Passport: Australia

Maybe you're in a band that dreams of touring the world. Perhaps you're a never-say-die music fan who attends more shows a week than family dinners. But we're pretty sure you wondered what it would be like to see some (or play with) cool bands in different parts of the world. That's why beginning this week, altpress.com is launching a new series called PASSPORT, where we will compare and contrast the differences in how the punk scenes of various countries function.

Ryan J. Downey starts our series with a piece centering on Australia. And if you ever complained about driving two hours to see a band, imagine what it would be like to have to travel, say 13 hours for one show…

 

Australia has blessed us with AC/DC, Wolfmother, the Living End and plenty of other bands throughout the years, and in 2013, the AP generation is stronger and more dominant than ever in the place that spawned Russell Crowe and Soundwave. The Amity Affliction and Parkway Drive have hit No. 1 on the charts and racked up gold plaques in their native land, respectively, while earning international reputations alongside up-and-comers like Tonight Alive and Hands Like Houses.

Of course, a gold record in America means 500,000 in sales. In Australia, 35,000 copies will get you there. And yet, Parkway Drive are capable of playing 6,000-capacity venues in major cities—of which there are basically five in Australia, spread out by vast distances. Australian bands often have to eat humble pie getting paid $100 a night and fronting their own international flights, rental vans and hotels trying to make it in America. On the flipside however, moderately established American bands are treated like royalty visiting Oz with their flights covered, nice hotels, transportation and some extra cash for their trouble.

Perhaps nobody in the scene knows more about the differences between Australia, Europe and America than Jona Weinhofen. He's lived, worked and toured in bands on all three continents, first as guitarist in I Killed The Prom Queen in his native Australia, then as lead guitarist in Orange County's Bleeding Through, followed by a lengthy stint in the U.K.'s Bring Me The Horizon, which eventually led him right back to the land Down Under in the reactivated IKTPQ.

“A standard Australian tour only lasts about a week and usually covers five or six major cities,” Weinhofen says. “If you're a more successful band, you can tour up to a couple of weeks. But in the USA, you can be on tour for three months! I've done just about every type of tour you can do, from DIY tours in tiny venues to clubs, arenas and festival tours. It's awesome having this much international experience under my belt and definitely makes touring in Australia a lot easier.”

Graham Nixon has been part of the scene since the early '90s, when he befriended the hardcore band Toe To Toe, whose singer started a store specializing in punk and hardcore music and skateboards. Nixon ended up running the place. Resist has also branched into a record label and management company; he's represented Parkway Drive for many years. “When the band released Killing With A Smile [in 2005], getting people to pay attention outside of Australia took patience and perseverance,” Nixon says. “Fortunately enough, as we did things in Australia, it created buzz overseas. I made contact with a lot of labels and decided to take a trip to the U.S., thinking the face to face approach would benefit the band getting attention for a licensing deal. As I was about to leave for the airport, Brett Gurewitz from Epitaph sent me an email, so when I got to the U.S., that was literally my first meeting.”

The UNFD label has followed suit in the last two years, working as the Australian management and license owner for the Amity Affliction, Dream On Dreamer, Deez Nuts, Buried In Verona, I Killed The Prom Queen and more, while working with labels like Roadrunner, Rise, Metal Blade, and even Warner Bros. in other territories. Owner Jaddan Comerford also has Destroy All Lines, who as promoters, have brought Descendents, the Ghost Inside and Dropkick Murphys (among many more) to Australia. “The isolation and hard work involved in being a successful touring band helps make Australian music special. I really believe that,” he says.

Taper Jean Music's Andrew Perumalla, who briefly worked for Soundwave and has struck up a relationship with the Australian arm of the Artery Foundation, has brought Jonny Craig, Norma Jean, Demon Hunter and the Chariot over as a promoter. He puts out records and is also involved in managing Australian acts like Storm The Sky and For All Eternity.

“Thanks to Parkway Drive, the Amity Affliction and others, the industry is paying more attention to Australian bands,” Perumalla notes. “The biggest barrier toward breaking bands overseas is financial. The Australian market is so small that touring consistently without overplaying the markets is difficult, so the bands have short amounts of time to accumulate any money. Overseas managers and labels want the acts to spend months on end in America and Europe, which is understandable, but starting over in those new territories making virtually nothing per show and spending money to get there is tough.”

