When it comes to covering an event like Bigsound, it's kind of daunting. The amount of industry power, both local and international, is amplified tenfold over larger events such as South By Southwest where everything is spread out, and this is really one of the best things for Bigsound; it's so intimate. Everyone is fairly relaxed with panels and performances evenly spaced out and, being set within the confines of the Judith Wright Center and Fortitude Valley, easy to get to, it has all the business and quality of larger industry events, but nowhere near the stress. Kudos to Qmusic for pulling this off.

Day the first begins with the keynote and honestly, the only misstep of the conference; a session with British music master Alan McGee (pictured above, interviewed by Iain Sheddin - photo by Andrew Wade). It starts the festival off on a bum note, and it's a sentiment I find shared among the general population of the event; it shows that Mr McGee is both flippant and dismissive to the current state of the music industry. Even though he has retired from management and distribution for a number of years, telling a number of people who are intimately involved and extremely passionate about the industry that it's “in a sad state and a fucking terrible time to get into it” when maybe twenty seconds of research shows that locally it's the polar opposite just doesn't seem right. Disparaging remarks about the industry aside, he tells some mildly amusing anecdotes about the Britpop wars in the mid-nineties, touches on Primal Scream once or twice, and repeatedly mentions some bullshit about bad drugs. After the keynote, McGee disappears for the majority of the conference excepting his average DJ set at an after party the following evening. Considering that for both last year and this year it was likely to find Michael Chugg, Michael Gudinski, Michael Azerrad and other keynote speakers of notability sitting in or contributing otherwise; showing passion for the industry in some way other than McGee's “remember that irrelevant band I had success with in the nineties? Give me my paycheck and let me the fuck out of here” attitude that's rather disappointing.

Lachlan 'Magoo' Goold explains how the song is god, BigSound 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

The next panel I attend is The Song Is God, featuring Australian super producer Lachlan 'Magoo' Goold alongside Tom Larkin, John O'Donnell, Liam Judson, Gareth Parton and Natalie Judge. The panel focuses on how, as a producer, songs can be molded and the snap knowledge of a song being the mythical 'one', as well as anecdotal evidence from both Liam Judson (who produced the Cloud Control debut, Bliss Release) and Magoo (producer of many top Australian alternative records, including Regurgitator's seminal Tu-Plang). While the panel gets slightly sidetracked about the allegory of God in the title by a self-professed “militant atheist” (get over it and talk about music, please), it ends up being a nice insight of how a producer can change the direction and position of a song from album filler to number one in the charts.

Ruby Frost at the New Zealand showcase, BigSound Live 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

The sun starts to set, the streets become cooler and bearable after free beer provided by the New Zealand Music Commission (with backing music by Ruby Frost), and the night kicks off in earnest. The Laurels are the first band off the rank, and boy oh boy are they a kick arse way to start the night. Giving the sizable crowd flashbacks to listening to My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth as a child, and giving the performance a kick in the rear with a lively intensity that rivals any punk band, Luke O'Farrell wails away while jamming on his guitar. Meanwhile, rhythm guitarist Piers Cornelius thrashes around on the far end of the stage, while bassist Conor Hannan locks in with drummer Kate Wilson to provide a solid backbone to the chaos. Having supported The Black Angels earlier this year, the buzz hyping them as My Bloody Valentine crossed with The Jesus And Mary Chain is surprisingly not far off. One to watch.

The Laurels at The Aviary, BigSound Live 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

Laneous And The Family Yah are a truly unique Brisbane band. Depending who you talk to, they can be described as funk, soul, rap, hip hop, indie, dub, rock, electro; whatever they truly identify as, the result is totally. Fucking. Awesome. Having culled the members of the band back to four, where there used to be a cohort of back up singers and various instrumentalists, the songs are slightly harder and edgier, sounding like the early days of Regurgitator and throwing in some dub loops for good measure. Laneous himself has no problems switching between a soulful croon during set closer “Oh She”, or swapping to rapid-fire rap verses that would leave most of the dedicated rap 'crews' around town crying at their relative lack of talent. Laneous And The Family Yah produced music that really can only be defined as sexy and awesome. Sexyawesome.

