AZZKAT will record a debut 6 track, EP.
After the elation of securing a JB Seed grant we started with an acoustic recording which didn’t do justice to our songs, we were left having doubts about the worthiness of our music and we considered scrapping the project.

Finally we decided to proceed with a full band recording, which demonstrated our songs true potential and left us satisfied with what was produced from the amount of funding.

From this we secured a few gigs and have more booked in the near future after receiving positive feedback. As soon as financially viable we will have the CD professionally mastered and marketed and hope to obtain a manager/agent to assist with the administration.

Finally, we would like to thank you all for helping us to grow and take a step closer to our dream.

JAM IN THE DESERT - is a program to provide equipment & PA training to musicians from the Barkly region.
The money has been great – it’s really helped out. The gear looks better and we did a major trip recently to the remote communities of Ali Curung Epenarra, Boorooloola and Tennant Creek where we were able to experience recording opportunities, major assistance with festivals and professional development.

With improvements to our equipment, in particular the trailer and the cases for instruments, musicians have been able to access these communities without as much damage to the equipment from abrasion and dust. The drum cases and a carry bag purchased for stands etc has been a major improvement to our situation. This is great for the weekly gigs but also for the long distances to Borooloola and Epenarra.

“It was fantastic to have cases for the equipment wish we’d bought them years ago”.
Barkly regional arts has since been successful in initiating an SRA agreement between Barkly aboriginal musicians and several stakeholders to provide funds for the establishment of a music centre, our activity in 2005 and presence in communities assisted this to happen, the foundation’s support at a crucial time assisted this process. www.barklyarts.com.au

DAN SULTAN POST PRODUCTION AND MARKETING - Dan Sultan to mix and master debut album
The project involved the post-production of the recording of Daniel Sultan’s first CD – Homemade Biscuits.

The funding was spent on some post-production dubs, remixing of three songs, mastering of the entire album by David Briggs and artwork and reproducing 500 CD’s through Mad Records in Sydney.

The JB Seed Fund’s assistance is the icing on the cake. It enabled us to dub/mix our changes, secure professional artwork and be mastered by a master, David Briggs, particularly at such low cost. David’s contribution is reflective of his belief in the integrity of the music and his support of Australian compositions.

“I write to express my gratitude of the JB Seed funds’ support of finishing my recording, I’m glad that they much believe my music has potential as it is a rather lonely road. In some ways I knew it was relevant and attractive from the audience response, however I can now measure it on different scales, that include development of new audiences and the sales of my first CD”, Dan Sultan.

AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL MUSIC MARKET – Narbarlek and Yilila to attend AIMM.

YILILA
Many contacts were made with other artist present at the music market. Most of the artists were already known to us. These contacts with other musicians will most likely be of greatest value to us in the future.

Contacts were made with delegates from arts/education organisation from New Zealand, Mexico, Indonesia and Australia. These contacts were very positive but had limited ways in which to assist or book us for anything in the future. The strongest opportunity that arose for Yilila was from the Mexican Music Market, however they have been very difficult to contact. But there is still, with a lot of funding an opportunity to perform in 2006 at their music market

NABARLEK
Nabarlek achieved greater exposure due to their showcase performance which was described by a number of delegates as faultless. The profile of the band was raised and we have been contacted by a number of Australian delegates about possible future performances. We have been contacted by three venues that weren’t at AIMM but have spoken to delegates who have spoken highly of the bands’ performance and have followed up by calling Skinnyfish Music to enquire about the possibility of the band performing.

UPGRADE DRUM KIT - Aden Brim to purchase drum kit components.
To the JB Seed Corporation I would like to thank you for the drum kit upgrade money that I received. Now I’ve got the drum kit I always wanted. I bought a set of Roto Toms, a splash and two crashes. Now that my kit is upgraded it’s hard to get me off it. I hope to get into music a bit more next year because school is my main focus for the next 4 weeks as it’s my last year. The bands I’m in are still rocking up here. I had a gig about two weeks ago and I took my kit in. It was a deadly jam. That was the Kuranda Spring fair and my next jam is with Zenith next weekend at the Yungabura Festival. Well thanks again to all and hopefully one day I’ll have the chance to meet or even jam with Johnny himself.

