An Evening with Strange Talk
At the close of an honest day’s work the majority of nine-to-fivers are given their first chance to find solitude in their homes, eat dinner and put their feet up in front of a television. For Stephen Docker and Gerard Sidhu, this common scenario could not be further from the truth. The night holds an alternate world for the two members of Melbourne based – Strange Talk. As I arrive at Sidhu’s quaint, Victorian-style house he escorts me upstairs where the faint music that was audible from the street gradually intensifies. I’m shown to a bedroom and then further on through a back door. I arrive at an impressively equipped home-studio where Docker sits mixing a track still in his suit from work earlier that day. For these two musicians, this ‘night job’ may not yet pay the bills, but it is certainly just as honest and relentless as any other. At the conclusion of my interview with Stephen and Gerard, I had borne witness to what I believe to be the fundamental and organic traits to success. The members of Strange Talk demonstrate a tenacious dedication to their art that has led them to explore alternative business models available to artists thriving in today’s music industry.
Strange Talk at The Esplanade Hotel
In an age where advancing technology has become synonymous with music production and promotion, it is possible for performers to “have international reputations without having to leave their shores,” let alone their bedrooms (Simpson 2006, pg. 269). This paradigm brings to question the very nature of musical identity and connection to a sense-of-place. To address this issue it is imperative that we examine the emergence of an entirely new musical culture evidenced by changing methods of artistic creation and distribution via technology. Strange Talk, as an entity, offers a quintessential representation of the model in which the progressive music industry now operates. Their business acumen, humble nature and savvy industry knowledge provide the essential framework for success in today’s music market. It is, therefore, no surprise that just seven months since forming, they have received extremely positive reviews, been selected as a Triple J Unearthed ‘featured artist’, and even secured a spot at Parklife Music Festival (Triple J Unearthed 2010).
This article documents the musical culture in which Strange Talk function. It will identify their industry model and illustrate the importance of their loyalty to Melbourne as a critical component of their identity. Furthermore, in connecting these elements, we will come to understand that the cultural identity and industry model mix demonstrated by Strange Talk’s members not only serve to resist disposability, but more importantly, fuel success. However, the question remains: how, in just seven months have Strange Talk managed to achieve such notoriety and, furthermore, come to be described as “Australia’s version of Phoenix” (Happy Music 2010)?
Strange Talk at Northcote Social Club
Stephen (the vocalist and classically trained violinist) teamed up with Gerard (a bassist and music-technology aficionado) in 2009 and began producing music in a rented room above a panel beater in South Melbourne. They have since relocated their studio to Sidhu’s house in Camberwell and acquired the skills of Travis Constable on drum kit and Gillian Gregory on guitar (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
At the beginning of 2010, Strange Talk graced the Melbourne music scene with a conservatively small repertoire attesting to quality over quantity. Their sound quickly spread boasting “emphatic vocals [unfolding] effortlessly amidst a perfectly rehearsed repertoire of pretty, electronic pop” (Mason 2010, para. 3). Despite a consensus amongst media circles, who have placed them within the ‘electro-pop’ genre (ibid), Stephen and Gerard describe their music as a “multi faceted sound” that breaks into many categories from electro-pop to indie and even rock (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September). Likened to bands such as Phoenix, Gyspy and the Cat and Cut Copy, one reviewer digresses, “Whatever the mix, it’s a catchy (and marketable) sound” (Sound Doctrine 2010). It is evident that Strange Talk’s music confronts the listener with music that is not only current, but also comparable to many successful artists both nationally and internationally. Like many of these musical practitioners, Strange Talk belongs to a new generation of artists pioneering the music scene with new-found recording capability and online dissemination capacities. In turn, a new musical culture has formed courtesy of a symbiotic relationship between music and the Internet that, “are ideally and uniquely suited to one another” (Mewton 2001, pg. 16).
