Ready For The ARIAs

So what is ARIA Week? It’s an initiative put on since 2012 in live music venues across Sydney, celebrating the diverse talent on offer in the Australian music industry, and more specifically, in the Sydney live music scene.

It’s more a showcase for up-and-comers than ARIA winners (bar Megan Washington, who’ll be headlining the first ARIA Week party), some of whom inevitably crop up at the next year’s ARIA Awards (Sheppard, for one!). You’d already be familiar with the names: Brave and Citizen Kay; and that’s just The Music and MGM’s party.

Jason Fielding, Founding Partner of The Sound Campaign, who put together this year’s ARIA Week, explains why the events are so important: “The most important relationship in the music industry is between artists and fans, and ARIA Week allows fans to connect with a wide range of artists across 20 amazing showcases in a range of Sydney venues.

“We hope to create new fans, inspire new artists to create great music and generally celebrate all the great things that are happening in the Australian music scene and across Sydney.”

There are benefits to spreading the showcases across almost two weeks, and the initiative has caught the eye of international players. “Having ARIA Week spread across so many days allows us to program a rich mix of music styles and venues and really showcase what’s going on in the broader music scene,” says Fielding. “It’s a unique model for major award shows and one that’s not gone unnoticed in the UK where the Brit Awards might take some of the ideas we’ve developed during ARIA Week and roll them out across their awards.

“The Week fits in seamlessly and amplifies a lot of what ARIA is trying to achieve. This year’s ARIA Week is the biggest yet and we are already developing plans for some exciting developments next year.”

"Hearing other people’s stories, music and how they’ve gotten where they are et cetera: it’s really beneficial to everyone, I reckon."

In its first year ARIA Week parties boasted The Preatures, The Rubens, Bertie Blackman and loads more; while in 2013, Andy Bull, SAFIA, DZ Deathrays and more took to stages across little ol’ Sydney town. This year it’s Deep Sea Arcade, Buried In Verona and Gang Of Youths strutting their stuff.

It’s an exciting opportunity for the bands involved. Fielding sums it up: “It basically opens up all sorts of opportunities for bands to play to thousands of fans across the week. The ARIA Awards only has so many slots for bands to perform, so ARIA Week opens that up and we get to extend the celebration of music across the Week.”

Maia Witika, aka Brave, is excited to be taking the stage; he feels “honoured to be invited”. “ARIA [Week] is especially appealing because it’s a celebration of music and there are loads of people looking for new homegrown things to fall in love with.” Brave says he hopes to come out of the gigs with “good vibes and a chance to connect with new people – that’s what shows are all about right?”

Kojo Ansah, also known as Citizen Kay, says he loves “music talk”. “Hearing other people’s stories, music and how they’ve gotten where they are et cetera: it’s really beneficial to everyone, I reckon.” The opportunity to “share his music with other artists, industry folk and just about everyone else” was enough to get him on board, and he’s hoping to come away with “some new appreciators of my tunes and also [to] meet some new people to connect and talk with”.

ARIA Week this year involves 20 events, including masterclasses, conferences and BBQs, presented by Destination NSW and ARIA. Speaking of masterclasses, on 25 Nov, Paul McGuinness, manager of U2 for 30 years, will be doing a Q&A with John Watson, the manager of Gotye, Cold Chisel and more; and the Producer BBQ on 28 Nov celebrates this year’s Producer & Engineer award winners and noms. ARIA Week also takes in Electronic Music Conference in Kings Cross, 2 – 4 Dec.