Back in October, we reported on how Aussie musicians were simply killing it overseas. Between the chart successes of our golden girl Sia and Iggy Azalea, as well as the various moving and shaking that was happening in the camps of Vance Joy, Sheppard, and more, Ozpop was taking over the US.
Well, we’re now almost halfway into 2015 and it doesn’t look like our homegrown favourites plan on slowing down any time soon. And we’re not just talking about Courtney Barnett, who’s been taking over everything from SXSW to Ellen.
It’s not just Vance Joy, either, though he has now sold an absolutely ridiculous amount of records in the US. As we reported earlier this month, after receiving his big break with an appearance on late-night staple Conan last year, the 27-year-old songwriter recently saw his hit ‘Riptide’ go double platinum in the US.
For those playing at home, this means that Vance Joy has sold an insane 2 million copies of his ukelele-driven, Hottest 100-topping hit. We guess it pays to have Taylor Swift in your corner. Of course, he’s not the only Aussie doing big things.
First up, Hermitude recently beat rock giants Faith No More to the top spot in the ARIA Albums chart and they’re celebrating by taking a great big sweep at the highly coveted US market. They’re fast becoming one of our most in-demand live acts with some major US festival slots on the horizon.
The coming months will see the acclaimed production duo playing slots at Lollapalooza, Governor’s Ball, Wakarusa, Counterpoint, and Osheaga. All this comes after the pair most recently took on SXSW, Summer Camp, Lighting In A Bottle, and BUKU Music + Art Project.
Another one of our favourites, Meg Mac, is slowly building her own US empire and getting some serious help. The story goes like this: last year, Meg was Stateside to perform as part of SXSW and ended up joining Clean Bandit for their US tour, extending her stay and spreading her incredible voice.
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Well, it just happened again. Meg was over in the US for the most recent SXSW, enchanting audiences with anthems like ‘Grandma’s Hands’, and she’ll now be extending her stay, because she’s been snatched up to support none other than modern soul icon D’Angelo on his upcoming US tour.
“I feel like I get surprised by something almost everyday. Here is my latest surprise,” she said. “Just like last time – I came to America for one reason (SXSW) and ended up here longer for a different reason… You just can’t get used to surprises, that’s why they’re the best.”
Everywhere you look it seems Aussies are making waves overseas. Melbourne singer-songwriter HOWQUA impressed attendees at Canadian Music Week so much that he was recently signed to The Agency Group for North America and he’s expected to return there for dates later in the year.
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Meanwhile, beloved busker-bred rockers the Pierce Brothers have likewise signed with The Agency Group for the US and Canada. The duo is currently on a 50-date world tour, which included a stint at Canadian Music Week before heading to the UK for Great Escape and driving straight to Amsterdam for London Calling.
Melbourne’s Husky have their sights set on Europe and they’re about to embark on their very own ‘Berlin Period’. The band will be relocating to the German capital for the rest of 2015 while they tour behind the overseas release of their second album, Ruckers Hill, and begin work on a follow-up.
If all of that’s not enough to prove that the overseas market is taking Australia very seriously, we’re also killing it behind-the-scenes. As Tone Deaf reported, Australian booking powerhouse Artist Voice was recently purchased by renowned US talent agency WME | IMG.
Shortly after, four Australian tour promoters and six venues placed in a global list of worldwide ticket sales for the first quarter of 2015. The list was compiled by US industry bible Pollstar from figures provided by promoters and venues.
