In a music industry that is only becoming more competitive, local Melbourne band The Good China’s success is helped along by the provision of a $5,000 grant under the Victoria Rocks program.

Local band The Good China has been awarded a Victoria Rocks grant from the government, designed to give new musicians a boost in the local music industry.

The $5,000 grant handed out to Victorian musicians who apply, is awarded to bands to help contribute towards the cost of self-promotion and the production of recorded material.

The program was launched in 2007 by former Arts Minister Lynne Kosky, who said that Victoria was at the centre of Australia’s fast-developing music scene.

“In Victoria we enjoy a lively and diverse music culture both in the inner city and in rural and regional Victoria,” Ms Kosky said.

“However, today’s musicians face challenges breaking into the music scene. Changes in the industry over the last decade have eroded opportunities for many artists trying to develop their careers creatively and professionally.”

The Victoria Rocks grants have been developed as a way for new artists and bands to have a helping hand in launching their music career in an industry full of challenges.

Mietta Sanciolo’s band The Good China applied for the Music Career Building grant, and was subsequently awarded $5,000.

“This means that all our advertising, CD pressing, stickers, posters and other merchandise were able to be covered by the government,” she said.

“Some band members have backgrounds in advertising and marketing so we were able to execute a professional plan and have the funds to support it.

“It was a big weight off of our shoulders.”

There are three grants available for application under the Victoria Rocks program, including the Music Career Building Grant, Music Touring Grant and Strategic Music Industry Partnerships.

The Good China is a unique eight-piece indie pop band, where band members bounce between instruments from song to song, abandoning the classic ‘front man and backing band’ set-up.

They have been compared to such bands as Architecture in Helsinki. Good China band member Nick McMillan was asked how he felt about the comparison.

“We’re both from Melbourne; we both have lots of members and lots of instruments,” Nick said.

“It’s an easy connection for people to make.

“I don’t see a problem with the comparison; I absolutely loved “In Case We Die” and they’re an incredibly talented and entertaining band to see live.” He said.

The Good China has become bigger than it was originally expected, in more ways than one.

“The Good China, as strange as it was when we formed is now one of the most important things in my life,” Mietta said.

“To randomly meet seven other people and then just suddenly become so close is such a great feeling.

“We feel very blessed that we all get along so well and I guess if we get sick of one person, there’s seven others to hang around!”

The Good China are currently on tour for their Old Maps/New Roads EP that was launched last month, and is available for purchase at all good music stores.

More information about the Victoria Rocks program can be found at www. http://www.arts.vic.gov.au/content/public/funding_programs/victoria_rocks.aspx.

The Good China’s Myspace is www.myspace.com/thegoodchinaband.

We all know that listening to one of our favourite tunes can change the way we feel, but can music have clinically-effective therapeutic effects?

The answer is yes. Music Therapy is not only being practiced in hospitals and clinics around Melbourne, but in its many music bars and venues as well.

- Listen to the recorded interview with Tim McMillan here -

On Tuesdays and Thursdays starting from around 9pm, renegade-folk acoustic-guitarist, Tim McMillan hosts an open-mic night titled Tim McMillan and Friends.

Typically the night at Spleen Central, 41 Bourke St, personifies Tim’s friendly personality by attracting a wide range of unique and varying acts, equally unique people, and a group of loyal regulars. – Get directions!

The interesting element to Tim’s work is that you can often find his past high-school students and some of his friends with mental-disabilities at his live shows enjoying a combination of crazy antics, abstract renditions of familiar songs, originals, percussive improvisations, and pure playing finesse.

Therapeutically, Tim says the Guitar is particularly remedial

With this group that I’m working with, some of the guys are really quite hard to work with in certain areas – but when you put a guitar in front of them they totally chill out, get really focused and are really empowered […]

Spleen Central

Tim started teaching students guitar at his former high-school, Mt. Eliza Secondary College, around seven years ago. He has since found his calling, working at a clinic servicing those who are mentally challenged.

I spend one day doing music therapy with them, and the other days doing non-musical activities.[…]It’s been really good, I enjoy it much more than mainstream teaching – which wasn’t sort of my cup of tea. […] It seemed far more natural for me working there [at the clinic], and being in this sort of field [Music Therapy].

A past high-school guitar student, Sam Toebelman, relived his experience learning guitar through Tim Mcmillan, saying that there were more jokes and funny stories than strict learning.

He [Tim] mostly just cracked jokes and told me funny stories. Lessons with Tim were always interesting, the humour was great and he taught me how to play. [...] its funny seeing him so many years later playing all around Australia and overseas!

… Since high-school, Sam is now studying an audio engineering course at JMC Academy, and working on his on own musical endeavours.

Tim’s local influence will be temporarily put on hold however, as the full Tim McMillan Band travels to Germany for a month of touring. 

Upon their return they will be playing downstairs at Serafino’s in Leongatha on November 28th, and then Grumpy’s in Fitzroy on December 4th. Check out the Tim McMillan Band myspace, and the links below for more details.

Tim McMillan Band Myspace

Want More?

Listen to the interview with Tim McMillan

Listen to the Tim McMillan Band by visiting their Myspace

Watch Tim McMillan’s Blue on Youtube

Get directions to Spleen Central

• All Photos Copyright Alex Mangl unless otherwise stated.

A diverse crowd of over 110,000 people enjoyed a full day of music performances, food and street theatre.

Hair salons, book and clothing stores were all transformed into makeshift music venues to help accommodate an impressive program that featured almost 100 local and international acts.

Sarah Bradshaw, whose store ‘The Book Grocer’ became a popular late-night drinking spot, said the festival was highly significant to the area and meant a lot to local businesses.

“The festival is wonderful,” said Bradshaw. “The atmosphere is great, the people are great and for us, it helps bring a whole new crowd to our store.”

Several shops up, hairdressers from ‘Punch’ watched on as their regular place of work was converted into a sweaty, grungy venue to house bands like local punk-rockers Ouch, My Face. Lead singer Celeste Potter growled and screamed her way through a raucous set that saw a young crowd bouncing off the hair salon’s brick walls.

A more subdued audience was on hand at the Northcote Social Club to enjoy a soulful midday set from Thornbury-based Liz Stringer. Speaking in between songs with a thick Australian accent yet singing in a soulful voice filled with emotion, Stringer provided an early highlight for the day as she told of her parent’s childhood love with Waifs-esque storytelling on The Summer They Slept Under The Pines.

On the main street, indie-hipsters jostled amongst parents with prams, eager to gain a clear sight of a street performer who had bathed himself in a mixture of paints. Nearby, several hundred people spilled out of The Wesley Anne, one of the day’s few designated drinking areas.

Bassist from world music group Sol Nation, Daniel Golding, said the festival reflected a unique sense of community that existed in Northcote and its surrounding suburbs.

“There is such a good feeling about High Vibes,” said Golding, after playing a reggae-driven set in the archaic surrounds of the Northcote Town Hall. “You’ve got so many different types of people of all ages from different backgrounds turning out.”

“We just played a set where a bunch of indie kids were dancing alongside mums and dads with their kids. I just really think High Vibes is onto something really special.”

Although four people were arrested for public drunkenness, local police said that on the whole, the behaviour of festival goers was safe and responsible.

As the day drew to a close, those looking exclusively for a Sunday night party began to dominate the streets and more specifically, ‘The Peacock’. With electro-dub sounds thudding out of the pub’s speakers, it was clear the festival’s family-friendly activities had come to an end. The festival itself, however, would continue on for some time.

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

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