Mark Lackey Leaves Village Sounds, Takes 22 Acts With Him

Village Sounds promoter Mark Lackey has parted ways from the booking agency to set up his own company, Wildfire Agency, taking a large number of high-profile acts with him, as The Music Network reports. A statement from Village Sounds directors Jessica Ducrou and Evan Davis reads: “We wish Mark all the best with his future endeavours. Mark has been a key part of the agency over the last two years and will be missed in the office.” Lackey’s former Atlas Agency first merged with Village Sounds in October 2011, bringing the likes of The Drones, Clutch, Ash Grunwald, The Black Seeds, Cog, Kora, and The Beautiful Girls with him. Having left Village Sounds, Lackey’s Wildfire Agency will continue to represent the aforementioned bands, along with Blue King Brown, Shihad, Mia Dyson, Salmonella Dub, Dialectrix, Gareth Liddiard, Caitlin Park, Geoffrey O’Connor, High Tensions, Kill City Creeps, Krash, Mat McHugh, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Money For Rope, Regular John, Sons Of Rico, and The Fearless Vampire Killers. Contact is [email protected] and 02 9550 5760.

Hermitude, Urthboy, The Herd & More Leave New World Artists

In more artist shuffle news, many artists on the roster of Sydney indie hip hop label Elefant Traks, founded by Tim Levinson (aka Urthboy), have broken away from bookers New World Artists and are believed to be working with Artist Voice, going from boutique to ‘gigantique’. The move sees Elefant Traks’ enviable list of burgeoning hip hop, soul, and funk acts changing shop, including recent AMP winners Hermitude, Horrorshow, The Herd, Sietta, and of course, Urthboy. New World Artists, who similarly lost the Crucial Music roster to Village Sounds last January, said the Elefant Traks migration was a positive move all around, freeing up valuable resources at New World Artists so they can pursue their commitment to discovering and developing new artists, including recent signings Willow Beats and Jackie Onassis, alongside their established touring acts. The agency has a huge year ahead with Closure in Moscow, Dead Letter Circus, and Dream On Dreamer all dropping new albums this year. In addition, Illy and British India have new albums, which the agency believes are probably their strongest to date. Artist Voice, who recently launched new Melbourne offices and expanded its artist roster, were approached but were unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

123 Agency Launches With Roster of Ex-Premier Acts

Former Premier Artists agent Damian Costin, who left the agency last year in mid-July, has launched his own company, 123 Agency, taking a number of acts he’s booked previously along with him. Making the jump from Premier to Costin’s new agency are Owl Eyes, Stonefield, Ella Hooper, and Kingswood. There is no connection between the new agency and the Premier-associated Mushroom Group. Rounding out the artist roster at 123 Agency is Hayden Calnin, Calling All Cars, Dune, Katalyst, Stillwater Giants, Blonde On Blonde, Cabins, Cairo Knife Fight, Ariela Jacobs, Krista Polvere, Michael Paynter, Space Invadas, Red Ink, Sun City, and Undercolours.

MusicNSW’s Free Workshops Continue With ‘Music Publishing 101’

Presented in conjunction with APRA, MusicNSW’s next free workshop is set to take place next Thursday 23rd May, 6.30pm at the APRA Offices in Ultimo, NSW. Titled ‘Music Publishing 101: Sync Or Swim!’, the workshop will cover the lucrative business of licensing songs to ads, film, and television with a panel exploring the revenue that publishing income can generate. Publishers Ian James (Mushroom Music Publishing), Marianna Annas (ABC Music Publishing), Michael Szumowski (Alberts), will be on hand to share their expertise and discuss industry trends and issues. Entry is free, but spots are limited, so RSVP [email protected]

FBi Radio Announces All Our Friends Fundraising Gig Series

Sydney community radio station FBi Radio has announced ‘All Our Friends’, a series of fundraising gigs that commemorate its decade-long contribution to Sydney’s cultural scene in its 10 years on air. Hand picking a selection of its favourite groups, labels, and allies, FBi Radio has named a number of indie labels to help curate the gigs. Future Classic, Astral People, Rice Is Nice, Popfrenzy Records, Broken Stone Records, and Modular Recordings have all been named to curate the series of concerts. All Our Friends kickstarts on Friday 14th June with Future Classic and Astral People’s combined show, featuring Panama, Cosmo’s Midnight, Rainbow Chan & Moon Holiday and more at Sydney’s Goodgod Small Club. The full list of shows can be viewed at fbiradio.com

Modular Recordings Adds Sydney Trio, Movement To Artist Roster

The latest signing to Modular Recordings’ impressive roster is Movement, the Sydney trio joining a roster that includes Tame Impala, Cut Copy, The Presets and The Avalanches. Movement “owners of a sound best described as seductive nocturnal music” have their debut single ‘Feel Real’ set for release on 24th May, while late June will see the release of a remix bundle of ‘Feel Real’ with mixes by Morgan Geist, Ta-Ku, and Shadow Child. The band also support Flight Facilities in Sydney and Melbourne this May, performing single launches in June before playing at MONA’s DARK MOFO festival. Full tour dates and info at modularpeople.com

