Australian Music Vault
presents
LONG PLAY SERIES
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The Australian Music Vault has captured the stories of some of the most formidable pioneers and innovators from the Australian music scene including Judith Durham AO and Archie Roach AM in their latest offering, Long Play Series.
In Season 1, these hour-long online video interviews will allow music lovers to delve further into the stories behind some of their favourite artists, and learn about the inner mechanics to some of Australia’s industry heavyweights including Michael Chugg AM, Graham “Scrooge” Madigan, Mark Opitz, Fifa Riccobono AM and Glenn Wheatley.
These insights not only come from musicians but industry professionals including promoters, producers, roadies, record label executives, journalists and historians – influential trailblazers and unsung heroes opening up about their lives in music. The ultimate aim of the Long Play Series is to share and preserve the stories of contemporary music in Australia from all facets of the music industry, from the 1950s to present day.
These interviews were conducted by Brian Nankervis, Jane Gazzo and Namila Benson.
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JUDITH DURHAM AO
For a generation of fans, Judith Durham is the voice of The Seekers – the Australian folk-inspired vocal quartet that took the world by storm in the 1960s. From the coffee shops of Melbourne to main stages across the world, The Seekers became the first Australian band to sell one million singles and the first to score a simultaneous Top 10 hit in Australia, Britain and the USA. That much of the story we know.
Perhaps less known is the story of a young girl who grew up with a love of jazz and piano, and whose shyness coloured all aspects of her career. Here, Judith opens up about her earliest musical influences, her whirlwind experience with The Seekers, her solo career as a composer and jazz musician and what it felt like to knock The Beatles White Album off the #1 spot on the UK charts.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Brian Nankervis
Location: Home of Judith Durham, 2018
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ARCHIE ROACH AM
Multi-award winning artist and community elder, Archie Roach is one of Australia’s most loved and respected singer-songwriters. A proud Gunditjmara Bundjalung man born in Mooroopna, Victoria, Archie was forcibly removed from his home as a child as a result of a government policy of assimilation.
Throughout his 30-year career as a recording artist and live performer, Archie’s music echoes the sorrow and dislocation this process has caused members of the Stolen Generations but also the power of hope and love to bring about generational healing.
His iconic song, ‘Took The Children Away’ from his 1990 debut album, Charcoal Lane, has proven to be a bridge for generations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, earning him accolades from audiences around the world.
In this interview, Archie talks about his journey with this special song, from writing and recording with the support of soul-mate Ruby Hunter, and fellow musicians Paul Kelly and Steve Connolly, through to international recognition as the first songwriter to ever win an International Human Rights Achievement Award.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Namila Benson
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017
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FIFA RICCOBONO AM
Fifa Riccobono began her career in music as a 16-year-old secretary at Albert Music, Australia’s first independent record label devoted exclusively to recording Australian pop artists.
During her time at Alberts, Fifa worked with some of Australia’s biggest acts including AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and The Angels as well as the legendary Vanda & Young writing team.
In 1990, she was appointed CEO of Alberts, becoming the first woman to run a record company in Australia. Fifa is a former Board Director of the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), Australia’s peak industry body for songwriters and in 2019 she was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for her significant contribution to the Australian music industry.
In this interview, Fifa talks to Jane Gazzo about her early career before moving into A&R at Alberts; reflects on her time with AC/DC, her first impressions of Bon Scott, her admiration for Malcolm Young as the driving force behind AC/DC, and what it was like to be in a crowd of over one million people watching AC/DC play at the 1991 Monsters of Rock gig in Moscow.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Jane Gazzo
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017
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MARK OPITZ
Mark Opitz is one of Australia’s most influential record producers and audio engineers having helped craft the sounds of AC/DC, Australian Crawl, Divinyls, Cold Chisel and INXS during the 1980s, and Paul Kelly and Hunter & Collectors during the 1990s.
Born in Melbourne in 1952, Mark grew up in Brisbane before heading to Sydney to begin a career in audio at the ABC. In his role as producer and Head of A&R at Warner Records, Mark helped to steer the careers of artists as diverse as Cold Chisel, Richard Clapton, Swanee, and Billy Field. Mark is currently Visiting Fellow to the School of Music at the Australian National University in Canberra.
In this interview, Mark talks to Jane Gazzo about his early musical experiences including seeing The Beatles at Festival Hall in Brisbane at the age of 12, his early training at the ABC where he learnt the ropes working on everything from rock to orchestral music, and how his apprenticeship as a producer at Alberts under the guidance of Harry Vanda and George Young shaped him as a producer.