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And not every story turns out like Parkway Drive. Day Of Contempt were a hot commodity eight years ago when they befriended bands like Atreyu and Avenged Sevenfold. The Australians and New Zealanders (or “Kiwis”) relocated on the advice of Good Charlotte, who were interested in signing them to their record label, DC Flag. They slept on couches in Orange County, then lived in a practice space/warehouse while trying to make it, releasing an EP with Epitaph before shifting styles and changing their name to the Dear & Departed and signing to Science/Warner Bros., then Equal Vision, before eventually disbanding. But vocalist Dan Smith, or “Dan Under” as Davey Havok and Nick 13 like to call him, found fame (and 80,000 Twitter followers) another way: working as a tattoo artist at High Voltage Tattoo in Hollywood and appearing regularly on the TV show LA Ink.

But even with hard-luck stories like Day Of Contempt, after Parkway Drive blew up, newcomers like Thy Art Is Murder (signed to Nuclear Blast) and New Zealand's Saving Grace (on Christian label Facedown Records) are still willing to roll the dice with $100-a-night opening slots in North America. Deez Nuts, featuring a former member of IKTPQ, are successful enough in Australia to front all the costs to tour the U.S. as first of four for Hatebreed, as they did last year.

“Nowadays, the internet and social media are really helping to shine a light on new and younger Aussie bands,” says Weinhofen. “I've even had people from overseas tell me that they only like Australian bands now.”

I Killed The Prom Queen's first American tour was the result of a trade with Evergreen Terrace. They brought Evergreen Terrace to Australia, and in turn, Evergreen took them out in America, which led to Metal Blade seeing and liking the band. The American success of Prom Queen and Parkway certainly opened a lot of doors, which has turned a lot of eyes toward Oz.

Part of what makes touring so difficult for Australian bands in their native land are the distances. twelve-hour drives between major cities are common; bigger bands will fly, but many are trudging it out in vans. “Even 12 hours is nothing!” scoffs UNFD’s Comerford. “Bands often end tours in Adelaide and may have to drive 24 hours to Sydney or 30 hours to Brisbane. Perth is a 30-hour drive away from the closest city. When a band gets to a certain size, they will fly while their crew drives the gear.”

“In the early days, no bands flew anywhere because of the high costs,” says Resist’s Nixon. “Many local bands still do the drives, but flying is a lot more common than it was 10 years ago. For bigger bands it's affordable to fly to the capital cities.”

But a band can take a while to reach that point and “[t]hose long drives can be really dangerous,” warns Weinhofen. The Red Shore, who Weinhofen managed, were doing the overnight drive from Brisbane to Sydney in 2007 when their vehicle drifted off the highway, rolled several times and hit a tree. The band's merch guy/driver was killed as well as their vocalist, Damien Morris. (Bassist Jamie Hope took over on vocals and now sings for I Killed The Prom Queen).

In addition, most bands in Australia can't afford to own a van, as the types of vehicles they tour in are about $50,000. They will rent an eight-or-12-seater, sometimes through companies that specialize in music, like Stage And Screen or Show Group Travel. “Nightliner, sleeper-type busses don't really exist in Australia,” says Weinhofen. “I've heard there's one, and only Justin Bieber can afford it.”

“Sleeping in a van without a seatbelt is illegal, hence no bunks in the vans, either,” adds Perumalla. “It can be grueling, as there isn't much room to lay down or stretch out. The landscape in Australia is beautiful, but I'm sure bands get bored of it.”

It is possible to book B-market shows to break up the drives, but international acts rarely do those regional markets as it isn't financially feasible. “The major markets are still Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth,” says Perumalla. “The kids in rural towns are very supportive, though.” IKTPQ once did a 55-show tour by hitting multiple small towns.

“Sydney is a four million person city but it has relatively big markets like Newcastle, Central Coast and Wollongong all within two hours,” notes Comerford. “Bands like the Amity Affliction, Parkway Drive and Northlane will still do Sydney and Newcastle on a tour, but when a big overseas band wants to come through, they'll often just hit Sydney and rely on fans to travel.”

Everyone AP spoke with is increasingly optimistic about making it work where they live. “A touring band can live anywhere. Obviously it's easier to break a market that you live in, but once you're really touring, it doesn't matter where you start and finish,” says Comerford. “I do know, though, that being from Australia has its advantages. We live in an amazing country with amazing economics, so if you can make it work here, it can really fund the rest of the world.” ALT