Forty thousand albums sold, packed out venues across the world and international distribution, it is no surprise that industry professionals are touting Melbourne rock act, A Sound Mind, as the next biggest thing in Australian Music.
A Sound Mind is not your regular alternative rock band; through years of hard work and sacrifice they have achieved all of this without the support of a major record label. In 2007, with no money, no place to live and armed only with their musical talent and determination the boys took off on an overseas tour playing on the streets of major cities across Europe.
“We started off doing it really rough, we slept at train stations, on the street, in cars, on the beach once even in a soccer goal on a soccer pitch in Croatia,” said lead singer Anthony Kupinic.
When most Australian bands take off overseas they go to the U.K or the U.S.A, not A Sound Mind. They once again went against the grain and hedged their bets on Germany.
“Last year in Berlin we drew massive crowds of up to 600 people at one time and were selling a CD every minute…We sold in four months in Germany what took us two years in Australia,” said Kupinic.
Melbourne rock act, A Sound Mind, on the streets of Berlin
However, with their success in Germany performing on the streets is now a thing of the past.
“We haven’t done the street thing for a while now…The great thing about it was that you could play to crowds of thousands of people every day in any city of the world, the bad thing about it was getting arrested…in Stuttgart we had a pleasant ride in the back of a cop car,” said Kupinic.
A Sound Mind will officially launch their debut album Harmonia across Europe with physical distribution through German based company H’ART.
Australian industry professional Hellen Barradell believes that Harmonia is one of the best Australian debut albums of recent times.
“Harmonia has set a new benchmark in debut albums in the Australian heavy rock scene, a new template for power, purpose, possibility and untamed imagination,” said Barradell.
Yet despite their recent exposure the band still believes that being independent is the best option for them at this stage.
“A record deal is like a really bad home loan with a high interest rate, its dangerous,” said Kupinic.
Nathan Parker from Melbourne based company, WindDancerMusic, believes that A Sound Mind are not alone in their desire for independency.
“There is a growing trend in the Australian Music Industry to move independent and A Sound Mind are living proof that independent Artists no longer have to be dictated to by major record companies,” said Parker.
The boys are anxious to get back in the studio and work on their second album, with the revenue generated from Harmonia sale. With the growing profile of the band, there is no doubt A Sound Mind will soon become a household name.
“On the next album we actually have a nice healthy budget so it really feels like we can do anything we want… that kind of artistic freedom is so exciting,” said Kupinic.
By Tyson Hunter
A Sound Mind Performing on the streets of Germany:
A Sound Mind performing at the Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne
Have your say!
