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Ed Guglielmino, Director and Curator of UnConvention 2012, talks about the need for a change of mindset among the independent music community and the importance of creating autonomous cultures.
September’s BIGSOUND music conference opened up a lot of doors for a lot of people. Bands got exposure, ideas for revenue generation were shared and a lot of phone numbers and e-mail addresses were exchanged. These things were all part of the plan and overall BIGSOUND was labelled a success. In the eyes of many this is correct, but there has always been a few who see music conferences like BIGSOUND as simply a music industry handshake party, without a whole lot of advice for the majority of bands that a) play, and b) attend.
Like I mentioned previously, the main benefit for BIGSOUND is exposure for bands seeking better ways to distribute their music and earn a following, primarily with an overseas audience. Most bands who apply hope that this is something they get at the end of the day; hence, why they apply.
Many critics of BIGSOUND point at the lack of explicit catering to independent and DIY artists who are earning a following in their respective underground scenes. A lot of people claim (rightly) that there is a lot to be discovered and a lot worth sharing in these underground scenes and that BIGSOUND doesn’t include enough DIY focused music in their live showcase.
Are they correct? Well, yeah. Duh.
But the thing is, BIGSOUND isn’t engineered to cater to DIY and independent bands. The majority of DIY and independent bands don’t apply because they don’t see any reason to. There is nothing in it for them. A lot of the information at BIGSOUND is aimed at the artist who has gained enough momentum (yes, mostly in the ‘mainstream’) to either solidify their position in the Australian scope or to make a jump overseas and progress their career internationally. This doesn’t mean that independent slash underground slash DIY artists aren’t catered for in Brisbane or Australia.
UnConvention is a fast-growing conference that focuses on providing advice to DIY and underground musicians with panels and information that is relevant to them; something alternative to the norm.
Originally beginning in Manchester, UK in 2008, UnConvention formed in an attempt to create a platform for the lesser heard members of the music industry. UnConvention sought to bring together independent bands, labels, promoters and technologists to share ideas and discuss the future of music and how the independent portion of it will fit.
Edward Guglielmino is the current Director and Panel Curator of UnConvention Brisbane, 2012. After stepping into the role this year, Ed has gone about putting together a program that not only educates, but also attempts to unify the collective independent music thought into something resembling a recognisable culture – one revolving around the notion that you don’t need to be a rock star to be a success.
“There is this kind of bullshit story going on in the music industry, a fallacy that we need to wipe out, that the goal of a musician is to become a rock star,” says Ed. “Unless you are a massive rock star then you are a failure. Unless your band is turning over enough money to get paid, then what are you doing it for?”
Ed is himself a musician. He has also had experience putting together live shows around Brisbane for some years and is a genuine supporter of Brisbane music. He is also a pretty personable guy. Ed explained to me a few weeks back that UnConvention is the antithesis to music conferences like BIGSOUND, but not in an aggressive way.
“I’ve been to a lot of music conferences, all around the world,” explains Ed. “All the other ones are about how to make big bucks through business oriented methods. Which is fine, but we don’t need another one of those.”
“That’s what most conferences are geared towards. ‘How can we make our music into a product which we can sell on a mass scale?’ that’s what most conferences are about. That’s fine; there are a lot of people out there who really want that but there are a lot of people who just, for lack of a better term, play in a band for a hobby or just something to enrich their lives. You go to our conference if you are interested in making music for the pleasure of creating something rather than for the generation of economic capital. Not to say if you are making money you aren’t making good music, I don’t want to put out that view because I don’t believe it at all. Your primary goal isn’t to make money, your primary goal is to make music and if money comes, that’s great, if not it’s good too.”
One of the core mantras of the UnConvention brand is not, Do It Yourself, but rather, Do It Together. The notion that one needs to break into the mainstream consciousness to be a success is contested by UnConvention’s stance that if everyone comes together to form a positive community around independent music, then success and monetary gain may indeed come with it.
Most sub-cultures that have earned some degree of longevity have done so by establishing themselves as a culture that resonates and becomes self-sustaining thanks in part to the ability to unify and establish itself as an inclusive culture with integrity, not some form of recyclable zeitgeist. Many are sustainable because they are able to bring more members into the community, thus making cultural product an economically viable commodity to a degree.
Ed is of the opinion that something can grow as a viable alternative to the conventional music industry approach, but stresses that placing monetary gain or recognition over creating fulfilling and personally rewarding music defeats the purpose somewhat.
“It’s trying to cultivate autonomous cultures,” says Ed of UnConvention intention. “You can’t really create a culture which is independent and alternative which is based around creating money. If you are going to create money with culture then you have to kinda emulate other large things that are doing well. You need to look at them and think ‘how do we do something like that?’ We are kind of encouraging people just to do their own music and see what happens.”