This demonstrates the new opportunities that exist for musicians with a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) attitude. With their musical ability and technological knowledge combined, Stephen and Gerard’s success is indicative of a new generation of artists. Moreover, they are a direct representation of a new musical culture that has been shaped by technological capability.
It is no longer necessary to rent a fully equipped studio at exorbitant hourly rates to make music. To the contrary, given the “technology to create high-quality recordings, [musicians] will now be able to achieve a moderate level of success, creating a middle class of professional entertainers that has been missing in the previous decades” (Hutchison 2008, pg. 10). For the Strange Talk quartet, their home studio and access to the Internet has provided the production and dissemination capacities needed to share their music with the world. This is further testament to the emergence of a new musical culture as Gerard exclaims:
“It’s a current culture. It’s the way music is being written, developed, produced and marketed. It’s a very ‘now’ way of doing things. Very different to what it was 10 years or 20 years ago. Everyone’s self-producing, everyone’s self-writing, everyone’s self-engineering… and self-marketing. It’s a very independent structural beginning for any band now… With technology being the way it is… everyone’s getting their up-start… by putting all the hard yards in themselves in every area” (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
Throughout the interview most impressive was the pair’s strong sense of loyalty to their Melbourne roots and furthermore, a strong connection to their Melbourne fans. The formation of an artist’s identity is commonly attributed to a connection between an artist’s community and the underlying music that link both artist and their community to a shared sense-of-place (Duffy 2000, pg. 51). Despite the possibility of grandeur on Strange Talk’s horizon, they remain connected to their identity as Australian musicians, Stephen asserts:
Stephen Docker on stage at The Esplanade Hotel
“I think Australian music in general is very underrated… there are a lot of industry people overseas looking at Australia now because there is a general vibe that we are not five or six years behind… [But rather] in front of the 8-ball… I think Australian music is very important” (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
The pair began writing dance loops that naturally progressed into lyric lines and song structures. Before an industry plan was even set in place, music was being written in their studio not for the purposes of commerciality and fame, but rather dedication to their passion. This then developed into the natural phase of sharing this music with their friends on MySpace. However, they were also weary of the fact that record label’s are always on the prowl for new acts to add to their roster:
“It’s always going to be something we love, business is one thing but at the end of the day the creativity about writing music is always going to be there and the passion for it. It’s a thin line between making it too much of a business and losing all creativity” says Stephen.
Gerard goes on to add. “But once it was done we knew that the basic framework for us was [to] get it on MySpace, get in contact with the blogs, and we researched people who worked at labels overseas and here… [we] tracked down people’s MySpaces and added them and networked through the Internet… added other bands that had similar pages, added their friends, because we knew we wanted to get as many responses and as much buzz around similar acts” (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
We may be witness to a changing of the guard in the dissemination of artistic endeavour, and it is creating controversy. Richard Moffat, booking agent for various Melbourne venues contends, “When people get noticed, they get noticed really quickly and they don’t have to pay their dues” (as quoted in Blackman 2010, pg. 8). Moffat hit out at another Melbourne-originating band Gypsy and the Cat (who have since moved to the UK and signed to RCA Records) stating, “I actually went to see Gypsy and the Cat play live last week… I enjoyed it but I would respect it more if they had played another six months of gigs” (ibid).
With A&R (talent scout) representatives from record labels scouring online artist profiles, it is no surprise that artists are often discovered even before they have played a live show (Blackman 2010, pg. 8-9). Guy Blackman’s article The Fame Formula in M Magazine states that, “in Australia in 2010, there is virtually no more powerful avenue for new bands to find an audience than Unearthed” (2010, pg. 8). Strange Talk originally uploaded their track ‘Climbing Walls’ to Triple J Unearthed – a website where unsigned bands can have their works rated for a chance to gain radio airplay. After four weeks, the track was selected as Triple J’s ‘featured artist’ and they received substantial airplay across the country.