RED EYES DEBUT ALBUM - Dub/Reggae band Red Eyes to record debut album ‘Rude World’
We feel that we have achieved everything that we wanted from the project, although the launch of the album will really let us know the extent of our success. The only goal we really had was to release the best album we could and we feel we are well on the way to this. The release of the single was extremely positive with some amazing reviews of the CD and gigs alike, and much airplay on community radio and Triple J has broadened our demographic and increased awareness of the band and it’s potential. We have learnt that the process of recording takes a lot more time than expected yet we have not rushed this process in the slightest and feel that this approach has been right.

Things that have gone wrong that we did not plan for include a wasted day of recording (complete with some amazing takes) due to equipment buzzing, our studio computer CD ROM-drive’s inability to accept CD’s and a stolen laptop and smashed Tarago window on the single release tour.

Aside from this we are really excited about the release of our album and we are looking forward to the reaction of the public.

LABJACD DEBUT ALBUM - Latin/Hip Hop band Labjacd to record debut album
The JB Seed has been a very accessible source of funding and was invaluable in the project we undertook. Compared to the complexities of applying for other grants, the JB Seed was quite easy to manage and it has been great to be involved with an organisation of such stature.

A lot of care went into every step of this project, and all of us learnt something about hat to consider when making a record, from recording techniques, to the issue of where/how to master, how to get your product out there and also how to approach a recording when you are predominantly a live ensemble.

The JB Seed gave us a fantastic opportunity to record our album in a professional environment with decent equipment. We are a large 9-piece band whose sound is based on our live performance, and that energy is not easy to capture in a small studio. The JB Seed enabled us to get into a big studio with several isolated recording booths, meaning that much more of the recording was done live, but with no compromise to production, or recording quality. Thanks John Butler!

AURORA JANE EAST COAST TOUR - Folk/Funk/Blues band Aurora Jane to tour East Coast.
The Winter East coast tour was a great success on a number of levels. Achieving a second East Coast tour only a matter of months following the album launch tour was a fantastic way to solidify and broaden existing audiences. The opportunity to tour in a more relaxed (and therefore focused) way to the previous tour, paves the way for better sustainability and creativity on the road. The funding made this possible, as this particular tour would not have been financially viable without the support.

LOU BRADLEY – EP promo tour - Country singer/songwriter Lou Bradley to tour QLD to NT.
As you can imagine we had a brilliant time, it was a huge adventure….we met and made friends with as many Indigenous folk as we could. It was unreal to be able to go to a town where thre are more black fellas that whities. At the same time it was very sad to see that there are still such strict racist lawas in NT, especially Tennant Creek. The primary schools there are still segregated and the black fellas aren’t allowed to go to places after a certain time at night. We stayed with the Mutidjulu community for 3 days. Muti are custodians of Uluru and are based less than a kilometre from the rock. We played for them on both nights. I could tell you every little detils about the yellow waters at Kakadu, the sickeness we all got in Alice, the fnniest gig where the whole town came to see at Muttaburra, the ‘Blue Healer pub’ in the middle of nowhere that reminded me of being in the Hotel California song….but I won’t keep going because I will never stop.
What I will add is a big thank you for keeping this tour idea of mine alive and therefore making it happen. An experience that has broadened my artistic being forever and has gained me enough credibility to continue with my career. ?

KOOII: BEADS ON A STRING TOUR - 6 piece urban collective, Kooii to launch debut album on tour through QLD, NSW & VIC.
At all our shows in Sydney and Melbourne we impressed a lot of people who were new to our sounds. In Melbourne we played four shows at the Esplanade Hotel, Bar Open (on two nights) and at Ruby’s Lounge.

We encountered the challenge of self-managing a tour and realised the energy this requires. We encountered difficulties with car hire and learnt that you must check bookings. It was successful in that we were able to get the group there. Organisation of the tour was done with the help of many and this required good communication.

TOMMEE & NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR - Tommee and the Neighborhood to tour NSW, QLD, NT & WA.
At the start of August 2005 Tommee And The Neighbourhood had yet to headline a major tour and were largely unknown outside Bondi, Manly and parts of regional Victoria and NSW. Since the tour they have played at several festivals including performing at the Amphitheatre on New Year’s Eve in front of 20 – 25,000 at the Woodford Folk Festival as part of another successful three week tour. They are looking forward to releasing another album as well as playing at the prestigious WOMADelaide Festival in March. They have sold another 350 – 400 copies of No Added Sugar and are a settled touring band with processes in place to continue to move to the next level and expand their horizons. The future is looking good but there is still a lot of work and a long way to go ....

