Leading Newcastle organisations are backing a project to promote the city’s live music scene, including EAO, Mirage, Newcastle Live, Oasis Social Media, the Cambridge Hotel, Murrays Craft Brewery, Little Ruby Visuals, NSW TAFE, Newcastle Now and the Newcastle City Council.
The Tip Jar song writing competition will promote the city’s community of musicians, and provide new opportunities for talented performers to export their music nationally. The competition builds on the city’s long history of creating world class musicians, and will help to build Newcastle’s reputation as a rich breeding ground for musical talent.
Newcastle businesses are lending their support to the project, recognising the links between a strong creative community and a burgeoning inner-city precinct. It comes at a time when the inner city is undergoing a positive transformation, and a diverse range of commercial organisations are being attracted to Newcastle’s centre.
Kian West, Owner of Oasis Social Media and Tip Jar Project Manager believes developing a strong relationship between artists and the inner-city district is an important factor in Newcastle’s emergence as a cultural destination and a tourist hotspot.
“Newcastle is leading the way when it comes to creating a burgeoning arts scene. Promoting our dynamic music community and putting our artists on the map is good for the city. It will not only help our venues and artists grow patron numbers, it will also have a positive flow on effect for businesses, generating income from both locals and tourists,” Kian said.
“I think this is why we have seen such strong support from local organisations wanting to get involved, lending their time and expertise to help unsigned musicians make their way in the industry.”
Steven Pickett, Managing Director of entertainment agency, EAO and another Tip Jar sponsor, believes the initiative will benefit the city’s cultural life, as well as its economic development.
“Newcastle is proudly positioning itself as having one of the best creative industries in the country. This competition will continue to drive this development and engage the community and business in the city’s renewal,” Steven said.
“Tip Jar has been launched to highlight the vibrancy of our local music scene, giving new energy to our live venues and ensuring these venues have the ongoing patronage to keep them going for many years to come.”
Silverchair’s Chris Joannou is a Tip Jar Ambassador, joining a number of other well-known Newcastle music identities, including Grant Walmsley of the Screaming Jets, popular DJ Jayteehazard, and indie-folk artist, Amy Vee. Chris is a passionate spokesperson for the competition, as it was competitions similar to Tip Jar that gave Silverchair its first big break.
“There is so much untapped talent in Newcastle – the city has more working musicians per capita than anywhere else in the country. Tip Jar will give a voice to the unsigned singer-song writers in the region who deserve to be heard on the Australian and international circuit,” Chris said.
“Silverchair first started to get noticed through competitions such as Triple J’s Unearthed and the National Demo Comp on SBS’s Nomad program. Competitions that uncover new players on the scene are therefore close to my heart, and that is why I am getting behind the Tip Jar initiative”.
Tip Jar invites unsigned musicians from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie to enter unreleased songs, written over the past 12 months, either individually or as part of a collaboration. Entrants will be judged on the strength of their song writing and composition skills, not on the instrumentation or production of the recording.
A public and industry vote will select two winners, announced at an awards ceremony at the Cambridge Hotel, with the winner of each category receiving a prize package valued at over $10,000.
IMAGE |Kian West is the Project Manager for Tip Jar.
