Everyone knows that when playing in a band one of the biggest obstacles you face is the lack of money involved with playing music. But while their peers try their hands at crowdfunding and grants, a Melbourne band have taken a novel approach to raising their much needed funds.
Every weeknight, Australian’s battle it out for the chance to win big money on Channel 7’s latest quiz show, Million Dollar Minute, and local music fans who were watching closely last week may have noticed a familiar face, with Joe Hansen, guitarist of Melbourne punk band Clowns, trying his hand at the game.
“Some bands may sell mass marketed records pushed by a major record company by the truckload,” said Clowns. “Some may cash in on fashion trends by selling large quantities of sweat shop produced fashionable merchandise, some will sell their image and music out to be included in advertising campaigns for wealthy corporate businesses, some are even lucky enough to score themselves government funded art grants.”
“We however, take a different approach and instead send our smartest band member on television game shows.”
Back in May, Pierre Sutcliffe, who was a founding member of alt-rockers The Models as well as several punk-era bands, won a whopping $503,000 on the show.
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The game, hosted by Simon Reeves, is first played by three opposing contestants in a buzzer game played over four rounds. The contestants begin with 15 points each and battle over 3 rounds, a double points decider, and then finally the million dollar minute.
Introduced as “a young punk rock guitarist who just back from touring the country with his band Clowns”, Hansen quickly showed his contestants that he was a serious contender as he blitzed the first question of the night.
“Someone who excels at singing, dancing, and acting is known colloquially as what?” asked host Reeves, cut off by Hansen who correctly answers triple threat.
“Now we know you can play, but are you a dancer?,” Reeves asks Hansen, who openly admits he’s not making him a “double threat” according to Reeves.
Hansen took the early lead, but faced stiff competition from then on, managing to win $6,500 cash prizes along the way. He eventually managed the edge out his competitors, but it was the final round where Hansen really flexed his mental muscle.
Answering all 5 questions correctly, including who Seth Rogen portrayed in the Kanye West spoof music video, which Hansen admitted he “had no idea, he just picked the first one”, Hansen won for he and his bandmates a cool $20,000.
A stocked Hansen looks relieved as it’s finally revealed that he’s won the $20,000, but it doesn’t take him long to decide to take the money rather than risk it another night for the chance to win $50,000.
“20 grand is just the world to me right now,” says Hansen who revealed that the band would spend the money on touring. “We’d love to get overseas, go to Europe, America maybe.”
You can watch the show yourself here online.