LANCH OF ZUDIO BAND MANAGER - Zudio to market their online band manager.
The team at Zudio Music, who work on the Electronic Band Manager, would like to thank the JB Seed or their support during the launch of the Band Manager. Apart from assistance provided through funding, the goodwill associated with The JB Seed program certainly helped others to see merit in the project which helped accelerate the promotional process and sparked additional interest.

Working with a small team means that everybody has to do everything all the time and many late nights were required to achieve deadlines, some tasks even took the entire night! So, any external encouragement made these nights easier to bear, and the work easier to do. So, THANKS!

TOM VINCENT TRIO - Tasmanian Jazz trio The Tom Vincent Trio to attend AIMM.
One of the main things that we have achieved from this week at AIMM is the start of intelligently directed, active networking and promotion of the Tom Vincent Trio on a national and international scale. Many people told us that it might take a couple of years before tangible outcomes eventuate from the contacts we made in July. Delegates at AIMM gave us names, phone numbers and contact details of other music festival directors and producers they recommended we get in touch with. I feel that over time our continual efforts will establish regular work for the TVT.

AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL MUSIC MARKET – Drum Drum to attend AIMM.
The positives from this conference were the ability to present Drum Drum as a live act to the delegates and to also meet and discuss possible opportunities with presenters in person. Being from Darwin and relatively isolated from the national scene it also allowed us to be presented to Australian presenters as well. In fact it was the Australian presenters who we gained the most interest from and we are currently following up for potential opportunities.

KURANDA REGGAE FESTIVAL – Marketing for Reggae festival held in Cairns.
Successful outcomes of the project: Ticket sales – a little less than expected however better than the other events in Festival Cairns who usually do better than us. People from all over the world attended the event.
What I learnt: Well, for something like this to exist we need a lot more support, as the costs keep going up and Reggae is not really a self sustainable industry yet! The other big thing I learnt (again) was to deal with professionals wherever possible, and also the power of the right advertising is immense, but money and no brain is much worse than a brain and no money. And....don’t compromise ideals.

SMALL BUSINESS - Provocative visual artist, Deborah Kelly to create pro-choice artwork to be displayed on billboard in Sydney.
I first received The JB Seed grant in 2005, to mount a billboard about coming threats to womens’ reproductive choices promised by conservative forces in the then coalition federal government. When I applied for the money, I asked for the longest possible lead time so that I could mount the billboard in response to Tony Abbot’s forthcoming moves to restrict contraception and abortion access in Australia.

However, women from across the political spectrum worked together to derail Abbott’s ambitions, which was a great boon for women. But- it rendered my billboard proposal absolutely obsolete.
So I suggested a number of different options to the JB Seed for billboards addressing various important issues. The fund chose the work I made connecting nuclear power with the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and ironically satirising the coalition’s recent ‘discovery’ of global warming.

And then I began the startlingly difficult task of buying billboard space.
For over 15 months I contacted every billboard company operating in Sydney and a number of local councils in an attempt to secure either a billboard, or space to park a demountable version. I had many, many fruitless conversations; but more often the companies would simply stop returning my calls, emails, letters and faxes once they saw the artwork.

I asked for help or suggestions about how to proceed from the JB Seed, and representatives of all the major political parties not in government, but could not obtain assistance. The one billboard company who finally gave me a reason (after many calls they didn’t return) for refusal of my billboard said that other, larger clients would not like its message. They would not say whom. Thus it became clear that under the overt repression of government is another level of power, controlling what information can be widely distributed. The NSW Greens finally responded to my requests in the lead up to the 2007 election, as the issue was current and related to their position. They asked their media buyers to find me a billboard, and I believe exerted some pressure on the work’s behalf when it proved almost as difficult for them as it had been for me.

