On Friday May 29, TMC and the Indent Team jumped into the speed racer (also known as Silver Getz) and headed out to the Auburn Youth Centre with Elefant Traks Label Manager and MC-extraordinaire, Urthboy.
We headed out to see a bunch of young MCs who have been writing beats and raps on the computers in the youth centre for a little while now. Not exactly sure what we were expecting, but these guys have massive talent!! It was amazing to see these up ‘n coming producers and MCs, who can be found hard at work in their youth centre most days of the week honing their craft. The level of talent was amazing, not least of all when watching one of Oz’s best MCs freestyling with kids half his age who can pretty much match him line for line!! “an undergrowth of multicultural hip-hop…crazy talent” Urthboy tweeted later in the day.
We want to say a massive thanks to Auburn council for having us out there, to Urthboy for taking the time out to come and talk with these guys and let them know they’ve got big things ahead, and finally to all the guys who showed up for helping to keep the DIY spirit of hip-hop alive in Western Sydney.
The DIY culture among youth inspired this issue of TMC like it’s been inspiring a number of key players in Sydney’s music industry lately, cause lets face it there isn’t much doing for youth unless you do it yourself. TMC’s inbox, (minorchords@thebrag.com), was filled with those seeking help from young people. Modular, FasterLouder, and even Dappled Cities have come out and are recognising the power of the youth, the innovation of the emerging and a number of other powerfully positive metaphors.
TMC caught up with Tim from Dappled Cities about their new album ZOUNDS and the call for young artists to help launch it. “At heart we are looking for artists to respond to the musical works we have created over the past year which will soon be released on our new album Zounds,” Says Tim, adding that the top 12 works will be exhibited at special events.
The events are on the down-low at this stage but what we know is that Dappled Cities will curate two special media events in honour of their new album ‘Zounds’. The events are to be held in unique industrial locations in Sydney and Melbourne and twelve fortunate young emerging sculptors, performers, installers or photographers from each city will have their works feature at the events with all proceeds from art sales going back to the creators.
Tim thinks there is no better way to pay homage to an album very close to the hearts of Dappled Cities than “collaborating with artists that may have in turn been inspired by us or just enjoyed us over the years”. Dappled are no strangers to playing to their younger fans, for a little help with your ABC check out their 26 part Alphabreaks song on the Disney Channel.
Modular has always been known for its innovative practices, and so it’s no surprise that they announced The Groop initiative a couple of weeks ago. The Groop if you haven’t heard about it is “is a collection of creative thinkers who share the philosophy that innovation and ideas are what drives business today and not vice versa” (ala thegroop.com.au) and is basically putting a hell of a lot of young creative people in a room and seeing what happens.
The initiative runs over 16 weeks and invites a guest speaker each week to sit down and vibe with the young people. When asked how this came about Modular admitted that while there were going to be projects that they could collaborate on, the 16 weeks will basically be spent creating a platform for the young to be creative, learn a lot and to work with people that may not have been able to work with otherwise. Chris from Modular assured us that they were taking a back seat in this initiative in order to let the creative juices flow…
So jumping on the bandwagon that we’ve already set in motion we TOO want to hear from YOU. Last week Lucinda Cantrell told us about the all ages scene in the Blue Mountains, so we wanna know: What’s the all-ages scene in your area like? Be a guest writer for the MinorChord and represent your roots (all the while writing for the coolest street press in Sydney), email us at minorchords@thebrag.com. And while you’re at it, we mentioned the other week that FasterLouder are on the search for young people to represent the all-ages scene. So if you’re creative with a camera get your photos published on one of the largest online rock communities, and check out some cool gigs for free as well! For more information email: Deanna.coleman@fasterlouder.com
You could be heading to these gigs….
UPCOMING GIGS
Save FBi – Time Out Sydney presents Katy Steele, Old Man River, Laura Imbruglia + more
Fri 19 June – @ the Metro
Van She
Fri 26 June – Supported by Bag Raiders, Ted & Francis (Kitsune) @ The Metro
Generationext; Go and see art after hours, eat food, listen to music and drink mocktails 28th June, rsvp to generationext@mca.com.au
Save FBi
Jun 27 – Luna Park Check out MUSCLES, Dappled Cities, Decoder Ring, Grafton Primary, The Cassette Kids and heaps more. (Email us for discount tix)
Yves Klein Blue w/ Philadelphia Grand Jury & Deep Sea Arcade
Sat 4 July – Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney, NSW
Short Stack
Fri 10 & 11th of July @ the Metro
