WHILE the 60 years of Wimmera Rock event will be a chance for many of the performers to relive their past glories, for one artist it will be the first day of her future.
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Singer-songwriter Meg Coutts will perform as her alias Fyerfly for the first time, having released music under that name across the past two years.
The 42-year-old was born in Stawell and has been living in Ballarat for the past 18 months.
She said finding a good mentor and attending music industry events were crucial for any Wimmera resident hoping to make a career in the music industry.
"I'm a studio artist, so I don't tour. I'm a single mum of two kids, so I have my children as my priority and my music as my other priority, so all my music world is online," she said.
"I've played intimate venues before for a couple of hundred people, but they were just guest appearances. I'm just about to release my debut album, so until I release that that's where my income-earning potential will skyrocket."
Ms Coutts plays Sadcore, an intimate genre of music derived from Grunge and Alternative Rock.
"My stuff is more for a community radio audience - I did a couple of interviews with (a radio station in) Bonnie Doon and premiered my debut single there in 2018, and got a bit of a following thanks to that and the next release in October that year. I've been waiting for my producer to finish the rest of my album, which I think will be late March."
Ms Coutts, who also runs a graphic design studio in Ballarat, said having a mentor who knew the industry had made a big difference to her music career. Hers is based in Melbourne and plays similar music.
"They know what's important, and when you're starting out you think everything is important," she said. "The key things were knowing how much to save, how much money you will need to record. Get to industry events and start networking, that's really crucial in any successful career.
"For myself as a singer-songwriter, APRA AMCOS is huge, and Music Victoria - you'll find all the other ones that are relevant to you through those. They offer courses and events you should be at, because not only do you learn heaps of stuff but you meet other people."
Ms Coutts' father, Terry Williams, played in Wimmera pubs such as the Locarno - now Wilson's Nightclub in Horsham - and cabarets with the bands Edison's Invention and Community.
She moved to Horsham as a teenager, where she had access to a lot of opportunities to grow as a musician.
"My grandmother was a highly respected piano teacher by the name of Mrs Schirmer, and when I moved to Horsham I started piano lessons with her," she said. "She got me into choir and I was able to start solo singing lessons with another teacher there, Raelene Mitchell.
"Then I started doing high school and I was a percussionist in the band until VCE. I was in every production, either in the cast or in the orchestra, so I was able to fully feed my love of music and art production in Horsham.
"It was just what comes next? You can't stay there."
"For me as a Sadcore artist ... I couldn't get anyone to get a band together, because the instruments in my ensemble - that will be at the 60 years event - include a double bassist and a cellist. I just couldn't find those people (in the Wimmera) until I came back after a few years away as a performance artist trying to perform my own songs.
"As it turns out clients I had through my graphic design studio played instruments, and some of them will be performing with me."
Ms Coutts said the Wimmera's live music culture was not as advanced as Ballarat's.
"There is an existing culture for cover bands, and that is always going to be the case no matter where you are," she said. "But it's about having access to venues that will play live music, pay (original) artists and respect them for what they are creating."
While this will be Ms Coutts first time performing as Fyerfly, she is in no hurry to get more gigs.
"I have a really strong plan of building my online music business," she said.
"I definitely want to be performing, but I'm not really interested in doing small gigs, I'd rather be focusing on high-quality bigger end stuff. I'll just be building what I'm building and if opportunities arise I'll definitely consider them."
Creating a scene
Singing teacher Maddi Ostapiw said the number of options for signers and musicians to perform in theatre in Horsham far outweighed recording and gig opportunities.
"We worked hard to create those opportunities in theatre, and it would need to take sustained effort from people who are interested in the industry to create the same sort of thing for people outside of music theatre," she said.
"I think a lot of musical development in Horsham has to be led by a person who has the passion for it."
Ms Ostapiw said if people wanted to start a music career in Horsham, they would need to work around the realities of living in a small regional city.
"When we're talking about music, because a professional cellist won't be hired in Horsham, you're not going to find one living around here," she said. "So what you need to do is find people who might be interested in working together to create something new."
"At Horsham Arts Council it's become quite difficult to put a full orchestra together, because we don't have string and woodwind players living in the region. But sometimes it's about finding people at the beginning of their skills development - for example if we can't find a particular instrument we rewrite the part of a different instrument. You've got to keep your mind open to change."
"Look for artists that do make things work up here and support them. I know Mark Block and Kessia Brooke are local gigging musos, young people who have have created their own audience and brand."
Pub talk
Over 40 artists will perform at Horsham Town Hall, Sawyer Park Soundshell and the Horsham Show Grounds between February 7 and 9 as part of the 60 Years of Wimmera Rock event.
The event's aim is to encourage bands to reconnect with hotels, pubs and other establishments across the region.
Royal Hotel publican Grant Fiedler said he had been trying to stage as many live music events as possible since taking over the venue in March 2019.
He said artists wanting to perform there needed to have a following to make it worthwhile for the venue.
"The conditions of my licence mean I need to have two security staff on for any live performance," he said. "When DJs come on Friday or Saturday night, I know we're going to get a bit of a crowd.
"But if I have someone on Saturday afternoon - or any time of day - I would need a few dozen people to come and pay an entry fee to cover the costs of the guards."
Mr Fiedler said he paid all the artists that performed at the Royal, save for the open mic events on the first Friday of every month.
"There are a lot of good musicians in the Wimmera and they need to be supported," he said. "It would be great if we could get a vibrant live music scene going around Horsham."
Grants program opens
On Monday January 20, Western Victorian MP Jaala Pulford announced the latest round of the state government's Music Works Major Funding program was open to professional musicians and bands, music organisations, managers, technicians and venues working at all career stages.
"Grants of between $2,500 and $20,000 are available for individuals and up to $75,000 for groups and organisations," she said in a statement.
"The program supports projects in three categories:
Creating content: recording of new original works, as well as digital and audio-visual content such as music videos, podcasts, web content or other promotional content.
Building capacity: professional development activities such as attending masterclasses, mentoring and activities that help to strengthen your music business.
Connecting to markets: activities that will bring Victorian music to new audiences. This could range from tours to festivals, events and programs that help practitioners to build their audiences or activities that address barriers for music makers or audiences."
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