The billboard was finally accepted for placement by Cyclone Advertising, who offered me a vertical billboard in Abercrombie St Chippendale: not an ideal position, but a very busy street and just in time for the election.
The company charged me $2,970 for the print and placement, which meant I had to collapse all the other budget items into that cost, but I was so very relieved at last to have something to show for all the labour. I was interviewed by radio FBI and SBS, and by the Sydney Morning Herald, and stories and images appeared in various community and online vehicles.
I talked about The JB Seed in every media contact.
The SBS interview is downloadable from here

Finally, thank you very much for this opportunity, both to simply participate in the important conversations of my culture and society, but also, to learn the painful lessons about power and how it works.

CHOICE STORIES - Collection of Pro Choice stories to be printed and sold at live story performances.
The street zine that is Choice Stories was developed over 9 months. Originally an idea by Tanya Mammone sitting with my girlfriends one Sunday afternoon a few weeks after the 2004 Federal election, the Coalition holding control of the Senate and the ALP in Victoria putting Steven Fielding, Families First’s, religious senator into Canberra. Tony Abbott our Federal Health minister, had been on a crusade during the year against abortion, IVF and would love to see women in a stay-at-home old fashioned motherhood role, and now his arrogance would be bigger than ever. I knew I wanted to do something a bit different than what I had in previous reproductive campaigns. The group decided on the format of reflective pieces as we thought it best reflected feminism.
The issue of abortion in Australia is a tough one, with emotive late term language used, women are murders, adulators, lazy non-mothers. Women have terminations and have a sense of grief or hurt or loss, might be about the child, might be that the conservative climate and religious messages within our society that bring shame to them. Pro choice advocates do not always give women a space to express such real emotions, as a show of weakness in such a tough debate is hard. With the late term or third trimester debate on the table, humour seems inappropriate, but is it inappropriate to laugh with a sister and support one another? Choice Stories is a space where women can go for it and say it as they feel it. And a whole range of as stories resulted.
A call out to our networks for feminist literature exceeded our expectations and reinforced to us that taking the time to design a flier and email profusely pays off! What was an eight page zine ended up a 42 page zine, purely on the amount and diversity of the stories received. Problems arose in the timeline and the budget we had set for ourselves due to the size of the project. As it grew we added more material.. It was lucky that we had already booked a venue as it forced the collective as it finally forced the project to cut off submissions a month before show time.

Choice Stories was performed on August 11, 2005 @ 303 High Street in Northcote.
We raised $115 on the door in gold coin donations to go back into the Pro Choice campaigns in Melbourne. An audience of approximately 50- 60 attended and there was standing room only! Audience members ranged from familiar faces at all the feminist actions- to strangers, and it was great to see approximately half female-male crowd. All performers were feminist activists and having a crowd made the night really exciting for the crew.

A BLESSING IN DISGUISE - New play ‘A Blessing in Disguise’ to be performed in Shepparton VIC.
Acquittal still to come…..

HILLS PEACE FESTIVAL - Advertising for The August Peace Festival to be held in WA.
The August Peace Festival 2005 was held over the weekend of August 6th and 7th, 2005 at Darlington Hall, Owen Road, Darlington WA. Some 400 members of the public, young and old, from all across metropolitan Perth, and from all different ethnicities and backgrounds, as well as more than 150 artists and social advocacy proponents attended.

Saturday night’s opening event was well attended, with an audience of more than 90 people at Darlington Hall, who listed to speakers including Nyoongar elder Lyn Headland, poet Afeif Ismail, and artist and former Port Hedland detainee Adam Janali speak with humour and pathos of their experiences of surviving trauma.

Sunday’s event was celebratory with a diverse programme of artistic endeavour, ranging from the Indian dances of the Temple of Fine Arts, to long-time professional entertainer Bernard Carney raising a laugh and a tar from the audience which included 50 refugees brought by bus from the Edmund Rice Centre who were admitted free.

The art exhibition of refugee art was very well attended, with people taking the trouble to read the lengthy descriptions of the artwork displayed.

More than 60 exit surveys conducted by the Hills Peace Festival Association at Sunday’s event overwhelmingly confirmed that the public felt the Festival was beneficial for the community and reflected our values “respect, reach out, reconcile”.