In the second part of the interview, Mark discusses his creative process as a producer and reflects on what music has meant to him and how profoundly it has affected his life. He also shares his memories of recording The Easybeats’ song ‘Good Times’ with Jimmy Barnes and Michael Hutchence, which became the signature song for the famous Australia Made concert tour and Mushroom 25thAnniversary Concert of the Century.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Jane Gazzo
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017
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GLENN WHEATLEY
Glenn Wheatley has had many roles during his career as a musician and talent manager for artists such as Little River Band, John Farnham and Delta Goodrem.
Born in Brisbane in 1949, Glenn began his musical journey in Brisbane as the guitarist with Bay City Union before gaining national attention as bass guitarist for legendary Australian band, The Masters Apprentices. During the 1970s and 1980s, Glenn turned his attention to management by helping Little River Band break into the competitive American market and reviving the career of friend and colleague, John Farnham. Glenn mortgaged his house to finance what would become the #1 selling Australian album of all time, Whispering Jack.
In this interview, Glenn speaks to Brian Nankervis about his earliest musical memory, seeing Elvis performing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and how it started his lifelong love affair with music. He recalls an infamous Masters’ gig where he was stripped naked on stage by over-zealous fans, and shares his memories of travelling to London to record at Abbey Road Studios where he used the same piano that Paul McCartney had used to record ‘Let It Be’. He also reflects on his time as a talent manager working in America with David Bowie and the Little River Band, and on his lifelong friendship with singer, John Farnham.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Brian Nankervis
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017
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MICHAEL CHUGG AM
Michael Chugg is a pioneering entrepreneur, artist manager and tour promoter. Born in Launceston, he started working in music at the age of 15 organising a dance with local band The Dominos to raise money for his cycling club. He was soon hitching between Launceston and Hobart organising gigs for The Easybeats, The Twilights and The Groove.
After moving to Melbourne, he joined Consolidated Rock Agency and in 1978, he co-founded the Frontier Touring Company, one of the biggest promoters in Australia touring acts like Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Guns N’ Roses and Bob Dylan. Throughout his career he has won many awards including Pollstar’s International Promoter of the Year, and in 1998 he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for his services to music and philanthropy.
In this interview, “Chuggi” talks to Brian Nankervis about the first Australian concert he ever attended, a double bill with Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and Max Merritt & The Meteors. He shares his experience working in the glory days of pub rock with bands like Chain, Spectrum, The La De Das, Daddy Cool, Jeff St John, Lobby Loyde and Billy Thorpe, and also his more recent experiences with Brisbane pop group, Sheppard.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Brian Nankervis
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne 2017
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GRAHAM “SCROOGE” MADIGAN
Graham “Scrooge” Madigan is of one of Australia’s most high profile roadies and road managers to have worked in Australia and internationally with artists like Daddy Cool, Little River Band, Billy Joel and Deep Purple.
Scrooge grew up in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick and left school at 14-years-old to get a job to help support the family. Scrooge was there at the birth of the term ‘briefcase roadie’ and was pivotal in introducing a new way of working for road crews across the country.
In this interview, Scrooge speaks to Brian Nankervis about his early musical experiences like seeing Normie Rowe and Bobby & Laurie perform at Melbourne nightspot The Purple Eye, quitting his job in a travel agency to pursue a career as a roadie for Daddy Cool, and the lightbulb moment when he realized that there was ‘life after roadie’.
He shares the unpredictable nature of life behind-the-scenes – including the time that Queen’s Freddy Mercury knocked out a roadie with a flying tambourine at the 1974 Sunbury Festival – while also reflecting on the emotional and physical toll of insecure employment, relentless travel, late nights and substance abuse.
Watch the interview here.
Interviewer: Brian Nankervis
Location: Melbourne Room, Arts Centre Melbourne, 2017
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The Australian Music Vault is a key initiative of the Victorian Government’s Music Works strategy, in support and collaboration with the music industry. It has been developed by Arts Centre Melbourne in consultation with the music industry and is a celebration of the Australian contemporary music story – past, present and future. It’s a place to explore your love of music, revisit some of the big music moments of your life and discover the exciting new stories of today’s Australian music scene.
An expanded and permanent Australian Music Vault is planned for a new Arts Centre Melbourne campus and creative hub at 1 City Road, a key new cultural, industry and tourism offer featured as part of the Victorian Government’s vision for the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation.
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Australian Music Vault presents
Long Play Series
For more information visit HERE
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AMNPLIFY – DB
My nickname is “The Amnplifier”. Why? Because around here my focus is on being a conduit for providing greater outcomes that people come here for. My day to day “work” is living in the moment, and I love helping others concentrate on finding their connection to themselves through their experiences.
Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.
Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.
Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.
