Kicking off this week, Fuse Festival 2011 will be running over three days from 16th – 18th February, with Masterclasses (16th) and the conference (17th & 18th) running during the day and at night, Adelaide will come alive with music with over 80 bands from interstate and locally showcasing at venues across the city. Held annually in Adelaide SA, FUSE is the longest running music industry conference and showcase festival in Australia, drawing over 5000 people each year. The 2011 Fuse Festival will be held in over 20 venues across Adelaide, this year running in close association with The Adelaide Fringe.
For the first time in 2011, Fuse @ Fringe will offer selected showcasing bands a chance to play in front of a larger crowd at The Adelaide Fringe Opening Night Festival at Rymill Park with over 30,000 expected to attend on Friday, Feb 18th. The line up for the inaugural Fuse @ Fringe stage is headlined by John Steel Singers, with City Riots, The Salvadors, 20th Century Graduates, San Sisco, The Honey Pies, Microwave Jenny and Triple J Unearthed, The Cairos.
With impressive Major Keynote Speakers and an equally impressive list of guest speakers, Fuse 2011 promises to be the biggest yet with International and national guests.
Fuse Festival is proud to have Michael Chugg, 3rd time winner of Pollstar’s International Promoter of the Year award as Keynote speaker, kicking off proceedings for the conference this Thursday morning. The interview with Michael will be focused around the newly released ‘Hey, You in the Black T-Shirt’ – A book that documents 40 years of music history in Australia as Chuggi shares stories of touring the world’s biggest bands. Finally, the vault has opened up on the antics and the politics of a time when pop culture really was changing the world, a personal life rocked by the demands of non-stop touring, and a reflection on the heady days of an exciting and pioneering music industry in Australia. Speakers: Michael Chugg & Iain Shedden.
Last week, Australian music industry impresario, Michael Chugg, has once again taken out the international touring industry’s most auspicious award – Pollstar’s ‘International Promoter of the Year.’ Chugg was awarded this prestigious honour at The 22nd Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, which took place at Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Saturday 5th February. Pollstar, the world’s leading touring trade publication, presents these awards as part of the annual CIC (Concert Industry Consortium) Conference. The awards honour touring acts, promoters, agents, managers, venues and production companies. This year, Michael Chugg was once again up against a who’s who of international promoters and was significantly the only nominee from Australia.
Michael Chugg has said “To receive this award for the third time is not only a great honour for myself and my company, but also for the Australian music industry. To be offered such recognition on an international platform is testament to the health of the live touring industry here at the moment and it’s good to see we’re holding our own against some of the biggest markets in the world.”
With the above in mind, it’s an honour for Fuse Festival to have Michael Chugg joining the talented group of Major Keynote Speakers confirmed including Vince Bannon, from Getty Images, Entertainment Partnerships and Development, Terry McBride, CEO and Co-founder of Nettwerk Music Group Canada and John Watson, one of Australia’s leading artist managers and President of the label, Eleven: a music company.
Guest Speakers include:
Jon Mcildowie – The Great Escape (UK)
Rob Scott – Sandcastle Music
Marianna Annas – ABC Music Publishing
Iain Shedden – The Australian
Chris Johnson – AMRAP
Vicki Gordon – VGM Media & Marketing
Catherine Haridy – Catherine Haridy Management
Gregg Donnovan – Wonderlick
Bill Cullen – One Louder
Phil Stevens – Jarrah Records
Geoff Trio – Code One
Rhoda Roberts – Creative Director – Sydney NYE
Steven Foster – Tank Arts Centre
Evan Davis – Village Sounds – Splendor
Scott Mesiti – Sonic Bids (UK)
Steven Griffiths – Fork Records – Code One
Anita Nedelkovic – Way Over There
Luke Bevan – Universal Music
Marshall Cullen – Foghorn Media
Millie Milgate – Sounds Australia
Keith Welsh
Greg Marsh SAFC
A major part of Fuse Festival each year is the Songwriting and Composition and Management Master Classes, which this year are close to selling out.
The Songwriting & Composition master class on Wednesday, Feb 16th will be held with David Bridie from Not Drowning, Waving, ARIA award winners My Friend The Chocolate Cake and composer of soundtracks including Bran Nu Dae, Two Fists, One Heart and Curtin. David will impart his experience and musical wisdom in this master class covering topic’s including, how to refine your songwriting skills, the step by step through the creative process and how to increase your versatility for different media.
The Management Master class also held on Wednesday February 16th will feature two components -Online marketing & PR session with Ariel Hyatt (US), who founded Ariel Publicity, a social media PR firm on: The ins-and-outs of online promotion and Maximising success with online tools and a Music Management session with Bill Cullen (Paul Kelly, Kate Miller-Heidke, Sarah Blasko), Gregg Donovan (Grinspoon, Josh Pyke) and Catherine Haridy (Eskimo Joe, Bob Evans).
There are only a few places left so book now to avoid disappointment!
www.fusefestival.com
Fuse Management Masterclass: Wednesday 16th February, 2011
Fuse Songwriting Masterclass: Wednesday 16th February 2011
Fuse West – Wednesday 16th February 2011
Fuse East – Thursday 17th February
Fuse @ Fringe – Friday 18th February
Fuse Conference: Thursday 17th – Friday 18th February 2011