Laneous And The Family Yah at The Zoo, BigSound Live 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

In my poorly organized scramble of what to see next, I glimpse a bit of two of the greatest females in Australian music at the moment; Adalita and recent QMA winner emma louise. Only being able to squeeze in for a song or two each before scarpering to the Black Bear Lodge for Ben Salter, I can't comment on the set contents, but rest assured the performances were in full swing, with both playing to packed houses. Adalita was finishing up past single “Hot Air” when I bailed to catch the sound of the pulsating bass of “Jungle” from emma louise coming from the windows of The Zoo. However, a hurried glimpse at my almost-dead phone meant I had to run/stumble up the stairs of the Black Bear Lodge for Ben Salter, who runs through a set drawing from fantastic solo LP debut The Cat and the Perceived Slights EP. I could dedicate an entire article to the genius of Salter; a fantastic voice and mind with the ability to weave vivid stories played across a variety of genres, coupled with his brilliant ability on guitar. While most of the crowd for tonight's event are packing out the more popular names, those in the know are treated to a brilliant set from one of Australia's most interesting and dynamic contemporary musicians.

Bleeding Knees Club at Black Bear Lodge, BigSound 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

At this point I have to leave waaaaaay to early to accommodate Brisbane's terrible late night public transport. The next day starts with a stumble; an attribute that is shared by many of the delegates arriving in the early hours. The panel From Little Things Big Things Grow shares some experiences about touring Australia, especially when compared to Europe, the UK and America, but I end up leaving early to go and catch the only daytime performance. The wonderful Bleeding Knees Club played the Black Bear Lodge for the Mess And Noise Lunchbox Session. Throughout a banging 45 minute set, they play the entirety of debut EP Virginity and some tracks from their forthcoming album. While 60's-inspired garage and surf rock bands are getting to be a dime a dozen, only a few are really worth listening to; Bleeding Knees Club are at the forefront of that wave (pun intended). “Bad Guys” and “Truth Or Dare” are set highlights, as they were when they played support to the Vines a week ago; I simply cannot get enough of this band. Great stuff.

Bleeding Knees Club at Black Bear Lodge, BigSound 2011
© Andrew Wade for The AU Review, 2011

Punk & Hardcore Scenes: The Outsiders has a nice examination on how little the respective genres are respresented, even at BigSound itself. With an overseas contingent from Joel Carriere (previous manager of Canadian group Alexisonfire) and Dave Shapiro (booking manager for A Day To Remember, Attack Attack! and The Devil Wears Prada, hailing from New York). Although the genres are definitely on the rise, a discussion about the marketability and willingness of those within the scene to get involved in events such as BigSound is the fulcrum of the discussion.

Day three starts off with what should have been the opening keynote; an hour of three journalists and the crowd grilling industry super heavyweight Michael Chugg. For the uninitiated, Chugg or “Chuggi” as he's known, is the head of Chugg Entertainment (and previously Frontier Touring) and is responsible for some of the highest profile tours of the last twenty years, along with some of the most inflammatory quotes in years past. However, it's evident within ten minutes that Chugg also has a massive passion and belief for the industry, and eloquently (albiet littered with expletitives) outlines his plans for an Australian Music Hall Of Fame (“if fucking cricket can have one, why not rock and roll?”), the requirement for the Australian music industry to stop the monopoly of ARIA and the need to form an independent governing body, as well as weighing in on the current status of festivals:
“Dance festivals are simply following the pattern set by a decline in both the UK and US; the talent pool is simply too fucking small. Lifestyle festivals (such as Bluesfest) will continue to grow, while Splendour needs to take a fucking look at what it wants to be before continuing. Tours may drop off, but festivals are staying.”
Chugg also put out in public forum what many had been talking in hushed tones about Alan McGee: “if you want to come out here and hang out with your fucking Pommy comedian friend, and not give, fuck off.”, to which there is a massive round of applause. Chugg also applauds the efforts of APRA and Sounds Australia, and telling the packed room that “Australia has become a true music community” and “has the best local talent pool I've ever seen”, and that “everybody in this room should be proud of what you do, because what you do is pretty fucking unbelievable”. Chugg finalizes the session by shouting “keep on kicking arse; let's take it to the fucking world!”. The final tally of expletitives as tallied by journalist Lars Brandle is “one bullshit, two arseholes and thirty eight fucks”. A brilliant panel, being both hilarious and funny at the same time.

Due to various other appointments, I miss the final panel and closing keynote speech by Scott Kannberg (of Spiral Stairs/Pavement fame), but my impression of BigSound this year is one that I rate very highly. Although there's talk of making it larger to become a worldwide event, it already is; the calibre of speakers, panels and attendees is extremely high, and the talent on show during the live section of the festival means that at any point over those three days, you get spoilt for choice. Bring on BigSound 2012!