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| Checking the scene | |
| Craig Fernandes / New Delhi June 21, 2009, 0:58 IST | |
State governments collaborating with musicians may help budding talent in India.
The music of the Australian band An Horse has been growing on me in the past few days, even though I wasn’t too impressed with them when I first heard their music. Maybe it’s their simple but infectious tunes that catch you off guard, or quite simply my penchant for the nineties alt-rock that their music is so reminiscent of, as pointed out by Rolling Stone. My point in all of this is the fact that the duo aren’t just from Australia but, more specifically, from Brisbane, where I currently reside.
Now Brisbane may not register on the global music consciousness in quite the same way that other Australian hubs like Sydney or Melbourne do, even if Billboard did name the city on its list of global music hot spots to pay attention to in 2007. While the music scene in Brisbane is worthy of that recognition, it is still a developing scene. I say developing because if you are a musician or in the music business, as much as people from Brisbane like to deny it, you still stand a far better chance of making something of your career by simply moving to one of the aforementioned cities or even overseas, as so many have. But then again, every now and then a band like The Saints (cited as one of the most influential punk bands in music history) or The Go-Betweens or Powderfinger will come along and prove that Brisbane can actually incubate some vital musical talent.
Keeping all this in mind, I decided last night to put aside my bias regarding Brisbane’s slight nineties hangover and decided to randomly experience the live music scene as a mere visitor. On Thursday night, I was not in search of a vibrant music scene that would rival one found in Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world, but I was pleasantly surprised to find enough going on to keep me engaged. And it wasn’t hard to imagine stumbling across some rather good talent.
Over the last year-and-a-half I’ve heard complaints from locals about how the music scene in Brisbane has declined over the last decade. But at the same time I’ve also witnessed the growth of the city’s music sector in terms of its increasing presence on the national and international scene. This has largely been through the efforts of the governmental music body Q Music, whose tireless work has convinced the Queensland government of the importance of the music sector and its potential to generate revenue for the city. This has ensured the state government’s support by way of policy and funding.
Given the immense music talent that exists in India, it seems quite plausible that the small music business and its cooperation with the government as it exists in Brisbane and other small cities globally could easily be replicated in Indian cities. It is unfortunate that we still have to rely on the efforts of passionate promoters and artistes who run from pillar to post and overcome numerous hurdles to provide audiences with accessible music.
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