tomorrow's Australian music concert, will be a big event.

"We could have had 250 industry tickets, but we just didn't have enough," he said.

"For some of the younger bands it will be the first time for American record industry figures to see them, and build a reputation.

"The Living End, they are primed for a deal.

"They just had the number one record debut in Australia and a lot of labels are looking at them seriously," he said.

The Flairz, a trio of punk rockers from Fremantle, also have US music executives intrigued.

"They're really cool and a lot of the labels are interested in seeing them," George said.

While other LA venues could have held a larger audience, there were many reasons why Austrade selected the famed and intimate Troubadour, including its historical significance as a music venue.

"The record industry loves the Troubadour. I come here at least once a week and the type of music we are doing is a perfect fit for the venue," said George, a 33-year-old American who left a position eight months ago at the LA office of BMI, which represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.

George, with his close-cropped hair, sharp metal-rimmed glasses and casual attire including sneakers, represents a break from the usual suit-wearing Austrade representatives who promote Australian trade throughout the world.

He said although many Australian bands had been signed to labels in Australia, they did not have representation in the US.

The Australian Government views music as being as important in terms of trade as beef, wool and coal.

"Music exports deliver a great number of different beneficial outcomes to Australia, and it's not just limited to the export incomes generated through royalties, CD sales and tours," said Australia's trade commissioner in LA, Kylie Hargreaves.

"But music is also a great ambassador for our country.

"Men at Work's song ... Down Under is still one of the most recognised Australian songs in the US and Olivia Newton-John is still one of the most well-known and loved Australians.

"You can see this also now with Keith Urban, whose music is selling well but who, simply by being Australian and in the news constantly, is promoting Australia to US consumers on a daily basis."