Choosing only eight acts, GRID offers local artists the opportunity to work with industry professionals, record original material and perform two live shows around town. Melbourne-based producer Ariel Blum is just one of the four mentors instrumental in the project’s formation.
“GRID is an artist development series,” says Blum. “Basically, it gives artists a chance to get a boost in their careers. It includes two fully paid shows for each of the artists and a weekend of one-on-one mentoring where each artist gets to speak for two hours individually with each of our four mentors. They also get a fully produced, mixed and mastered track that can help them activate the things they’ve learnt from the mentoring.
“It became pretty clear to me that a lot of time in the studio was spent trying to help artists get an idea as to what to do once their record was finished. I thought it’d be pretty cool to get some people together that could help these artists with those particular questions,” says Blum. “We ran it in a pretty small fashion for two years and there were some really good outcomes for some of the bands. It made it us decide that it was something we wanted to give to more artists.”
Each of the four GRID mentors specialise in various areas of the Australian Music Industry. Along with producers Russell Fawcus and Matt Voigt, they are offering up their wealth of knowledge and creating a personalised experience for each act.
“We’ve got Dave Morgan from music management company Lemon Tree Music, we’ve got Grant Gillies from Gaga Music, who deal in music publishing, and Danae Effern from Remedy PR who will help the artists with getting a bit of a look into how the publicity side of things work,” says Blum. “We are really focused on that tailored, individualised sector. Music is such a broad space, there are so many different types with different ideas and different plans that sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming for artists to understand what they should do. We are trying to make sure that all voices are heard.”
Applications are available to eight artists residing in the outer south-eastern part of Melbourne, Frankston and the Peninsula region. “We decided to publish our call out across the regions that are eligible to apply in multiple languages. There’s a poster campaign in English, Chinese, Hindi, Sudanese, Arabic and Dari. We’re hoping that we can really open up the space for all people to be involved, and include them as well,” says Blum.
“A big part of GRID is a real focus on building a community,” says Blum. “We’re looking for artists that support the idea of communal growth within the music scene. We’re focusing on people that have that kind of shared vision.”
Ultimately, Blum and his fellow mentors are dedicated to supplying their artists with the tools they’ll need in the fiercely competitive world of the independent musician.
“This is a space where an artist has a bit more direction when starting out in their DIY journey,” he says. “Ideally they’ll walk away with the skills to make their own record, film clip or live shows. We see it as a platform where we are here to build something with you and we are going to do our best to give you everything you need and see where it takes you.”
BY PHOEBE ROBERTSON
