On The Big Futures That Have Grown Out Of Past Little BIGSOUNDs

Aspiring and emerging music creatives can connect with each other and ask the big questions of music industry experts at Little BIGSOUND - a one-day event orchestrated by QMusic for those between 15 and 25 years old. Held at The Edge, it takes in networking sessions, panels, roundtables, labs and live showcases.

Says program manager Trina Massey, "Little BIGSOUND is a way just to meet your tribe; meet like-minded people and also pick up some new skills - like kinda cut through all the noise and all the ideas about what the music industry is and actually hear from the industry, and the youth from the industry, that are really active and doing stuff... The whole program itself is built to get people interacting with each other, get people talking to each other and get people gaining more skills." 

Before joining QMusic in January, Massey gained industry experience in varied promotion, booking and management roles. Yet she's likewise involved in the creative side as a DJ. "I DJed this black-tie event for The (British) Royal Ballet this morning," she reveals brightly. "It went to 2am." 

In 2017, Little BIGSOUND is relaunching in a new format. Traditionally centred around panels and showcases, it will now be more hands-on - organisers responding to feedback from past participants in addition to Queensland's leading music colleges. "I think the days of sitting in the room and just listening to people talk all day are well and truly gone," Massey suggests. "The best way to get people to interact is to actually have them interacting with their surrounds."

Little BIGSOUND boasts a wide-ranging program of activities. In the morning there will be a "mini-keynote" by Brisbane electro-soulster Airling (aka Hannah Shepherd), whose debut Hard To Sleep, Easy To Dream on Big Scary's label Pieater was a recent triple j feature album. "When I first met Hannah, it was her first gig, as an 18-year-old, at a venue," Massey recalls. "So I've actually watched that transformation. I think she has a lot of really important and interesting things to say." In another coup, The Kite String Tangle's Danny Harley - whose 2014 Vessel EP was nominated for the Breakthrough Artist ARIA - will share how he composes in an Innovation Lab. Little BIGSOUND attendees can test Ableton Live in workshops and play with a collection of Korg synths. "There's a little bit of something for everyone," Massey enthuses.

A music convention wouldn't be a music convention without live performances. Little BIGSOUND will offer lunchtime showcases from two young local artists - the rootsy folk of Asha Jefferies and rising alt-country star Ruby Gilbert. And the day will close with slots by producer-type TOBI, indie-rock quartet Twelve Past Midnight and a "secret headline act". Auspiciously, Airling is among the buzz acts who's previously gigged at Little BIGSOUND (with her former band Charlie Mayfair), Massey notes. "There's a great history of bands that have showcased at Little BIGSOUND that have moved on to create really great futures, which is exciting to be a part of."