At the beginning of each year, many of us make resolutions to do (or perhaps not do) something to improve our life in some way.
The new year brings with it a metaphorical clean slate, and is often charged with a sense of hope that, “this year, things will be better.”
After two years of ups and downs – cancellations, rescheduling, postponements, density limits, travel restrictions, vaccination rollouts and constant changes – there is a wary sense of hope, particularly for those in the music industry.
Tone Deaf asked a mix of Aussie artists what their resolutions are coming into the new year – or at least what they’re hoping for in 2022.
Here’s what they said:
Illy
“New Years resolution is to quit smoking for good, and release a new album and ACTUALLY TOUR!!!”
Darren Middleton, ARC/Powderfinger
“For me, I’m hoping to be more present in everything I get to do, be it music or not. I plan to keep love in mind with whatever I face… and I recently joined the SES as a volunteer, so I plan on being available to help there whenever I can.”
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Timothy Wolf
“My news years resolution is to not drink Jameson until after shows and I’m wishing for a year of not cancelling gigs.”
Casey Barnes
“Ha I’m not really wishing for too much. A bit of normality and for us all to go back to enjoying the basics in life again would be amazing, without Covid hanging over our heads for another 12 months! I’d love it if we can all go back to enjoying live music again too, bigger festivals coming back without the restrictions we’ve seen over the last couple of years. And for good health and well-being for all Aussies!”
Tom Thum
“New Years resolution: to be able to get my neck strength to a point where I can headspin and check my emails at the same time. 2022: more collaborating and more challenging commissioned work as opposed to a return to exhaustive touring. I think I am keen for that when I feel I have new work instead of just doing it to connect the dots and pay my mortgage. Also more local collaborating, lockdown really made me appreciate talented Queenslanders. We have got some proper gold hiding in the mango trees and cane fields.”
Evil Eddie, Butterfingers
“Hmmm… make more music? I haven’t really thought about it tbh.”
Jack Pierce, Pierce Brothers
“Well there’s a few things that I’m looking forward to in 2022, probably most of all my brother Pat’s wedding!! My main resolution is release more music, and touring more. We have gigs locked all over Australia, and two European tours to get to! Absolutely can not wait. Okay, maybe also lose a couple pounds.”
Liam Gough, The Teskey Brothers
“I’m hoping that we can get back out and play live shows safely around Australia, We’ve missed it so much because it’s the thing we look forward to the most!”
MICCI
“I’ve got lots of goals for this year, there’s lots of things I’m focusing on. The main thing is getting more and more music out there – I’m going to try to do a release every month for 2022. My main goal is to get regular radio airplay, and I want to be booking my own tour. Just be progressing, really. I’m a one-man team, so I’m learning so much about releasing music independently and getting it out there… and my main focus is building my fan base. Any marketing and promotions stuff, pretty much anything requires money, which is a hard thing to come by these days when hardly any musicians are making any money. So I think a resolution is being smarter and more efficient with marketing and getting music out there. I think that’s what most musicians are focusing on, because you’ve got to be releasing music more than ever because shows are all over the place and unpredictable if they’re going to go ahead.”
Adam Hyde, Keli Holiday/Peking Duk
“I hope to keep doing what I’m doing, but be a better person doing it and doing it better.”