The Fame Formula article describes artists who take a modern path to fame. More specifically, it details artists who find fame by uploading their music to websites such as MySpace, Bandcamp, Tumblr, Soundcloud and wait to be recognized (ibid). When asked to comment on this, Gerard retorts:
“The Internet is just a marketing tool… you [still] have to have a good product… it is just a different way of getting in contact with people… it is how technology has progressed” (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
Strange Talk at Northcote Social Club
Both Stephen and Gerard remain firm that musical fame and fortune is no coincidence. The success of an artist is determined by their ability to deliver a quality product. This is only possible by paying your dues, whether it be years of instrumental practice, years of studio production, or in their case – and artists like Gypsy and the Cat – both.
Strange Talk are now represented by Parallel Management, sharing the roster with other big Australian acts, namely, The Presets. Although currently unsigned, they seem content on taking each day as it comes and focusing on producing music and performing live.
For the electro-pop quartet, their industry model places emphasis on timing – more specifically not rushing into the next step. Their keen sense of calculated movements is a reflection of pride in the music they create and their commitment to making it available. I asked them, “How does an artist resist disposability?” to which Stephen replied,
“Don’t rush… if you’re looking at doing this as a career like anything [else] whether it be a lawyer or doctor, these people study for years to get to where they want to be and it’s exactly the same for music. There’s no easy path… there is [however], a lot of luck [involved]” (Docker, S & Sidhu, G 2010, pers. comm., 20 September).
Stephen and Gerard’s impressive display of candor gives hope to the future of the Melbourne music scene. Strange Talk’s methods of production and dissemination are representative of an emerging generation of artists that operate as a DIY culture as a result of new technological capability. Although often the victim of scepticism and criticism, there is no doubt artist’s like Strange Talk are delivering a high-quality musical product resulting from the amalgamation of musical skill and technological adeptness. This new breed of musical culture has a strong identity and allegiance to their roots and loyalty to their fans. If Strange Talk’s thought process, business attitude, and loyalty to Australian musical culture is any indication of the broader industry, then we, as Australians have a fine chance of competing with the rest of the world.
Checkout Strange Talk’s:
References
Blackman, G 2010, ‘The Fame Formula’, M Magazine (The Sunday Age), 22 August, pp. 8-9.
Duffy, M 2000, ‘Lines of drift: festival participation and performing a sense of place’, Popular Music, vol 19/1, pp. 51-64, Cambridge University Press, London.
Happy Music 2010, ‘Strange Talk?’, Happy Music, weblog post, 22 August, viewed 6 September 2010, <http://happymusicblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/strange-talk/>.
Hutchison, T 2008, Web marketing for the music business, Elsevier, Burlington.
Mason, N 2010, ‘Alpine, Strange Talk & The Jerabombs’, Beat Magazine – Everything Melbourne, weblog post, 1 September, viewed 6 September 2010, <http://www.beat.com.au/content/alpine-strange-talk-jerabombs>
Mewton, C 2001, All you need to know about music & the internet revolution, Sanctuary Publishing, London.
Simpson, S 2006, Music business, 3rd edn, Omnibus Press, Derrimut.
Sound Doctrine 2010, ‘Strange Talk’, Sound Doctrine, weblog post, 26 August, viewed 6 September 2010, <http://sounddoc.blogspot.com/2010/08/strange-talk.html>.
Triple J Unearthed 2010, Triple J Unearthed, Australia, viewed 6 September 2010, <http://www.triplejunearthed.com/competitions/default.aspx?TripleJCompetitionId=124>
Bibliography
I Think I love It 2010, ‘Strange Talk’, I think I love it, weblog post, 31 August, viewed 6 September 2010, < http://ithinkiloveit.com/2010/08/strange-talk/>
Kusek, D & Leonhard, G 2005, The future of music, Berklee Press, Boston
Lansky, P 1990, ‘A View From the Bus: When Machines Make Music’, Perspectives of New Music, vol. 28, no. 2, Summer 1990, pp. 102-110 (online JSTOR).
Discography
Strange Talk, ‘Climbing Walls’, Offspring (Music from the Original Series), Level Two Music, 2010