TOILET DOORS PROJECT- 6 emerging artists to create posters to be displayed in public toilets throughout Greater Union Cinemas and Qantas terminals around the country.
To support the project’s ‘Social Activism through the Arts’ components, which focused on replacing advertising with poetry, in our selected project spaces – the back of toilet doors. We selected poems that tried to positively transform the public space with challenging and thoughtful ideas, by young Australian poets. The two poems ‘Subtle Plague’ by Keri Glastonbury and ‘Occupation’ by Lisa Gorton had strong political and socially pertinent themes. The artists who illustrated these poems were also conscious of the ‘social activist’ component to the poems, and illustrated accordingly. The money was used to pay these new and emerging artists and poets professional rates, and so foster their development and the vitality of Australian arts and culture into the future.

The project was a great success. We met all our creative goals and had more public interest and positive feedback than planned. The support from The Letter Corporation (TLC) meant an audience for poetry that is more than any other poetry project ever created in Australia. The benefit for the poets, the poetic form, The Red Room Company and our partners is huge.

MIHIRANGI – Contemporary Maori singer/songwriter Mihirangi to be tutored by Mal Webb.
Learning from Mal Webb was an awesome experience, besides being a lot of fun, he soooo knows his stuff!! He not only showed me different styles and techniques of beat boxing and vocal percussion and looping but we also got to perform together. He was able to watch what I was doing and we spent a few lessons on improving aspects of my show. Some things I learnt were application of style and rhythm, sounds from different eras and different beat boxers and vocal percussionists, creating soundscapes with visualizations, exercises and breathing... and heaps more (copy of cd coming) I definitely got more than I bargained for. I feel I have enough material from Mal to study for the next six to eight months!
I hoped to increase my loop pedal and beat boxing abilities, to learn new techniques, rhythms and sounds. To also better my loop pedal tonal sound and create my own style. We achieved all this and a lot more! As a result my show has improved immensely, this has been seen by the reaction of the crowds whilst on tour and has also increased bookings. I will be recording my new album in December 2005 and this will be based on my live solo shows with loops and vocal percussion, etc. My lessons with Mal will also help to improve the arrangements and techniques that I will be using on the album.
I just wanna say... THANK YOU so much for the funding and support it has not only improved my skills but has given me confidence and has also opened up other areas for me that I never thought of.

SUBURBAN SISTA SOUNDZ TOUR - 15 young ‘at risk’ women interested in Urban music to train and then tour with local well known hip hop artists.
The Suburban Sista Soundz Tour rang from 18 September – 30 November 2005 in 14 venues. There were 15 participants recruited to the training component immediately prior to the tour, however, for various reasons two did not complete it. The tour involved all 13 young female graduates of the Suburban Sista Soundz program.

There were two performances prior to the official tour dates, one at the 2005 Sydney Writers Festival; Hip Hop Projections event at Bangarra Theatre, and the other at the 205 Community Relations Commission NSW Symposium, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Parramatta. The Suburban Sista Soundz supported well known Australian hip hop group he Herd, on their regional NSW leg of the tour, from 27 – 30 October. They were accompanied by MC Trey and DJ Nick Toth, and the Community Cultural Development Program Manager of ICE. One of the participants of the program was also employed as an assistant on the tour.

RETURN TO RHYTHM – 2 week intensive of rhythm & percussion workshops for Indigenous young people in Tennant Creek region
Over 50 young people performed on stage, to an audience of approximately 600 both indigenous and non-indigenous people from the Barkly Region as well as numerous tourists to the area, on the evening of 11th November 2005.

This workshop/performance has not only enabled young people to develop some percussion skills, it has also created an interest in further learning of percussion instruments. The nurturing of confidence in those youth lacking self esteem was also evident during the workshop process and the effects of community pride in the local youth at the performance are immeasurable.

INSPIRATION – Violin lessons for Lachlan McCarthy.
For Lachlan to have received this grant was an honour and privilege. The grant was very personal for him. He was overwhelmed with the fact that someone, namely John Butler the man he is so “INSPIRED” by could recognise that although only still in his blossoming years, had a talent that was rewarded with granting him funds.

My grant was allocated for violin tuition, once a week. I was able to have a small issue published about me in the local paper for receiving the grant. This was a real buzz for me!

This was an amazing experience for me on a very personal basis. I felt very overwhelmed that John Butler could recognise my developing ability. He has inspired me to want to follow my dreams. I know anything is possible as long as I work hard and believe in myself.