“Nirvana is a classic example of some dude making his own music and then having a number one album around the world and was a multi-millionaire. It doesn’t mean that, just because you do your own thing you are never going to make cash; it doesn’t mean if you make cash then you aren’t any good. The first step should be, how can I contribute culturally rather than economically?”
Therein is a key point on the message UnConvention hopes to share to the Australian independent music collective. Using the Nirvana case-study as an example, there is precedent to show that there is potential to create success out of a sub-culture that centres on a confronting mindset, like the grunge ethos of the early nineties. Ed, and the panel behind UnConvention seem to want to get the point across that DIY isn’t a dead-end path in music, that there can be viable options for growth without the need to sacrifice any perceived integrity, to sell out.
Of course, this isn’t early nineties Seattle – the industry and the technology it uses is vastly different; hence the need for a conference that can address the technological aspect, as well as to encourage the construction of a community for like-minded musicians searching for a fulfilling way to create their own brand of music.
“We are trying to service two aspects,” explains Ed. “One is the DIY practitioner who has been doing it for a long time and the other would be someone just starting out who doesn’t know how to do it and maybe they are not sure if they want to go the DIY path or do the industry thing. They can attend this conference and then attend BIGSOUND and make a decision based on what they see.”
“The people speaking as well have a history with making music outside of the label system, doing their own thing. Some of them are quite successful at this point and are doing it in such a way where they can make a living from it but they aren’t doing it with labels and so forth.”
Undeniably, alternative is a broad term, loosely unifying anything outside of the scope of popular media. The current spectrum of sound underneath this umbrella term is diversifying increasingly, thus making it hard for UnConvention to service all aspects. There will be some people who think this kind of conference doesn’t cater to them, but it might not be the case. On the core level, UnConvention provides advice to musicians who have chosen or haven’t secured backing which in turn provides recording, publicity and booking opportunities through the dominant institutions (most ‘alternative’ artists). Underneath that however, is the desire to propagate a mindset that there are other ways to go about getting these things, by simply coming together with like-minded individuals and making music – this is something that can apply to anyone.
Like Sound Summit down south, UnConvention encourages the different and the eclectic to attend. While at this stage UnConvention can’t guarantee more exposure or any kind of boost in profile, the grass-roots nature of the whole thing is the most exciting part – especially if it can help create or foster a community that grows and in turn become self-sustaining. But, there is still a while to go yet.
“We are not at the stage where we are fostering it yet, but I’d like to get it there,” says Ed. “If I directed it next year I would think about opening it up a little bit more to inter-arts as well. I’m not even sure if I can do it because we have to answer to those in the UK, but it would be nice to get designers and artists and film-makers as well. Because really, this whole thing with us just doing music might be a little bit short sighted, because DIY branches out to different communities – it’s like a whole subculture.”
“I think the purpose has changed (since the beginning), one of the things I wanted to do as Director was to make sure it’s not like BIGSOUND. Not because I dislike BIGSOUND, I have no problem with BIGSOUND – I go to it and I enjoy it, I think it is really great for Brisbane. I wanted to keep it as an alternative to the mainstream.”
The idealist in me would love to see UnConvention grow into a widely respected conference for the independent music in Australia – perhaps this is achievable if the community grows like Ed hopes it will. The panels have something that most young musicians can enjoy, and the more technically adept muso’s will appreciate the recording workshops available. It just needs to weather the growing pains and the carousel-like argument that goes hand in hand with the sometimes excruciating topic of relevancy.
“I have faced a little bit of criticism for being too mainstream already,” says Ed. “I think alternative is a good word because it means opposite, different, but not better. For people who are just alternative they will be really happy, but for people who are elitist – they won’t like it, but that is okay. Elitism is bad for culture I think. I think people who really believe their own bullshit – that their music is better than pop music – is egotistical. I see a lot of that going on in underground cultures. It’s probably insecurity, because a way they can justify their existence is that they feel like they are so good no one likes them. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s how they feel comfortable, it’s what they do.”
“I don’t want UnConvention to be the enemy of anyone or anything; I think everyone should be welcome. I think it is just promoting a concept, and I think independent cultures or autonomous cultures are really important and helpful for everyone. What we are trying to do is make everyone feel welcome but to have a very strong aesthetic. We are all in this together and mutual respect across all cultures is important.”
This should be the event that ‘obscure’ bands and underground artists hope continues into the future – only if given time will something like this grow into something that can help them. The key point is that it can only grow with continued enthusiasm from the independent community; otherwise they have no grounds to complain about not being catered for. People are trying; others just need to take notice.
