When you think of Australia, you probably don’t think ‘thriving music scene.’ At least I didn’t. I knew that this great country had produced the Bee Gees, AC/DC, Silverchair, and Wolfmother. Not the most inspiring of musical histories. And I’d heard that the radio is 99% American, and is on a 30-year delay, which is true: the most recent music we might hear on the airwaves is maybe 1978 plus the rare Justin Timberlake and a smattering of other pop, and the worst of that, too. It’s really awful. I shudder to find myself longing for Sexyback.
Luckily, and very surprisingly, it turns out that there are a host of absolutely fantastic local bands of every conceivable genre (see forthcoming “culturally imitative” post). And they are really, really good. Any one of them would be snatched up and signed in an instant at home. I have to wonder: why is there such a profusion of talented musicians, hugely out of proportion to the population? Why isn’t the Australian music management scene taking advantage of this wealth of talent? Or are they just so inundated with good choices that they can’t handle any more? Or do the bands prefer to remain independent? Mysteries that will have to remain unsolved for now.
Here’s hoping for a local bands radio station in the future.
