Bad Neighbour Stress The Importance Of Merch Sales For Supporting Local Artists
“It’s literally the only way to sustain bands like ourselves and other emerging artists.”
Bad Neighbour. (Supplied.)
Brisbane’s pop-punk revellers Bad Neighbour are gearing up for an Australian tour, taking their latest project through the East Coast. As they gear up to hit the road in October and November, they acknowledge that, as is the case for many up-and-coming Aussie musicians, cardboard boxes of carefully curated merchandise are their best bet for financial support.
Taking to Instagram, the four-piece posted about the arrival of new stock, designed by Brisbane creative Will Johnston.
“This is literally the best way to directly support us if you so choose to,” they said, posing with neatly stacked shelves of gear ready to go.
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
The band, comprised of members Zoe Middleton, Cooper Riley, Liam Sumner, and Jack Parkes, are celebrating their first album, Millions. To commemorate the run, the band has produced a series of punk tees and a “dad cap” for merchandise, along with a small run of limited edition coloured vinyl.
“All we wanted to do since we were kids was make music, and to hold this goddamn thing on our hands feels surreal,” the band say of their baby, pressed in blue and purple wax as a physical memento of nearly five years as a band.
The band admitted to Instagram, “It’s blowing our little minds” how many sales have been made on merch so far, with members admitting they were going to provide personalised notes with each and every order if they could.
Speaking to The Music about the importance of merch sales, Bad Neighbour stressed, “It’s literally the only way to sustain bands like ourselves and other emerging artists.
“Touring can be pretty financially crippling, and often merchandise sales is the only way you can keep doing your thing and making art and getting to your shows.”
Merchandise is a vital lifeline for musicians, helping them cover costs and continue creating the music fans love. According to Gyrostream’s third annual GYROsurvey, money was found to be the biggest issue among artists, with 38.7% of the sample citing this as a hardship.
For many artists, such as Bad Neighbour, music’s vinyl resurgence has acted as a sort of safety net, allowing fans to keep a physical, meaningful piece of the band’s discography. Meanwhile, artists are able to stretch their tour budgets a bit further.
“I think the main source of income for us is probably the merch that we sell at gigs,” English Teacher lead singer Lily Fontaine told The Guardian earlier this year.
“Whatever you get paid for shows gets spent on hiring equipment or travel or accommodation. So it’s really important being able to sell something.”
In conjunction with their album release, Bad Neighbour will be touring the new project across the East Coast, with stops in Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, and a special hometown show in Brisbane. Alongside special guest Darcy Baker, they promise to make your ticket purchase worthwhile.
Asking Bad Neighbour about their debut album, the group would say, “It’s about love and life and loss and death and everything in between - and it’s all yours now.”
To shop Bad Neighbour’s merch and vinyl or to buy tickets to the Millions tour, links can be found here.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
More From Our Network