Paul Piticco Launches First Imprint On Create/Control

Paul Piticco – Director of Dew Process Recordings, Create/Control, and co-promoter of Secret Sounds Touring, Splendour In The Grass & Falls Festival – has launched the first label imprint on Create/Control with the company’s Blakey Rayner, international A&R manager for Dew Process. Nook Nook Records is the name of the new imprint, an Australian-based label designed to uncover new international and domestic short-format releases. “The amount of incredible new music surfacing every day both here and overseas is staggering,” says Blake. “So we’ve designed Nook Nook Records as an early warning system, a way to introduce the best that crosses our path.” Nook Nook Records’ first two handpicked releases are the debut single from MØ and the forthcoming EP from Bom Bom. ‘Pilgrim’ is the debut glitch-pop single from release from MØ, the musical handle of Danish songstress Karen Marie Østed. Bom Bom are an LA duo that combine sparkling vocal hooks and Motown production, releasing their debut EP following the success of lead single ‘Woman’.

New Partner For Spark & Opus, Roster Continues To Expand

Artist management company Spark & Opus have announced a host of recent additions to its roster while welcoming new manger and partner Meg Williams to the team. Williams is the current Executive Director at the Association of Artista Managers, which follows her former role as Indent project manager at MusicNSW. Founder Briese Abbott, who started the company in 2011 to help guide the careers of “ethical and original” recording artists, says: “Our artists have a very exciting year ahead and I can’t think of a better business partner to help support their success than Meg. Her experience and taste will be a huge asset to Spark & Opus.” As reported last week, the artist management company welcomed Cub Scouts (co-managed with Rowan Brand) to their roster, and has been keeping busy with Elizabeth Rose’s tour, Shady Lane’s split 7”, and PVT’s European tour in support of third album Homosapien.

Poncho.TV Launches New Online Series

Poncho.TV is launching independent online music show, ABABCd, on June 5th through its own Poncho.tv channel and on YouTube. Hosted by Nick Clarke, the premise for the show finds three bands playing one song each in front of a live Melbourne studio audience, the performances interspersed with “curious intermissions” (much like the self-described “confusing teaser” announcing  ABABCd). The show is named after shorthand for verse/chorus/verse/bridge/chorus songwriting structure (A-B-A-B-C-B), with the ABABCd denoting its mantra of taking the unconventional route. The lineups for the show’s episodes is yet to be announced, with Poncho.TV noting that “the only criterion is creative merit.”

Inertia Launches Access All Areas To Launch New Artists, Live At VIVID Ideas

Sydney label Inertia is bringing together representatives from Triple J, Handsome Touring, FBi Community Radio, Borden Mgmt, and Select Music for its Access All Areas – a feature panel of specialists that will focus on the breaking of new artists in 2013 as part of VIVID Ideas on June 2nd. The panel includes label rep Mark Dodds (Inertia Access: Dune Rats, The Delta Riggs), Triple ZJ Unearthed Music Director Dave Ruby Howe, promoter Chris Twite (Handsome Tours: SBTRKT, Polica), FBi Music Director Stephen Goodhew, manager Jo Gray (Borden Management: Seekae) and agent Rob Giovannoni (Select Music: DZ Deathrays, Elizabeth Rose) to discuss a creative plan for one very lucky artist at 7pm on 2nd June at the Forum on Level 6 of the Museum of Contemporary Art. As for who will be the subject of the panel’s focus, Inertia is putting the call out to new artists to register their details at  www.inertia-music.com/accessallareas. All styles are encouraged, artists must just be free to attend the session on June 2nd, and have no pre-existing connection to the panellists. Inertia Access will also release the chosen artist’s single in June.

Music Industry Figures Say F@*K You At VIVID Ideas Seminar

Also taking place at the VIVID Ideas conference in Sydney, is ‘F@*k You: Resolving Disputes In the Creative Industries’, a 90-minute seminar featuring artist managers Michael McMartin (Hoodoo Gurus) and Keith Welsh (ICEHOUSE) along with their friend and colleague Adrian McGruther (Intellectual Property lawyer). The three will discuss the impact of artist conflicts and ways to resolve disputes before they lead to costly financial cases and the destruction of relationships both personal and professional. Discussing songwriters battling over percentages of songs, photographers and graphic designers chasing a share of merchandise, or income from music used in films or ads without permission, ‘F@*k You: Resolving Disputes In the Creative Industries’ will take place at 10am on Saturday, 25 May at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Tickets are $15 available through Oztix – www.oztix.com.au.