Artistic director of The Push, Shane Wickens, agrees wholeheartedly. “Yeah,” he concurs, “I think that what’s really important is that these type of programs provide a free opportunity, and there are some live music fans that can’t attend shows at licensed venues or late night venues, Fed Square provides an accessible space and time, and it’s a free gig so everyone can come and get involved. So certainly it’s a really great opportunity we’ve got to present these shows and to keep them free as well.
“We see a lot of people coming into the industry and forging their careers in their chosen field, and that’s really important to us to see those generations of young people to go on to become the professionals who are running the industry that we all enjoy. Hopefully through Fed Square Live, it’s another opportunity for developing artists to perform but also for young people to come and be part of the event management part of that too, with staging the shows, so we’re trying to support both sides of the industry.”
The shows kick off in early December and run right through until late January, and feature an extremely broad range of young Aussie acts, from the silky and soulful sounds of Perth based indie pop/rock queen Felicity Groom to ‘audio visual DJ’ Sampology, who will light up Fed Square and it’s big screen with his visual and sonic mash up.
“It’s a summertime program,” Shane explains, “we’re going to be running the shows starting on December 8, through til January 27, and they’re generally on a Thursday evening. We’ve got three in a row as a grand finale on Australia Day weekend. It’s a really interesting opportunity with the space. We’re really trying to challenge the way people see live music. For those who might go The Hi-Fi or The Corner or The Palace, it’s an opportunity to experience and discover some new music. It’s a new space that’s free and accessible in the middle of the city.”
There are a number of elements that come into play when Wickens and his crew search for acts to feature. “We look at a number of things,” he states. “First and foremost, it’s acts that have been playlisted, so people have a good awareness of a song they have on the radio, at least. With all the supports, making sure they’re an Unearthed artist, somebody that’s making their way, in terms of their career development and coming up through the ranks. We also look at things like community feedback. We’ve got a group of young people at The Push who give us advice on music choices, and we look at Facebook and general community feedback on artists as well.”
