Melbourne Muso Moving To Canada To Escape Discrimination

Melbourne-based musician Larissa Tandy has announced she's moving to Canada after a long wait for permanent residence – because she's tired of the discrimination she says she faces in her home country.

Having played in a number of cult Melbourne bands since the late '90s, while also writing music for film and television, before focusing on her band Strine Singers (renowned hardworkers of the Melbourne circuit) and a solo career, Tandy has spent stints based in Vancouver and Melbourne in past years. This week, however, she told fans that the Canadian Government had reduced her last year of waiting for permanent residence to just a matter of days.

Admitting that she was “devastated” to be leaving her family and friends behind, she wrote, “I guess some would say that I'm choosing to leave, and yeah, there's a choice involved here, but what is that choice exactly? I can have my family with me and live with discrimination, or leave my family and live with equality. It's pretty shit that I even have to weigh that up.”

Speaking to theMusic.com.au Tandy, who married her girlfriend a couple of years ago in Canada, said that it wasn't only the fact that Australia doesn't recognise their union, but also that she – as a musician – stands a better chance at a career.

“The odds are better [for a Canadian artist],” she said. “Funding opportunities are greater. The Canada council funded 6,000 artists last year, compared to about 1,700 funded by the Australia Council. That's three, nearly four times as many, in a population about one-and-a-half times Australia. Commercial radio is more accessible for independent artists, and there's a culture of 'discovery' on commercial radio that doesn't exist here.

“I look at the Australian music industry and see a huge divide between where I am now and where I'd need to be in order to make a living. My current position in the Canadian music industry is the same, but there are several bridges between both sides of that huge divide, and life as a professional musician seems like it's actually possible.”

All this is despite the fact that, in her opinion, Melbourne has a superior music scene.

“Not being in Melbourne will suck,” she told theMusic. “The more time I spend in North America, the more I realise how big the music culture of Melbourne is. So few cities have so many venues, so many bands, and dedicated, music focused, independent media.

“Vancouver has only four clubs you can play, and loses most of its working musicians to Toronto or Montreal, but it also has a strong film industry, and there's a lot more work for musicians and producers in that arena. We're totally outsiders in Canada at this stage and even we still managed to licence five songs in Canadian films last year.”

But Tandy feels that the overarching culture of discrimination in Australia currently taints any positives that the scene boasts.

“I think we tend to tolerate discrimination here," she told theMusic. "We aren't outraged by it. I was shocked at how many of the informed, intelligent people I surround myself with in Melbourne were completely unaware of whether the Australian government recognised our Canadian marriage, and what circumstances that created for us. Worse still, when I explained our position there was eye rolling, but no anger at the situation.”

She added, “And maybe that's what I feel the most, how futile 'supporting' something can be. We talk about what we support, but what are we really doing about anything? For the record, my marriage isn't recognised here, and in order for my Canadian spouse to live here, we had to go through the arduous process of documenting our relationship and having to prove it's legitimacy to Australian immigration. If we were straight, a wedding certificate would have sufficed.”

In her statement to fans, she compared her living in Australia to an 'unhealthy relationship'.

“I don't really want to leave Australia at all, but it hurts too much to stay. It hurts me when you tolerate and endorse a government that actively seeks to limit my rights, and believes that I deserve less than everyone else because of the way I was born.

“It hurts me when you aren't even aware of the level of discrimination I am subjected to here in Australia. It hurts when I explain it to you and you aren't outraged. It hurts when you tolerate the intolerance of others. It especially hurts when you acknowledge it but accept it.”

She continued, “Life is short, and for a long time, I was hopeful that time would have its way with Australia, and things would change. Not only has this not happened, but things seem to have gone backwards. I feel a responsibility to stay here and fight for change, but I also have a responsibility to myself to live my life fully, with joy and self respect, and sticking around here being treated like a second class citizen doesn't really fit with that. Frankly, if I was in a relationship with Australia, my friends would be telling me to dump the motherlover already, and I can see now that my relationship with Australia is an unhealthy one. It's time to make the break.”

With a live solo Thursday-night residency at Some Velvet Morning throughout January, Tandy is also working on a new album by the Strine Singers to be released in April. The band also have a national tour to complete, but Tandy has to be back in Canada before May. The band comprise of two sets of siblings and will likely tour Cananda before the end of the year.

“It's going to be hard, but being a band of siblings should work in our favour, and keep us close in spite of the challenges,” she told theMusic.