Announcing 2019

GRID Series

calling all Western Sydney artists

Applications now open

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For every great musical act enjoying the limelight of success, there are thousands that bubble below the surface just waiting for their big chance. While it’s never been easier to write, record and publish music yourself, many artists will never have the opportunity to develop their talents in a professional, nurturing yet challenging environment.

Enter, the latest instalment of the GRID Series.

Grass Roots Indie Development, GRID, today announce that applications are open for artists and bands in Western Sydney.

Offering emerging artists and bands a unique opportunity to create lasting connections with some of Australia’s finest song writers and music industry experts, GRID has been a Victorian based initiative since 2013. In 2019, supported by Belong, GRID will take place in Melbourne and is excited to expand its work in supporting emerging music communities within outer suburbs of Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

First stop – Western Sydney!

Four successful applicants in each state will receive a one-on-one session with an established songwriter, have the chance to record with a renowned producer, and be mentored by an accomplished music industry expert to discuss their career and develop a set of strategies to ensure that music remains a central part of their lives. Past participants include rising hip hop star Daniel Elia, soul band The Fabric (fronted by Angie McMahon), indie folk singer songwriter Alana Wilkinson and dream pop band Manorism.

The Western Sydney program takes place from March through to May 2019and will include song development sessions with R&B and future-soul artist Ngaiire and songwriter and lead singer of Middle Kids Hannah Joy, business mentoring with Melody Forghani, Bigsound 2019 programmer and director of artist management and publicity company Twnty Three (Vallis, Kelsey Bulkin) and Ben Pierpoint from Maximillian Brown (Ngaiire, Little May, Wallace).

After the song development and mentoring sessions, the GRID artists have the opportunity to record a new single as a means of activating what they have picked up from their mentoring. Each artist will record a song with one of the programs producers: Antonia Gauci (DMA’s, Vallis Alps, Lanks, Kesha) and Ariel Blum (Lara Andallo, Daniel Elia, St.Ives, Sahida Apsara). The song will be released at the end of the program with a live single launch show in Western Sydney.

To assist the artists with their new release, each artist will also develop content to help promote their release, in the shape of a live video and behind the scenes short doco about how their new track came to life.

GRID’s work takes the focus away from stereotypes associated with ‘musical success’ and refocuses attention on the unseen processes, such as community support, time and space to create, collaboration and education.

The Sydney leg of GRID will include a partnership with Information and Cultural Exchange (I.C.E.) and their New Age Noise program, which provides free training in electronic music production, recording and distribution for young female, transgender and non-binary youth in Western Sydney. Four I.C.E. New Age Noise alumni will be given the opportunity to shadow producers Gauci and Blum during the recording sessions to gain further experience in a professional studio environment and build new networks with emerging artists.

“We believe that healthy and thriving music communities can flourish when the doors to knowledge, networks and creative spaces are open to all to be a part of. GRID has established ourselves as a bridge for artists to connect with other artists and the music community at large as well as a space for artists to produce exciting and unique work. We are beyond excited to bring our program to 4 cities in 2019, with our first instalment in Western Sydney. With a team of incredible mentors, we can’t wait to be a part of the growth of the artists involved in the program and hope to contribute in some way towards supporting new ideas, new stories and new sounds that are coming out of the region.” Ariel Blum, GRID Series co-founder.

GRID “gives artists outside of the city a lot of opportunities. Having grown up outside of the city, it’s usually not something you encounter a lot. Its harder to meet people, its harder to play gigs. GRID connects you to everything. It connects you to other artists, it connects you to venues, bookers, managers” Claire Mooney, triple j Unearthed Australian Music Producer and GRID 2016 Artist Services manager.

It’s a huge opportunity and applications are open now to artists from Western Sydney. Details of how to apply are available on the GRID Website.

www.gridseries.com.au

GRID Western Sydney is supported by Belong, with additional support from program partners APRA/AMCOS and I.C.E (Information and Cultural Exchange)

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