LAO YOUTH DEVELOOPMENT THROUGH MUSIC – Tuition of traditional Lao instruments, songwriting and performance skills for local Lao youth community.
Project did not proceed.

HIP HOP HUB – Music production Studio to be set up in Nimbin Youth Club for local youth to utilize.
The JB Seed funding was used to purchase equipment to allow the development and production of hip hop tracks. A high capacity laptop was purchased to enable beat production and recording with a set of headphones. A portable stereo was purchased that allows young people to practice their music and also to listen back on effective speakers.
This equipment means that programs and sessions can continue to be run at the Nimbin Youth Club that allow young people to develop and build upon their hip hop skills. An example of a program run that has been made possible by the JB Seed Funding was the development of a hip hop song and film clip. Young participants wrote and recorded rhymes, choreographed dances and put together a film clip with the help of facilitators from the Creative Peoples Collective and local professional film production business Gaia Films. A current project made possible through the JB Seed is working with Nimbin youth to develop a multi-media hip hop based theatre production. For this project music and rhymes and dialogue will be recorded with mime, dance and physical theatre complementing this on stage. Through this piece young people are exploring the impacts of drug and alcohol use on relationships.

The ongoing use of these facilities acquired through the JB Seed demonstrate the long term benefits of this funding to the Nimbin youth community, illustrating how it has created opportunities that are a catalyst for continued creative and skills development for the youth community.

BAXTER WORKSHOP PRPOJECT – Musical workshops to be held inside Baxter Detention Centre with detainees.
From January – March 2006 I held six music sessions with detainees from Baxter Detention Centre, near Port Augusta in South Australia. The weekly sessions took place within the centre, in a classroom in the educational wing. Each session lasted several hours, and was open to any detainees within the centre. The sessions were organised with the centre’s Educational Officer and he was responsible for notifying the detainees about the sessions. Following the centre’s guidelines, guards were always present for the sessions, and were actively encouraged to participate.
The sessions were successful on many levels, on a short and longer term scale. As well as lifting the detainees’ spirits, the small shifts in behavior and understanding of the detainees and indeed the guards will probably have a lasting effect. The act of making music in a group, of consciously listening to others and responding to them musically can be profound and behavior altering. As well as learning musical skills it encourages acknowledgement of those around you, empathy, softening towards others, giving, accepting, responding, conviviality, humour, vulnerability, respect, sincerity, concentration, reflection, and the expressing of emotion.
The way the classroom’s physical space changed for the detainees, from being potentially threatening and ‘the centre’s space’ to a space with the memory and possibility of good things happening, a neutral space or even ‘the detainees’ space’ was very important, and I hope vestiges of that will remain now the sessions are over.
Meeting the detainees was a life-changing experience. I learnt so much from the project, and continually felt challenged, and out of my ‘comfort zone’. I would like to sincerely thank Ian Moorhead for organising the project, the JB Seed for supporting it, and the Baxter Detention Centre staff for being so supportive and helpful.

ANTHEM PROJECT – Activist filmmakers to distribute their documentary ‘Anthem’ to cinemas around the country.
Acquittal still to come……

ART BY ADAM JANALI - SOLO ART EXHIBITION – Afghan refugee & artist Adam Janali to exhibit his work in a solo exhibition to be held in Perth.

After receiving the grant from the JB Seed Adam purchased the art materials needed to commence preparations for his exhibition. Materials purchased included canvas, oil paints, paintbrushes and chemicals necessary for painting with oil. Shortly after purchasing materials Adam set to work.

The opening night of ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ was held on Friday 9th June 2006. The night was a great success thanks to extensive publicity and support from community organisations and individuals. It was estimated that over three hundred people attended the opening. The gallery was full from seven until eleven o’clock. Kidogo Arthouse curator, Joannah Robertson was delighted at the turnout, stating that this was one of the biggest openings she had held at Kidogo. She also said that the crowd was one of the most diverse and multicultural the gallery had been host to.

The exhibition was scheduled to run for two weeks but was extended by the gallery curator for an extra week (this was at no charge to the artist). The exhibition featured works that were completed by Adam whilst he was in detention as well as paintings that were completed with the help of the JB Seed funding.